Tom Barry wrote:
ObLondonFact - the GLC was set up by the Tories including areas which
aren't really London partly because the old LCC basically had an inherent
Labour majority (which is why Labour bitterly opposed the foundation of
the GLC, of course).
In part, but London had significantly expanded since 1888 and the boundaries
had not been adjusted to catch up. Defining what is and isn't "really
London" is always a mess but there were certainly key parts that were not in
the LCC boundaries (e.g. modern day Newham). Calls for an overhaul and
expansion of London local government had been made for ages and from sources
outside the London Conservatives.
The GLC was marginal for most of its existence, as, it seems, is the GLA.
The GLC's basic problem was that it didn't have a great deal of
responsibilities that really justified its existence. Here's the list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_...of_functio ns
The GLC controlled:
* Fire
* Ambulance
* Refuse disposal
* Land drainage
* Smallholdings
* Thames flood preventions
* Motor-vehicle and driving licences
* Education in Inner London only
The GLC and borough councils had joint responsibility for:
* Roads
* Planning
* Housing
* Sewage
* Traffic
Whilst boroughs controlled:
* Personal health services
* Welfare services
* Children's services
* Libraries
* Refuse collection
* Swimming baths
* Weights and measures
* Food and drugs
* Public health inspection
* Cemeteries and crematoriums
* Collection of rates
* Education in Outer London only
This is quite a different distribution of powers from the district/county
council model and so the result was that the GLC cost an awful lot and
didn't really give a great deal back to Londoners. As a result London
borough councils (of all parties) resented it and many called for its
abolition almost throughout its history. Horace Cutler, GLC Leader 1977-1981
(another sceptic of the GLC's existence), commissioned the Marshall Enquiry
into the the GLC's future and the enquiry only narrowly failed to recommend
abolition (and Ken Livingstone publicly criticised it for this). It's now
become an entrenched myth that Thatcher abolished the GLC purely because of
Livingstone, but it would have been abolished anyway because of the
opposition of borough councils and the limited services it provided.