Harrow London Borough Council

Harrow London Borough Council /ˈhæroʊ/,^[4] also known as Harrow Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2022. Full council meetings are held at the Harrow Arts Centre and the council's main offices are at the Council Hub in Wealdstone.

Harrow London Borough Council
Type
Type	London borough
Leadership
Mayor	Salim Chowdhury, Conservative since 16 May 2024[1][2]
Leader	Paul Osborn, Conservative since 24 May 2022
Managing Director	Alex Dewsnap since May 2023[3]
Structure
Seats	55 councillors
Political groups	Administration (31)   Conservative (31) Other parties (24)   Labour (23)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Harrow Arts Centre, 171 Uxbridge Road, Pinner, HA5 4EA
Website
www.harrow.gov.uk

History

The first elected local authority for Harrow was a local board, established in 1850 covering the central part of the ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill.^[5] Such boards were reconstituted as urban district councils under the Local Government Act 1894.^[6]

The urban district was significantly enlarged in 1934, at which point it was renamed from 'Harrow on the Hill' to just 'Harrow'. Harrow Urban District was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1954, governed by a body formally called the "Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Harrow", generally known as the corporation or borough council.^[7]

The London Borough of Harrow and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964.^[8] For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing Harrow Borough Council, which covered the same area. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965.^[9] The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Harrow".^[10]

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 Harrow) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council Harrow 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.^[11]

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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2022.

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:^[15][16]

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1965–1971
	No overall control	1971–1974
	Conservative	1974–1994
	No overall control	1994–1998
	Labour	1998–2002
	No overall control	2002–2006
	Conservative	2006–2010
	Labour	2010–2013
	No overall control[17]	2013–2014
	Labour	2014–2022
	Conservative	2022–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Harrow. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1965 have been:^[18][19]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Charles Jordan		Conservative	1965	1968
Edward Buckle		Conservative	1968	1971
Cyril Harrison		Labour	1971	1974
Harold Mote		Conservative	1974	May 1977
Edward Buckle		Conservative	19 May 1977	May 1979
Brian Clark		Conservative	17 May 1979	May 1984
Donald Abbott		Conservative	17 May 1984	12 May 1987
Ron Grant		Conservative	12 May 1987	21 Oct 1991
Donald Abbott		Conservative	21 Oct 1991	1994
Chris Noyce		Liberal Democrats	1994	27 Apr 1995
Andrew Wiseman		Liberal Democrats	27 Apr 1995	25 Apr 1996
Chris Noyce		Liberal Democrats	25 Apr 1996	May 1998
Bob Shannon		Labour	20 May 1998	28 Feb 2002
Archie Foulds		Labour	28 Feb 2002	13 Oct 2004
Navin Shah		Labour	21 Oct 2004	May 2006
Chris Mote		Conservative	25 May 2006	8 May 2008
David Ashton		Conservative	8 May 2008	May 2010
Bill Stephenson		Labour	25 May 2010	8 Nov 2012
Thaya Idaikkadar		Labour	8 Nov 2012	16 Sep 2013
Susan Hall		Conservative	16 Sep 2013	May 2014
David Perry		Labour	12 Jun 2014	19 May 2016
Sachin Shah		Labour	19 May 2016	24 May 2018
Graham Henson		Labour	24 May 2018	May 2022
Paul Osborn		Conservative	26 May 2022

Premises

Council Hub, Kenmore Avenue, Harrow, HA3 8LU: Council's main offices, built 2022

The council has its main offices at the Council Hub on Kenmore Avenue in Wealdstone. The building was purpose-built for the council in 2022.^[20] Full council meetings are held at the Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End, which also houses the mayor's parlour.^[21][22]

Harrow Civic Centre: Council's former headquarters 1973–2023

Prior to 2022 the council was based at Harrow Civic Centre on Station Road in Harrow, which had been purpose-built for the council, being completed in 1973.^[23]

Elections

See also: Harrow London Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, the council has comprised 55 councillors representing 22 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[24]

Councillors

As of 5 May 2022, the composition of Harrow Council is 31 Conservative councillors to 24 Labour councillors:

Harrow Councillors^[25]

Ward	Councillors	Party
Belmont	Mina Parmar	Conservative
	Anjana Patel	Conservative
Canons	Ameet Jogia	Conservative
	Amir Moshenson	Conservative
Centenary	David Ashton	Conservative
	Govind Bharadia	Conservative
	Salim Chowdhury	Conservative
Edgware	Nicola Blackman	Conservative
	Nitin Parekh	Labour
	Yogesh Teli	Conservative
Greenhill	Ghazanfar Ali	Labour
	Sue Anderson	Labour
	Aneka Shah-Levy	Labour
Harrow on the Hill	Stephen Hickman	Labour
	Eden Kulig	Labour
Harrow Weald	Ramji Chauhan	Conservative
	Stephen Greek	Conservative
	Pritesh Patel	Conservative
Hatch End	Matthew Goodwin-Freeman	Conservative
	Susan Hall	Conservative
Headstone	Simon Brown	Labour
	Natasha Proctor	Labour
	Sasi Suresh	Labour
Kenton East	Chetna Halai	Conservative
	Nitesh Hirani	Conservative
	Samir Sumaria	Conservative
Kenton West	Vipin Mithani	Conservative
	Kanti Rabadia	Conservative
Marlborough	Varsha Parmar	Labour
	David Perry	Labour
	Antonio Weiss	Labour
North Harrow	Christopher Baxter	Conservative
	Janet Mote	Conservative
Pinner	Kuha Kumaran	Conservative
	Paul Osborn	Conservative
	Norman Stevenson	Conservative
Pinner South	June Baxter	Conservative
	Hitesh Karia	Conservative
	Jean Lammiman	Conservative
Rayners Lane	Thaya Idaikkadar	Conservative
	Krishna Suresh	Labour
Roxbourne	Graham Henson	Labour
	Maxine Henson	Labour
Roxeth	Peymana Assad	Labour
	Rashmi Kalu	Labour
	Jerry Miles	Labour
Stanmore	Marilyn Ashton	Conservative
	Phillip Benjamin	Conservative
	Zak Wagman	Conservative
Wealdstone North	Shahania Choudhury	Labour
	Phillip O'Dell	Labour
Wealdstone South	Kandy Dolor	Labour
	Dean Gilligan	Labour
West Harrow	Asif Hussain	Labour
	Rekha Shah	Labour

References

1. "Council meeting, 16 May 2024". Harrow Council. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
2. "Cllr Salim Chowdhury, Harrow's first Bangladeshi Mayor". Harrow Council. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
3. Mitchell, Chris (19 May 2023). "Harrow Council appoints new Managing Director". Harrow Online. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
4. Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, p. 368, ISBN 9781405881180
5. Lawes, Edward (1851). The Act for promoting the Public Health, with notes. London: Shaw and Sons. pp. 264–265. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
6. "Local Government Act 1894", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1894 c. 73, retrieved 12 April 2024
7. "Harrow Urban District / Municipal Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
8. "London Government Act 1963", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1978 c. 33, retrieved 16 May 2024
9. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0901050679.
10. "Insurance London Consortium Agreement" (PDF). Sutton Council. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
11. "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 5 April 2024
12. Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
13. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
14. "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
15. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
16. "Harrow". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
17. "Tories get control of Harrow Council after Labour split". BBC News. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
18. "Council minutes". Harrow Council. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
19. "London Boroughs Political Almanac". London Councils. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
20. "Harrow's regeneration business plans approved". London Borough of Harrow. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
21. "Browse meetings: Council". London Borough of Harrow. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
22. Williams, Grant (1 February 2023). "Harrow Council's town hall will be demolished and turned into housing". My London. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
23. London's Town Halls. London: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1998. p. 109. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
24. "The London Borough of Harrow (Electoral Changes) Order 2020", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2020/72, retrieved 12 April 2024
25. "Your Councillors". www2.harrow.gov.uk. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

External links

• London Borough of Harrow website