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Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council
Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council
	Coat of arms
	Logo
Type
Type	London borough
Leadership
Mayor	Patricia Quigley, ; Labour ; since 24 May 2023
Leader	Stephen Cowan, ; Labour ; since 22 May 2014
Chief Executive	Sharon Lea ; since 24 February 2022
Structure
Seats	50 councillors
Political groups	Administration (39) Labour (39) Other parties (11) Conservative (10) Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
	Town Hall, King Street, Hammersmith, London, W6 9JU
Website
	www.lbhf.gov.uk

Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, which styles itself Hammersmith and Fulham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014. The council's usual meeting place is at Hammersmith Town Hall.

History

The London Borough of Hammersmith (as it was originally named) and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's two outgoing authorities, being the metropolitan borough councils of Fulham and Hammersmith. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.^[3]

The council changed the borough's from 'Hammersmith' to 'Hammersmith and Fulham' with effect from 1 April 1979.^[4] Since then, the council's full legal name has been "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham", but it styles itself Hammersmith and Fulham Council.^[5]

From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by 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 boroughs (including Hammersmith and Fulham) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.^[6] Hammersmith and Fulham became a local education authority in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved.^[7]

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.^[8]

The council was involved in a landmark English administrative law case in 1991, Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC, which ruled that local authorities had no power to engage in interest rate swap agreements because they were beyond the council's borrowing powers.^[9]

In 2021 the council was said by the Housing Ombudsman to be the worst performing landlord in the country with regard to damp and mould in its properties.^[10]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates.^[11] It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.^[12]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014.

The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:^[13]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1965–1968
	Conservative	1968–1971
	Labour	1971–1978
	No overall control	1978–1986
	Labour	1986–2006
	Conservative	2006–2014
	Labour	2014–present

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1965 have been:^[14]^[15]

Councillor		From	To
John Heaks	Labour	1965	1966
Anthony Chapman	Labour	1966	1968
William Smith	Conservative	1968	1971
Alfred Little	Labour	1971	1973
Barry Stead	Labour	1973	1978
Stuart Leishman	Conservative	1978	1979
Kim Howe	Conservative	1979	1985
John Putnam	Conservative	1985	1986
Gordon Prentice	Labour	1986	1988
Mike Goodman	Labour	1988	1991
Iain Coleman	Labour	1991	1996
Andy Slaughter	Labour	1996	25 May 2005
Stephen Burke	Labour	25 May 2005	7 May 2006
Stephen Greenhalgh	Conservative	24 May 2006	30 May 2012
Nick Botterill	Conservative	30 May 2012	22 May 2014
Stephen Cowan	Labour	22 May 2014

Premises

The council's usual meeting place is at Hammersmith Town Hall on King Street, which was completed in 1939 for the old Hammersmith Borough Council.^[16] The building has been closed since 2019 whilst being refurbished as part of the development of a new 'Civic Campus' around it, which has included the demolition of the council's former main offices which had been built in front of the Town Hall in 1974/5. The Town Hall is due to reopen in 2024.^[17]^[18]

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[19]