Lewisham London Borough Council

Lewisham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Lewisham, currently Damien Egan. Lewisham is divided into 18 wards, each electing three councillors. Following the May 2018 election, Lewisham London Borough Council comprises 54 Labour Party councillors. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities: Deptford Metropolitan Borough Council and Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council.

Lewisham London Borough Council
Executive mayor elected every four years Whole council elected every four years
Coat of Arms
Logo
Type
Type	London borough council of the London Borough of Lewisham
Leadership
Speaker of Council	Cllr Tauseef Anwar, Labour since 2020/21
Elected Mayor	Damien Egan, Labour since 3rd May 2018
Deputy Mayor	Cllr Chris Best, Labour
Opposition Leader	Cllr Alan Smith, Independent Labour[1]
Chief Executive	Janet Senior since November 2018
Structure
Seats	Elected mayor 54 councillors[2]
Political groups	Administration (53)   Labour (53) Opposition (1)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	3 May 2018
Next election	5 May 2022
Meeting place
Town Hall, Catford Road
Website
www.lewisham.gov.uk

History

A map showing the wards of Lewisham since 2002

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Lewisham 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 Lewisham on 1 April 1965. Lewisham London Borough Council replaced Deptford Metropolitan Borough Council and Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council, which had been created in 1900. Deptford corresponded to the parish of St Paul Deptford and was governed by a vestry prior to 1900. Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council replaced the Lewisham District Board of Works and the Lee District Board of Works, although the Lewisham District also included Penge and the Lee District also included Charlton, Kidbrooke and Eltham, which all went to other local authorities after 1900.[3]

It was envisaged, in accordance with the London Government Act 1963, that Lewisham 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 Lewisham London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. Lewisham 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.[4]

Data protection

In 2012 the Council was fined £70,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after a social worker "left files containing GP and police reports and allegations of sexual abuse and neglect in a shopping bag on a train".[5] Commenting on Lewisham and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said "It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple human error. The reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same routine way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too often in these cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people, and often the more vulnerable members of society."[5] In August 2015, it was reported by the News Shopper that between April 2011 and April 2014, Lewisham Council had disclosed the public's sensitive data sixty-four times.[6] However, the neighboring councils Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich did not commit any data breaches.[6]

Spending cuts and savings

In December 2015, it was reported by The Guardian that the Mayor of Lewisham predicted that casualties of the next round of cuts would include youth work, libraries, parks, crime reduction, social care and street cleaning.[7] In February 2016, Lewisham Council announced that it would be raising Council Tax by 3.99 percent in order to help meet the 15 million pounds of savings that is required each year.[8] In February 2019, News Shopper reported that Lewisham Council needs to cut £30 million by 2021, but that they had only found where £21 million of these cuts would be made.[9]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation. Lewisham 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.[10]

Finances

Lewisham 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.[11]

Summary results of elections

	Overall control	Labour	Lib Dem	Green	Conservative	Others
2018	Labour	54	0	0	0	0
2014	Labour	53	0	1	0	0
2010	Labour	40	12	1	1	0
2006	No overall control	26	17	6	3	2
2002	Labour	45	4	1	2	2
1998	Labour	61	4	-	2	-
1994	Labour	63	3	-	1	-
1990	Labour	58	3	-	6	-
1986	Labour	50	-	-	17	-
1982	Labour	43	-	-	24	-
1978	Labour	44	-	-	23	-
1974	Labour	51	-	-	9	-
1971	Labour	55	-	-	5	-
1968	Conservative	19	-	-	41	-
1964	Labour	45	-	-	15	-

References

1. "No call for by-election after Cllr Alan Smith resigns from Labour Party". News Shopper.
2. "Your Councillors". councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk. 19 November 2020.
3. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
4. Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
5. "ICO hits the road to crack 'underlying problem' at data-leak councils". The Register. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
6. Freedom of Information request reveals Lewisham Council lost public's sensitive data 64 times newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
7. The ‘atomised’ council is here to stay: stripped back to the most basic services theguardian.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
8. Lewisham Council has agreed to increase council tax by 3.99 per cent newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
9. Witton, Bridie (11 February 2019). "£8m of cuts in Lewisham Council's 2019/2020 budget". News Shopper. Orpington. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
10. "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
11. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.