Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council

Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It provides a broad range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. Barking and Dagenham is divided into 17 wards, each electing three councillors. At the May 2018 election, the Labour Party won all 51 seats, for the third election in a row. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 as the Barking London Borough Council and replaced two local authorities: Barking Borough Council and Dagenham Borough Council. The council was renamed on 1 January 1980. The next election to the authority will be in May 2022.

Barking and Dagenham Council
Whole council elected every four years
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1965
Preceded byBarking Borough Council
Dagenham Borough Council
New session started
17 May 2013 (Municipal year 2013/2014)
Leadership
Mayor of Barking & Dagenham
Cllr Peter Chand, Labour
since June 2019
Leader of the Council
Cllr Darren Rodwell, Labour
since 17 May 2014
Chief executive
Chris Naylor
since 26 November 2014
Structure
Seats51 councillors in 17 wards of 3 councillors per ward.
Political groups
Administration (51)
  Labour (51)
Opposition (0)
Joint committees
East London Waste Authority
Thames Chase Joint Committee
Thames Gateway London Partnership
London Councils
Elections
Plurality
Last election
3 May 2018
Next election
5 May 2022
Meeting place
Barking Town Hall
Website
Council Website
Constitution
The Council Constitution

History
A map showing the wards of Barking and Dagenham since 2002

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Barking and Dagenham 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 Barking on 1 April 1965. Barking replaced Barking Borough Council and Dagenham Borough Council. Both were previously urban district councils, with Barking Town Urban District Council replaced by Barking Borough Council in 1931, and Dagenham Urban District Council replaced by Dagenham Borough Council in 1938. As Barking had urbanised first, it was governed by a local board of health from 1882, which became an urban district council in 1894. The parish of Dagenham was under rural administration until 1926, governed by Dagenham Parish Council and the Romford Rural District Council from 1894.[1]

It was envisaged, in accordance with the London Government Act 1963, that Barking and Dagenham 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. As an outer London borough council it has been an education authority since 1965. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. 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.[2]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation. Barking and Dagenham has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, and it is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. It is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. The council shares responsibility with the Greater London Authority for strategic policies including housing, planning and the environment.[3]

Finances

Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the billing authority for Council Tax, and collects 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.[4]

Summary results of elections
Main article: Barking and Dagenham local elections

The council has been controlled by the Labour Party since it was first elected in 1964.[5][6][7]

References
  1. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  2. Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
  3. "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  5. "London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  6. "London Borough Council Elections 23 May 2014" (PDF). London Datastore. London Residuary Body. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  7. "London Borough Council Elections 3 May 2018" (PDF). London Datastore. London Residuary Body. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.