London Government Act 1963

1 London boroughs

(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 and any other 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) The provisions of Part III of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of the revocation or alteration of the provisions with respect to the matters mentioned in paragraph 1 of the said Part III of any charter or incorporation order under subsection (2) or (3) of this section; but nothing in any such charter or order or in any order under the said Part III shall authorise the number of councillors of any London borough to exceed sixty.

(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 and section 15 of the Interpretation Act 1889 shall have effect accordingly, that is to say, the expression " borough " when used in relation to local government in any enactment whether passed before or after this Act (and in particular, subject to section 8 (2) of this Act, in the Local Government Act 1933) shall except where the context otherwise requires (and except in particular in the expressions " county borough " and " non-county borough ") include a London borough; and the council of a London borough shall be a local authority within the meaning of the said Act of 1933.

(7) The first election of councillors of each London borough shall be held, under arrangements to be made by its charter or incorporation order, on the day in May 1964 fixed by the Secretary of State as the day of election of borough councillors in England and Wales; and the persons declared to be elected councillors at that election shall come into office on the fourth day after the day of election.