London boroughs

The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Twelve of these plus the City of London constitute Inner London, while twenty others constitute Outer London.

Functions
The London boroughs are administered by London Borough Councils which are elected every four years. There are three councils which do not proceed their names with "London Borough of". Westminster has city status; its council is termed Westminster City Council and the borough is termed City of Westminster. Kingston upon Thames and Kensington and Chelsea are "Royal Boroughs" and use this designation in their official names, although the councils are termed London Borough Councils.

The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their areas, such as schools, social services, waste collection and roads. Some London-wide services are run by the Greater London Authority, and some services and lobbying of government are pooled within the Association of London Government, which recently changed its name to London Councils. Some London borough councils also group together for such services as waste transport and disposal, e.g. the West London Waste Authority.

The London boroughs are local government districts and have similar functions to metropolitan boroughs. Each London borough is a Local Education Authority. Until 1990 the Inner London boroughs were served by a shared LEA, the Inner London Education Authority.

History
The present boroughs came into existence on 1 April 1965 with the creation of Greater London. The first London Borough elections had been held in 1964 with the newly elected London Borough Councils acting as "shadow" Authorities before coming into power the following year.

They had wider authority than the inner London metropolitan boroughs and neighbouring urban districts and municipal boroughs which they mostly replaced, but less power than the three county boroughs of Croydon, West Ham and East Ham, which ceased to exist at the same time.

Between 1965 and 1986 the London boroughs were part of a two-tier system of government, and shared power with the Greater London Council (GLC). However on 1 April 1986, the GLC was abolished, the London boroughs inherited most of its powers and became in effect unitary authorities (combining both county and borough functions). Since the creation in 2000 of a new Greater London Authority, covering the former GLC area but with more limited powers, the boroughs now have powers intermediate between those of English unitary authorities and non-metropolitan districts within shire counties.

The City of London is administered by its own distinct body, the Corporation of London, which predates the London boroughs.

The word borough has cognates in virtually every Germanic language, as well as other Indo-European languages. For a fuller explanation, see under borough.

Outer London boroughs
See also: List of places in London