Lambeth London Borough Council

"Lambeth Council" redirects here. For the 1900 to 1965 council, see Lambeth Metropolitan Borough Council.
Lambeth London Borough Council

Coat of arms or logo

Coat of arms

Logo

Council logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Lib Peck, Labour
Mayor
Saleha Jaffer, Labour
Structure
Seats 63 councillors
59 / 63
3 / 63
1 / 63
Elections
First past the post
Last election
 22 May 2014
Next election
 2018
Meeting place
Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton
Website
www.lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton.[1] Lambeth is divided into 21 wards, each electing three councillors. The council was first elected in 1964.

Composition

Following the May 2014 election, Lambeth London Borough Council comprised 59 Labour Party councillors, 3 Conservative Party councillors and 1 Green Party councillor.[2]

Leadership

The leader of the council from 2006, Steve Reed, stepped down following his election as Member of Parliament for Croydon North on 29 November 2012 and was replaced by Councillor Lib Peck,[3] following confirmation by the full council on the 30th of January 2013.

Wards

A map showing the wards of Lambeth since 2002

History

The council was created by the London Government Act 1963. 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 Lambeth on 1 April 1965. Lambeth London Borough Council replaced Lambeth Metropolitan Borough Council and also took over some 40% of the area of the former Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough Council covering Streatham and Clapham. Both Metropolitan Boroughs were created in 1900 with Lambeth Metropolitan Borough Council replacing the Vestry of the Parish of Lambeth. The former Clapham and Streatham parishes, which became part of Lambeth in 1965, were governed by the Wandsworth District Board of Works from 1855 to 1900.

It was envisaged through the London Government Act 1963 that Lambeth 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 Lambeth London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. Lambeth was very active in the Ratecapping campaign in 1980s. Lambeth 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.

Policies

The Labour Party had included an aspiration in their 2010 manifesto for Lambeth to become a "Co-operative Council" with greater use of mutualist models. This attracted considerable media interest in the run up to the May 2010 election, characterised as the notion of the John Lewis Council in contrast to the EasyCouncil model being promoted by the Conservative Party in Barnet.[4] Following the 2010 election, the Council established a Commission to look at what this might entail.[5]

One aspect of this is that the council aims to make Lambeth a place where there is a coproduction of public services by service users and communities

Summary results of elections

Summary of council election results:

Overall control Labour Lib Dem Conservative Others
2014 Labour 59 - 3 1
2010 Labour 44 15 4 -
2006 Labour 39 17 6 1
2002 Lib Dem/Conservative Coalition 28 28 7 -
1998 Labour 41 18 5 -
1994 No overall control 24 24 16 -
1990 Labour 40 4 20 -
1986 Labour 40 3 21 -
1982 No overall control 32 5 27 -
1978 Labour 42 - 22 -
1974 Labour 46 - 14 -
1971 Labour 51 - 9 -
1968 Conservative 3 - 57 -
1964 Labour 42 - 18 -

References

  1. ↑ "A history of Lambeth". Lambeth Council. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. ↑ http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=PARTY&VW=LIST&PIC=0
  3. ↑ Lambeth Council
  4. ↑ Stratton, Allegra; correspondent, political (17 February 2010). "Labour to rebrand Lambeth as 'John Lewis' council" – via The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Lambeth: The Co-operative Council". Lambeth London Borough Council. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
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