Richmond Borough Council

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital.

In 1965, local government in London was reorganised under the London Government Act 1963. The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, with new council offices at York House, Twickenham, was formed with the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey. The council was elected a year before coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on 1 April 1965.

The London Government Act envisaged that the councils of the new London boroughs would share power with the Greater London Council. The Greater London Council took responsibility for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal and the borough councils were given responsibility for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when borough councils gained responsibility for most local governmental services including highways, waste disposal and almost all urban planning decisions.

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority took some responsibility for highways and planning control from the London boroughs, otherwise the Council remains a most purposes authority, that is has more powers and functions than the Greater London Authority, for more information see English local government system.

As an outer London borough council, Richmond upon Thames has been an education authority since 1965.

More information on the Wikipedia page.