London Government Act 1963

Provisions of the act

The act set up a two-tier local government system, with powers divided between the newly formed Greater London Council (GLC), 32 new London borough councils and the existing City of London. The provisions of the act came into effect on 1 April 1965, the new councils having been elected as "shadow authorities" in 1964.

Section 1 of the act established 32 London boroughs, each of which was to be governed by an elected borough council, and was to be regulated by the Municipal Corporations Act 1882 and Local Government Act 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5. c. 51). Twelve of the boroughs, corresponding to the former County of London, were designated Inner London boroughs. The remaining twenty boroughs were designated Outer London boroughs. None of the boroughs were given names in the act.

Section 2 declared that the area comprising the areas of the London boroughs, the City and the Temples shall constitute an administrative area to be known as Greater London. An elected Greater London Council was to govern the new area.

Section 3 abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London (created in 1889), and absorbed parts of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Hertfordshire plus the whole of the City of London to form the administrative area of Greater London. As well as the two counties, the twenty-eight existing metropolitan boroughs, plus all county boroughs, county districts or parishes that fell wholly within Greater London were to cease to exist, along with their councils. No part of Greater London was to form part of any administrative county, county district or parish. Three Middlesex urban districts not included in Greater London were transferred to other counties: Potters Bar to Hertfordshire and Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames to Surrey.

The act also established the Inner London Education Authority to administer schools and colleges in the 12 inner London boroughs. The remaining 20 outer boroughs became local education authorities in their own right. The London Traffic Area and the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, set up in 1924, were abolished, with the GLC gaining powers to regulate road traffic. An alteration was also made to the Metropolitan Police District to include the whole of Greater London, but the district continued to include a number of areas in surrounding counties.

The boroughs

The composition of the London boroughs was given in schedule 1 of the act:

1. The metropolitan boroughs of Westminster, Paddington and St Marylebone.
2. The metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn and St Pancras.
3. The metropolitan boroughs of Finsbury and Islington.
4. The metropolitan boroughs of Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington.
5. The metropolitan boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney.
6. The metropolitan borough of Greenwich and so much of the metropolitan borough of Woolwich as lay south of the centre of the navigable channel of the River Thames at low water.
7. The metropolitan boroughs of Deptford and Lewisham.
8. The metropolitan boroughs of Bermondsey, Camberwell and Southwark.
9. The metropolitan borough of Lambeth and so much of the metropolitan borough of Wandsworth as lay east of Hazelbourne Road, Cavendish Road, the railway between Balham and Streatham Common stations and the railway between Streatham and Mitcham Junction stations.
10. The metropolitan borough of Battersea and the remainder of the metropolitan borough of Wandsworth not included in borough 9.
11. The metropolitan boroughs of Fulham and Hammersmith.
12. The metropolitan boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington
13. The boroughs of Chingford, Leyton and Walthamstow
14. The borough of Ilford, the borough of Wanstead and Woodford, so much of the borough of Dagenham as lay north of Billet Road and an area in the south of the urban district of Chigwell including the Hainault Estate.
15. The borough of Romford and the urban district of Hornchurch.
16. The borough of Barking except the part in Borough 17 and the borough of Dagenham except the part in Borough 14.
17. The county boroughs of East Ham and West Ham, so much of the borough of Barking as lay west of the River Roding and Barking Creek and the part of the metropolitan borough of Woolwich not included in Borough 6.
18. The boroughs of Bexley and Erith, the urban district of Crayford, and so much of the urban district of Chislehurst and Sidcup as lay north of the A20 road.
19. The boroughs of Beckenham and Bromley, the urban districts of Orpington and Penge, and so much of the urban district of Chislehurst and Sidcup as lay south of the A20 road.
20. The county borough of Croydon and the urban district of Coulsdon and Purley.
21. The borough of Beddington and Wallington, the borough of Sutton and Cheam and the urban district of Carshalton.
22. The boroughs of Mitcham and Wimbledon and the urban district of Merton and Morden.
23. The borough of Kingston upon Thames, the borough of Malden and Coombe and the borough of Surbiton.
24. The boroughs of Barnes, Richmond and Twickenham.
25. The borough of Brentford and Chiswick, the borough of Heston and Isleworth, and the urban district of Feltham.
26. The borough of Uxbridge, the urban district of Hayes and Harlington, the urban district of Ruislip-Northwood, and the urban district of Yiewsley and West Drayton.
27. The boroughs of Acton, Ealing and Southall.
28. The boroughs of Wembley and Willesden.
29. The borough of Harrow.
30. The boroughs of Finchley and Hendon, and the urban districts of Barnet, East Barnet and Friern Barnet.
31. The boroughs of Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green.
32. The boroughs of Edmonton, Enfield and Southgate.

Names

As passed, the act did not include names for the new boroughs. Keith Joseph, the minister, asked local councils for suggestions as to possible names, asking that they be a single word if possible, and noting that "the best name will be the place recognised as the centre of the new borough". Double-barrelled names were to be prohibited.

The 'Royal Borough of Charlton' was proposed for the Greenwich and Woolwich metropolitan boroughs. Lewisham and Deptford were unable to agree on whether the borough should be named Lewisham, Deptford or after the central river/stream, Ravensbourne. The councils to become part of the London Borough of Barnet suggested "Northgate" or "Northern Heights" as names. Islington and Finsbury (Borough 3) were also unable to come to a decision, with Finsbury preferring "New River" and Islington preferring Islington. Richmond and Twickenham (Borough 24) disagreed over which, if any of those names should appear in the new borough names. Suggestions for Enfield (Borough 32) included "Enfield Chase" and "Edmonton Hundred".

Nine names were without controversy and were proposed in September 1963.

• Westminster (Borough 1)
• Camden (Borough 2) – "virtually in the centre of the three boroughs"
• Tower Hamlets (Borough 5) – a historic alternative name for the Tower Division of Middlesex
• Redbridge (Borough 14) – named after a red bridge of the River Roding in Ilford
• Newham (Borough 17) – combination of East Ham and West Ham
• Croydon (Borough 20)
• Kingston upon Thames (Borough 23)
• Ealing (Borough 27)
• Haringey (Borough 31) – a variant spelling of Harringay

Six new names were proposed by the Minister in October 1963 for boroughs unable to decide upon a name

• Bexley (Borough 18)
• Bromley (Borough 19)
• Sutton (Borough 21)
• Richmond upon Thames (Borough 24)
• Hounslow (Borough 25)
• Uxbridge (ultimately changed to Hillingdon) (Borough 26)

The minister proposed a further twelve names in January 1964

• Greenwich (not Charlton as previously suggested) (Borough 6)
• Hillingdon (not Uxbridge) (Borough 26)
• Islington (Borough 3)
• Hackney (Borough 4)
• Lewisham (Borough 7)
• Southwark (Borough 8)
• Wandsworth (Borough 10)
• Kensington and Chelsea (Borough 12)
• Waltham Forest (Borough 13)
• Havering (Borough 15) – after the former Royal Liberty of Havering which covered a similar area
• Barking (Borough 16)
• Morden (Borough 22) (ultimately changed to Merton)
• Barnet (Borough 30)
• Enfield (Borough 32)
• Wembley and Willesden (Borough 28) wished to be called "Willesden and Wembley", but was ultimately titled Brent after the River Brent.
• Hammersmith (Borough 11) as Fulham and Hammersmith were unable to choose a single name, and sent a shortlist to the Minister including "Riverside" and "Olympia" (ultimately changed to Hammersmith and Fulham.)

Councillors for the metropolitan boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington were divided and opposed the loss of their two ancient parish names in combining, so the Minister for Housing and Local Government made one exception and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea came into being.

Distribution of functions

The split of functions between the new authorities were: