Politics
Hammersmith & Fulham is administered by 46 councillors. At the 2010 council elections held on 6 May, the Conservative Party lost 2 seats but won a majority by taking a total of 31 seats. The present administration was first elected at the 2006 council election. The Council leader is Cllr. Nicholas Botterill(Con) who took over from Stephen Greenhalgh in May 2012. The Labour Party forms the opposition on the Council, with 15 seats, led by Cllr. Stephen Cowan.
The borough is divided into 16 electoral wards, all bar two electing three councillors apiece. These are:
- Addison
- Askew
- Avonmore & Brook Green
- College Park & Old Oak
- Fulham Broadway
- Fulham Reach
- Hammersmith Broadway
- Munster
- North End
- Palace Riverside
- Parson's Green & Walham
- Ravenscourt Park
- Sands End
- Shepherd's Bush Green
- Town
- Wormholt & White City
The borough now shares a Chief Executive with the neighbouring Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and the two boroughs have also combined a number of services and departments with one another and also with Westminster City Council.
The Conservative administration introduced a number of changes to the running of the council following their election in 2006, including a 3% per year cut in Council Tax in each year between 2007/8 and 2010/1. This worked out at an average reduction of £26.30 per year for that period. The Conservative administration privatised many front line services including refuse collection and parks maintenance. It provided funding for a 24 hour police team in Shepherds Bush Green ward. The Council received the Local Government Chronicle award for "Council of the Year" in 2010. The authority has repeatedly been described as a "flagship" Conservative borough and a favourite of Tory Prime Minister David Cameron. Between 2005 and 2008, the Audit Commission found that services improved from an overall rating of three stars and "improving well" to four stars and "improving strongly". According to the government 2009 Place Survey, the Council was rated as the sixth most popular major authority in the country.
On 21 January 2010 the Borough was found guilty of maladministration by the Local Government Ombudsman. The Ombudsman concluded that a woman was due compensation after Hammersmith and Fulham had refused to provide accommodation for her despite being pregnant and seeking escape from domestic violence. The woman who was later discovered seeking shelter in a local park. Prior to this incident the Council had sold off twelve homeless hostels, tightened homeless acceptance criteria and banned the BBC and Crisis from running a Christmas homeless shelter. In June 2010 the Borough removed all funding from Threshold Housing Advice who are the homeless charity that reported the council to the Local Government Ombudsman and brought about the Maladministration ruling. This forced Threshold Housing Advice to close down in November 2010.
The opposition Labour Party and media critics, such as Johann Hari in the Independent 5 May 2010, have criticised the Council for cuts to front line services and the introduction of new or increased stealth taxes. These include the new £12.40 per hour home care charge for the elderly, sick and disabled, a nearly £600 increase (over the four-year period) in fees for meals on wheels; a 50% increase in parking fines and 55% increase in parking tickets. The Conservative Administration are also criticized for initially cutting police numbers in 3 of the 16 wards; renting out parks for exclusive private events and selling off the borough's buildings such as librarys, schools, council homes, community centres, Sure Start centres, early learning centres and youth clubs.
During the 2010 general and local elections the Conservative administration was accused by Labour opponents, the media and residents of intending to demolish 3,300 Council homes leaving many people with no option but to move out of the borough - an allegation described by the Prime Minister as "appalling Labour lies" in the Daily Telegraph, 22 May 2010. Stephen Cowan (Lab), the Council’s Leader of the Opposition strongly disputed this allegation and wrote to the Prime Minister challenging his comments and detailing why he was wrong to make them.
Hammersmith and Fulham’s alleged housing plans have been covered by the UK media notably in this video made by the Guardian Newspaper, 9 October 2009. Housing issues in Hammersmith and Fulham gained greater publicity after Cllr Greenhalgh co-authored the Localism policy paper Principles of Social Housing Reform in 2009 which called for a move to “near market rents” and an end to lifelong secure tenancies for council housing tenants. The Coalition Government has now begun to consult on these policies and has released Local Decisions: A Fairer Future for Social Housing for consultation and following this they will most likely soon be presented to Parliament in a housing bill.
Former councillors for Hammersmith and Fulham who are current Members of Parliament include Dominic Grieve MP (Con), Aidan Burley MP (Con), Greg Hands MP (Con), Lisa Nandy MP (Lab), Andrew Robotham MP (Con) and Andrew Slaughter MP (Lab).
Read more about this topic: London Borough Of Hammersmith And Fulham
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