Croydon London Borough Council, known as Croydon Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. The council is responsible for the provision of a range of services within the borough. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 councillors. Since 2022 the council has been led by a directly elected mayor. The council has been under no overall control since 2022, being run by a Conservative minority administration. The council meets at Croydon Town Hall and has its main offices in the adjoining Bernard Weatherill House.

History The town of Croydon's first local authority was a body of improvement commissioners established in 1829. They were superseded in 1849 by an elected local board. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1883, after which it was governed by a body formally called the "Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Croydon", generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Croydon was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services. It was therefore made a county borough, independent from the new Surrey County Council, whilst remaining part of Surrey for judicial and lieutenancy purposes.

The larger London Borough of Croydon 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 councils of the County Borough of Croydon and the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished. The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Croydon".

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 Croydon) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council, Croydon has been a local education authority since 1965. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.

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.

On 11 November 2020, the council issued a Section 114 Notice, under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, due to its difficult financial position, a de facto declaration of bankruptcy.

Private Eye magazine Rotten Borough Awards 2020 named Croydon the most rotten borough, and Croydon was in the Private Eye annual list of Britain’s rottenest boroughs for seven consecutive years from 2017 to 2023.

Following a petition in 2020, and a referendum in October 2021, more than 80% of votes favoured a change to a directly elected mayor. The first direct election of a Croydon Mayor was in May 2022.

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 it also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is also the local education authority.

Some 10,000 people work directly or indirectly for the council, at its main offices at Bernard Weatherill House or in its schools, care homes, housing offices or work depots.

Political control The council has been under no overall control since the 2022 election, being run by a minority Conservative administration under Jason Perry, the directly elected Mayor of Croydon.

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: (Put "Croydon" in search box to see specific results.) Party in controlYears 1965–1968 1968–1994 1994–2006 2006–2014 2014–2022 2022–present

Leadership Prior to 2022, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1965 to 2022 were: Councillor Party From To Albert Dunn 1965 1967 Digby Weightman 1967 1970 Albert Dunn 1970 1976 Peter Bowness 1976 1979 Stanley Littlechild 1979 1980 Peter Bowness 1980 1994 Mary Walker 1994 1996 Geraint Davies 1996 1997 Val Shawcross 1997 2000 Hugh Malyan 2000 2005 Tony Newman 2005 2006 Mike Fisher 2006 May 2014 Tony Newman 3 Jun 2014 12 Oct 2020 Hamida Ali 22 Oct 2020 8 May 2022

In 2022 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor as its political leader. The directly elected mayor is termed the 'executive mayor' to distinguish it from the more ceremonial position of the 'civic mayor', who chairs council meetings. The executive mayor since 2022 has been:

Mayor Party From To Jason Perry 9 May 2022

Composition Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council is:

Party Councillors 30 28 8 2 2 Total 70 The next election is due in May 2030.

Cabinet The cabinet is appointed by the executive mayor. The current composition of Croydon Council's cabinet is as follows:

Party key Conservative

Post Member Ward Mayor and Deputy Mayor Mayor of Croydon Jason PerryElected Mayor Deputy Mayor of CroydonCabinet Member for Homes Lynne HaleSanderstead Cabinet members Cabinet Member for Finance Jason CummingsShirley South Cabinet Member for Children and Young People Maria GatlandSouth Croydon Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care Yvette HopleySanderstead Cabinet Member for Community Safety Ola KoladeKenley Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration Jeet BainsAddiscombe East Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment Scott RocheShirley South Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture Andy StranackSelsdon Vale & Forestdale

Shadow Cabinet The largest opposition group on the council forms a Shadow Cabinet. The current composition of Croydon Council's Shadow Cabinet is as follows:

Party key Labour

Post Member Ward Leader and Deputy Leaders of the Opposition Leader of the Opposition Stuart KingWest Thornton Deputy Leader of the OppositionShadow Cabinet Member for Finance Leila Ben-HasselNorbury & Pollards HillDeputy Leader of the OppositionShadow Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care Janet CampbellWest Thornton Shadow Cabinet members Shadow Cabinet Member for Children and Young People Brigitte GrahamWoodside Shadow Cabinet Member for Parks and Culture Aba AmoahBroad Green Shadow Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety, and Justice Manju Shahul-HameedBroad Green Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes Ellily PonnuthuraiWaddon Shadow Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory Services Sean FitzsimonsAddiscombe West Shadow Cabinet Member for Streets and Enforcement Tom BowellBroad Green

Premises The council meets at Croydon Town Hall on Katherine Street, which was completed for the old county borough council in 1896.

The council has its main offices at Bernard Weatherill House on Mint Walk, immediately south of the Town Hall. The building was purpose-built for the council and opened in 2013 to replace the council's former offices at Taberner House on Park Lane, which was subsequently demolished.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 70 councillors representing 28 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The addition of the directly elected mayor in 2022 means that there are now 71 seats on the council overall. The mayor is also elected every four years, at the same time as the council.

Notable councillors

Notable former councillors include former MPs Andrew Pelling, Vivian Bendall, David Congdon, Geraint Davies and Reg Prentice, London Assembly member Valerie Shawcross, Lord Bowness, John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington (Master of the Rolls) and H.T. Muggeridge, MP and father of Malcolm Muggeridge. The first Mayor of the newly created county borough was Jabez Balfour, later a disgraced Member of Parliament. Former Conservative Director of Campaigning, Gavin Barwell, was a Croydon councillor between 1998 and 2010 and was the MP for Croydon Central from 2010 until 2017.

References

Notes

External links London Borough of Croydon website Croydon Ward Map