London Government Act 1963

Part I — Local Government in and around Greater London

London boroughs

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• (1) There shall be established new administrative areas, to be known as London boroughs, which shall comprise the areas respectively described (by reference to existing administrative areas) in column 2 of Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act; and in this . . . Act—

• (a) any reference to an inner London borough shall be construed as a reference to one of the London boroughs numbered from 1 to 12 in the said Part I;

• (b) any reference to an outer London borough shall be construed as a reference to one of the London boroughs numbered from 13 to 32 in the said Part I.

• (2) If in the case of any London borough, on representations in that behalf made to the Privy Council by the Minister, Her Majesty by the advice of Her Privy Council thinks fit to grant a charter of incorporation of the inhabitants of that borough, Her Majesty may by that charter—

• (a) make provision with respect to the name of the borough; and

• (b) subject to the provisions of this Act, make any provision such as may be made by virtue of section 131 of the Local Government Act 1933 by a charter granted under Part VI of that Act;

and any charter which purports to be granted in pursuance of the Royal prerogative and this subsection shall be deemed to be valid and within the powers of this Act and Her Majesty’s prerogative and the validity thereof shall not be questioned in any legal proceeding whatever.

• (3) In the case of any London borough whose inhabitants are not incorporated by such a charter as is referred to in the last foregoing subsection, provision for their incorporation shall be made by the Minister by order (hereafter in this Act referred to as an “incorporation order”) which may include any such provision as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) Before the Minister makes as respects a London borough either representations under subsection (2) of this section for the grant of a charter or an incorporation order under subsection (3) thereof, the Minister or, as may be appropriate, the Secretary of State shall cause such notices to be given and such, if any, inquiries to be held with respect to the matters to be dealt with by the charter or order as may appear to the Minister or, as the case may be, the Secretary of State to be expedient.

• (6) The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 shall apply to every London borough . . . , the expression “borough” when used in relation to local government in any enactment whether passed before or after this Act . . . shall except where the context otherwise requires (and except in particular in the expressions “county borough” and “non-county borough”) include a London borough; . . .

• (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Greater London and the Greater London Council

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• (1) The area comprising the areas of the London boroughs, the City and the Temples shall constitute an administrative area to be known as Greater London.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Local government areas in and around Greater London

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General provisions as to exercise in Greater London of existing local authority functions

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• (1) Subject to any provision to the contrary effect made by, or by any instrument made under, this Act or any other Act passed during the same session as this Act . . . , and without prejudice to any express provision so made, the provisions of this section (being provisions designed to confer on the councils of London boroughs as respects their boroughs and on the Common Council as respects the City the functions exercisable by the councils of county boroughs as respects their boroughs or by the existing London county council as respects the metropolitan boroughs or, as the case may be, the City) shall have effect as from 1st April 1965 as respects any enactment (hereafter in this section referred to as an “existing enactment”) contained in any public general Act passed before this Act or in any other such Act passed during the same session as this Act.

• (2) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, where any existing enactment refers to, or to the councils of, county boroughs, then—

• (a) if it also refers in the same context to, or to the councils of, metropolitan boroughs, any reference in that enactment in that context to, or to the council of, a metropolitan borough shall be construed as a reference to, or to the council of, a London borough;

• (b) if it also refers (or, but for section 3 (1) (b) of this Act, would have referred) in the same context to the London county council (whether expressly or by virtue of a reference to councils of counties) but not to councils of metropolitan boroughs, any reference in that enactment in that context to a county borough or the council thereof shall be construed as including a reference to a London borough or the council thereof and, where that enactment extends to the City but does not refer to the Common Council, as including also a reference to the City or the Common Council.

• (3) Any reference in any existing enactment which, by virtue of any other existing enactment passed subsequently thereto, falls to be construed as a reference to authorities of a particular class shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section to be a reference to authorities of that class.

• (4) Any existing enactment to the effect that any provision does not apply or refer, or applies or refers only, to the administrative county of London or to that county other than the City or other than the City and the Temples shall have effect as if it provided that the provision in question does not apply or refer, or, as the case may be, applies or refers only, to Greater London other than the outer London boroughs, or other than those boroughs and the City, or other than those boroughs, the City and the Temples, as the case may be.

• (5) Where, under any existing enactment which by virtue of subsection (4) of this section applies to Greater London other than the outer London boroughs or other than those boroughs and the City with or without the Temples, any functions were exercisable immediately before 1st April 1965 as respects a metropolitan borough by the London county council or by the council of that borough or as respects the City by the London county council, those functions shall be exercisable as respects an inner London borough by the council of that borough or, as the case may be, as respects the City by the Common Council.

• (6) In any existing enactment which by virtue of subsection (4) of this section applies to the outer London boroughs but not to the rest of Greater London, any reference to, or to the council of, a county borough shall be construed as including a reference to, or to the council of, an outer London borough.

• (7) Without prejudice to any exclusion by virtue of subsection (1) of this section and to any amendment of the enactment in question by or under any subsequent provision of this Act, subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to any existing enactment contained in—

• (a) the Local Government Act of 1888, 1929, 1933 or 1958; or

• (b) the enactments to which section 40 of this Act applies or would apply but for the proviso to subsection (4) of that section; or

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (d) any enactment relating to rating and valuation in England and Wales; or

• (e) the Town and Country Planning Act 1962; or

• (f) any of the Acts amended by Schedule 5, 6, 8 or 13 to this Act;

and this section shall not apply to any enactment contained in an Act passed with respect only to the whole or part of the existing county of London.

Delegation of functions in Greater London

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) The Common Council and the council of any London borough which is adjacent to the City may agree together for the discharge by that borough council, as agent for the Common Council, of such of the functions of the Common Council as may be specified in the agreement.

• (3) Without prejudice to any other provision of this or any other Act, any of the following authorities, that is to say, . . . the London borough councils , the Common Council, . . . , an authority established by Part I, II, III, IV, or V of the Waste Regulation and Disposal (Authorities) Order 1985 and the London Fire Commissioner may, for the better performance of their respective functions, agree with any one or more of the others of those authorities and any other local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1933 whose area is contiguous with any part of Greater London for—

• (a) the undertaking by one party for another of any administrative, clerical, professional, scientific or technical services;

• (b) the use or maintenance by one party of any vehicle, plant, equipment or apparatus of another party and, if it appears convenient, the services of any staff employed in connection therewith;

• (c) the carrying out of works of maintenance by one party in connection with land or buildings for the maintenance of which another party is responsible,

on such terms as may be agreed between them; and in this subsection the expression “maintenance” includes minor renewals, improvements and extensions.

Alteration of boundaries of or within Greater London

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Promotion of Bills with respect to local government functions in Greater London

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Supplementary provisions to Part I

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part II — Road Traffic, Highways and Motor Vehicles

General duty of Greater London Council with respect to road traffic and abolition of London Traffic Area and Traffic Advisory Committee

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Traffic regulation in Greater London

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Experimental traffic schemes

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• (1) The Greater London Council as well as the Minister of Transport shall have power to make an experimental traffic order under section 28 of the Road Traffic Act 1962 with respect to any road in Greater London, being—

• (a) a road other than a trunk road ; or

• (b) a trunk road with respect to which that Minister has consented to the making of the order in question.

• (2) The Minister of Transport shall not make an order under the said section 28 with respect to any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road except for the purpose of—

• (a) the revocation or variation, after giving notice to the Greater London Council, of any order by that Council under that section ; or

• (b) securing the object of any direction given to that Council by that Minister by virtue of subsection (3) of this section with which that Council have failed to comply.

• (3) The provisions of section 10(6) and (7) of this Act shall have effect for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section as if—

• (a) any reference in those provisions to, or to an order made by the Greater London Council under, subsection (1) of that section were a reference to, or to an order made by that Council by virtue of, subsection (1) of this section;

• (b) any reference to an order of the Minister of Transport under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 were a reference to an order of that Minister under the said section 28.

• (4) An order made by the Greater London Council under the said section 28 may include provision whereby a specified officer, or some person authorised in that behalf by a specified officer, of the Council may, if it appears to that officer or person essential in the interests of the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic and after consulting with the appropriate commissioner of police and giving such public notice as the Minister of Transport may direct, modify or suspend the order or any provision thereof.

• (5) Before the Greater London Council make any order under the said section 28 they shall—

• (a) except where the order is made in pursuance of a direction by the Minister of Transport by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, consult with the appropriate commissioner of police ; and

• (b) give such public notice as that Minister may direct.

• (6) The Minister of Transport may repay to the Greater London Council any expenses incurred by that Council in connection with any order made by them under the said section 28.

• (7) The powers with respect to the carrying out of experimental traffic schemes conferred by section 35 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 on the commissioner of police of the metropolis shall be exercisable only within Greater London; and the authority for the giving of any consent or direction under subsection (1) or (5) of that section shall be the Greater London Council instead of the Minister of Transport; but the Greater London Council shall not give their consent to any such scheme affecting a trunk road except with the agreement of that Minister ; and in the case of any particular scheme that Minister may after consultation with the Greater London Council direct that Council to consent thereto within a specified period or to withhold their consent therefrom.

Powers in respect of traffic signs, etc.

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• (1) The Minister of Transport or the Greater London Council may, to such extent as that Minister or Council may consider necessary in connection with any order under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1960, section 10 (1) of this Act or section 28 of the Road Traffic Act 1962 made or proposed to be made by that Minister or, as the case may be, that Council—

• (a) exercise as respects any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road any powers exercisable by the highway authority for that road in connection with the placing of traffic signs on or near that road in pursuance of section 52 of the said Act of 1960 and affix any such sign to any lamp-post or other structure in the highway, whether or not belonging to that Minister or Council;

• (b) authorise or require the highway authority for any such road to place in the carriageway such bollards or other obstructions as that Minister or Council may consider appropriate for preventing the passage of vehicles, or vehicles of any class or description, at any point at which their passage (whether in any direction or in one direction only) is prohibited by any such order as aforesaid and to maintain and light those obstructions;

• (c) authorise or require any highway authority to remove any obstruction placed by that authority in pursuance of an authorisation or requirement under the last foregoing paragraph.

• (2) To such extent as the Minister of Transport or, as the case may be, the Greater London Council may consider necessary in connection with any order such as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, whether made or proposed to be made by that Minister or by that Council, that Minister may do with respect to any trunk road, or as the case may be that Council may do with respect to any metropolitan road, anything which the authority making or proposing to make the order might under subsection (1)(b) of this section require to be done with respect to any other road by the highway authority therefor.

• (3) The Greater London Council or, to such extent as the Minister of Transport may consider necessary in connection with any order made or proposed to be made by him under the said section 34 or 28, that Minister may give to the highway authority for any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road such directions with respect to the adjustment, modification or replacement of, or of any part of, the mechanism of traffic signs, being light signals controlled by that authority, as that Council or Minister may consider expedient in the interests of the movement of traffic.

• (4) If a highway authority fail to comply with any requirement or direction under subsection (1) or (3) of this section the Minister of Transport or, as the case may be, the Greater London Council may carry out the work required by the requirement or direction, and the expense incurred by that Minister or Council in so doing shall be recoverable summarily as a civil debt from the authority.

• (5) As respects any traffic sign placed by the Minister of Transport or the Greater London Council in the exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1)(a) of this section, it shall be the duty of that Council—

• (a) to take such steps to maintain, and to make such alteration of, that sign as may be necessary or expedient in connection with the order in connection with which it was placed ;

• (b) to remove that sign upon that order ceasing to have effect;

and that Minister may recover from that Council summarily as a civil debt any expenses incurred by him by virtue of the said subsection (1)(a).

• (6) As respects any road in Greater London other than a trunk road the Greater London Council shall be the competent authority for the purposes of section 22 of the said Act of 1960 with respect to signs for indicating speed restrictions.

• (7) References in this section to a highway authority include references to any person who, not being a highway authority, is responsible for the maintenance of a road.

• (8) The power of the Minister of Transport under section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 to make advances towards expenses incurred in relation to traffic signs shall be exercisable with respect to any expenses incurred by the Greater London Council-in relation to the erection, maintenance, alteration or removal of traffic signs or by virtue of subsection (2) of this section; and the said section 63 shall apply in relation to any such obstruction as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section as it applies in relation to traffic signs.

Parking accommodation in Greater London

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