Hackney London Borough Council
| Hackney London Borough Council | |
|---|---|
|
Executive mayor elected every four years Whole council elected every four years | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 57 councillors |
|
50 / 57 | |
|
4 / 57 | |
|
3 / 57 | |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 22 May 2014 |
Next election | May 2018 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Town Hall, Mare Street | |
| Website | |
|
www | |
Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney in Greater London, UK. It is one of 32 such London borough councils in the capital of London. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Hackney, currently Jules Pipe of the Labour Party. Hackney comprises 19 wards, each electing three Councillors. Following the May 2014 election, Hackney London Borough Council consists of 50 Labour Party councillors, four Conservative Party councillors and three Liberal Democrat councillors.[1] The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 whereby it replaced three local authorities: Hackney Metropolitan Borough Council, Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council and Stoke Newington Metropolitan Borough Council.
History
There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Hackney area. The current local authority was first elected in 1964, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Hackney on 1 April 1965. Hackney London Borough Council replaced Hackney Metropolitan Borough Council, Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council and Stoke Newington Metropolitan Borough Council. All three had been created in 1900; the ancient parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newington were previously governed by vestries, but together were united as the Hackney District of the Metropolis from 1855 to 1894. Shoreditch was also an ancient parish and was governed by a vestry until becoming a metropolitan borough in 1900.
It envisaged through the London Government Act 1963 that Hackney as a London local authority would share power with the Greater London Council. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the local authorities responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when Hackney London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. Hackney became an education authority in 1990. Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.
Criticism of Britney Spears
In September 2011, the council criticised Britney Spears upon completion of her "Criminal" music video, for "promoting gun violence" following the 2011 England riots, as the production company filmed the video in Hackney without proper permissions, including Britney and her partner seen to be wielding guns in the street. The Council said, "We will be raising this matter with the production company." Councillor Ian Rathbone said that Spears should apologise and make a sizeable donation to a Hackney charity "for the rudeness and damage she's done to this community." On September 26, 2011, Spears' representatives released a statement to MTV News saying, "The video is a fantasy story featuring Britney's boyfriend, Jason Trawick, which literally plays out the lyrics of a song written three years before the riots ever happened."[2] The video was later withdrawn anyway because of complaints about other content. The video was ranked at number ten on a list of the ten most controversial music videos in pop by AOL on September 29, 2011.[3]
Elections
Electoral arrangements
Wards were established for Hackney when it came into existence on 1 April 1965. The first elections of ward councillors took place in 1964.[4] These boundaries were also used for the 1968, 1971 and 1974 elections. For the 1978 elections the ward boundaries were revised.[5] These boundaries were then also used at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 elections.
For the May 1994 elections there were minor adjustments to London borough boundaries, which affected the area and population of some Hackney wards.[6][7] These boundaries were also used at the 1998 elections. The current ward boundaries came into effect at the May 2002 elections.[8] They were also used at the 2006 and 2010 elections. The ward boundaries were redrawn for the 2014 election.
Summary results of elections
Finances
Hackney London Borough Council is the billing authority for Council Tax, and collects a precepts on behalf of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.
References
- ↑ http://www.hackney.gov.uk/2010-results-council.htm
- ↑ Montgomery, James (September 26, 2011). "Britney Spears Responds To 'Criminal' Video Controversy". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ↑ Gayles, Contessa (September 29, 2011). "Top 10 Most Controversial Music Videos in Pop". AOL. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ↑ London Borough Council Elections (1964)
- ↑ London Borough Council Elections (1978)
- ↑ Alteration of Status of Local Authorities 1993-1994
- ↑ London Borough Council Elections (1994)
- ↑ London Borough Council Elections (2002)
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