Brent London Borough Council

History

The London Borough of Brent 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 borough councils of Wembley and Willesden. 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 Brent", although it styles itself Brent Council.

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 Brent) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council Brent 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 Valentine's Day in 2016, the Council launched its ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign, an initiative which encouraged local people to work alongside the Council and make Brent a better, happier place to live. Groups such as Kensal Green Streets, Harlesden Environmental Action Residents, Northwest TWO and Keep Wembley Tidy all took action as a result of the campaign. In June 2016, a short, community-based documentary called ‘Stories of Brent’ was produced, based on the campaign, starring Audley Harrison, Rachel Yankey and Liz Mitchell from Boney M. Brent was the London Borough of Culture in 2020, receiving £1.35m of funding under a new initiative launched by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

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. 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.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010.

The first election to the council was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:

Leadership

Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Brent. The leaders since 1965 have been:

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 57 councillors representing 22 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Following the 2022 election the composition of the council was:

One councillor defected from Labour to the Conservatives in October 2025. Five councillors defected from Labour to the Greens in December 2025.

The next election is due in 2026.

Premises

The council is based at Brent Civic Centre on Engineers Way in the Wembley Park area of the borough. The building was purpose-built for the council and opened in 2013. Prior to 2013 the council was based at Brent Town Hall, on Forty Lane in Wembley, which had been completed in 1940 for the old Wembley Borough Council, originally being called Wembley Town Hall.

References

References

1. "Council minutes, 14 May 2025".
2. (4 June 2014). "Council minutes, 4 June 2014".
3. "How the council is structured".
4. {{cite legislation UK
5. "Service Level Agreement, 2020".
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7. Leach, Steve. (1998). "Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath". Routledge.
8. "Love where you live - Brent Council".
9. "YouTube".
10. (27 February 2018). "Waltham Forest & Brent crowned first-ever London Boroughs of Culture".
11. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates.
12. (12 November 2015). "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London.
13. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
14. (19 April 2009). "Brent". [[BBC News Online]].
15. "London Boroughs Political Almanac: London Borough of Brent".
16. (2015). "The responses of Labour-controlled London local authorities to major changes in housing policy, 1971–1973". King's College London.
17. (30 December 1965). "World Cup Committee". Harrow Observer.
18. (5 May 1967). "Mirror complains to Press Council". Daily Mirror.
19. "Council minutes, 26 June 2006".
20. "Council minutes, 26 May 2010".
21. (17 May 2012). "Former leader of Brent Council vows to continue her political career". Brent and Kilburn Times.
22. "Council minutes, 16 May 2012".
23. {{cite legislation UK. (2020)
24. Williams, Grant. (2025-10-31). "Labour councillor defects to Tories after 'demanding' ward from Lib Dems".
25. Maddox, David. (15 December 2025). "Starmer hit by five Labour defections to Greens in London".
26. "Brent". Thorncliffe.
27. (6 October 2013). "Brent's new civic centre opens". ITV.
28. {{NHLE