Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council

Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council
Type
Type	London borough council of London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Leadership
Leader	LA Smith, Labour
Mayor	N S S Gill, Labour
Members	51 councillors
Labour	50 / 51
Conservative	1 / 51
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	6 May 2010
Meeting place
Barking Town Hall
Website
www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk

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 the United Kingdom capital of London. Barking and Dagenham is divided into 17 wards, each electing three councillors. At the May 2010 election, the Labour Party won all 51 seats^[1], but that dropped to 50 after one councillor was suspended from the party^[2] before defecting to the Conservatives^[3]. 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.

History

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.

It was envisaged through the London Government Act 1963 that Barking 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.

Policies

The planning function for large developments is exercised by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation in the London Riverside designated area that is within the borough.

Summary results of elections

The council has been controlled by the Labour Party since it was first elected in 1964.

References