The town of
Croydon's first local authority was a body of
improvement commissioners established in 1829. They were superseded in 1849 by an elected
local board. The town was incorporated as a
municipal borough in 1883, after which it was governed by a body formally called the "Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Croydon", generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Croydon was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services. It was therefore made a
county borough, independent from the new
Surrey County Council, whilst remaining part of
Surrey for judicial and
lieutenancy purposes. The larger London Borough of Croydon 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 councils of the
County Borough of Croydon and the
Coulsdon and Purley Urban District. 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 Croydon". 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 Croydon) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an
outer London borough council, Croydon 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 11 November 2020, the council issued a Section 114 Notice, under the
Local Government Finance Act 1988, due to its difficult financial position, a de facto declaration of bankruptcy.
Private Eye magazine Rotten Borough Awards 2020 named Croydon the most
rotten borough, and Croydon was in the Private Eye annual list of Britain’s rottenest boroughs for seven consecutive years from 2017 to 2023. Following a petition in 2020, and a referendum in October 2021, more than 80% of votes favoured a change to a
directly elected mayor. The first direct election of a Croydon Mayor was in May 2022. ==Powers and functions==