London is identified with the center of British government as represented by the concentration of power in Westminster. Ironically, London itself has had a rather uneasy relationship with the central government since William the Conqueror guaranteed the City a degree of autonomy by not making the citizens change the way they ran the City when he took power; he did not want to upset his position by going against the citizens of the strongest city in England.
Efforts to deal with the problems of a greatly expanded community in the 19th century began with the creation of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855, which provided the different neighborhoods with common services such as sewerage, fire services, parks, and slum clearance. The next stage was the establishment of the London County Council (LCC) in 1889 (whose jurisdiction did not include the City). The LCC eventually expanded to include public ownership of such services as gas, water, electricity, and transport. The LCC was replaced in 1965 by the Greater London Council (GLC) when the present system of 32 borough councils plus the City of London was set up. In this two-tiered system, local boroughs set property tax rates and were responsible for housing, local planning, local parks, and other local issues. The top tier, the GLC, handled overall planning, traffic control, roads, sewage, garbage disposal, and protected heritage sites.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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