London Borough of Camden:

The area is in the north side of the city, reaching from Holborn and Bloomsbury in the south to Hampstead Heath in the north. Neighbouring areas are the City of Westminster and the City of London to the south, Brent to the west, Barnet and Haringey to the north and Islington to the east. It covers all or part of the N1, N6, N7, N19, NW1, NW2, NW3, NW5, NW6, NW8, EC1, EC2, EC4, WC1, WC2, W1 and W9 postcode areas. It contains parts of central London.

Politics

London Borough Council

Camden Town Hall is located in Judd Street near King's Cross. The Council was controlled by the Labour Party continuously from 1971 until 2006, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party. In 1985 when the borough was rate-capped, the Labour leadership joined the rebellion in which it declared its inability to set a budget in an unsuccessful attempt to force the Government to allow higher spending. Camden was the fourth to last council to drop out of the campaign, doing so in the early hours of 6 June.

At the local elections on 4 May 2006 the Labour party lost control of Camden council for the first time since 1971. The new council was made up of 20 Lib Dems, 18 Labour, 13 Conservatives and 3 Green councillors.^{[citation needed]} Following the elections the Liberal Democrats formed a partnership with the Conservatives. Cllr Keith Moffitt (Lib Dem) was voted Leader of the Council and Cllr Andrew Marshall (Con) Deputy Leader. The new administration includes a further five Liberal Democrat and three Conservative Executive Members.^{[citation needed]}

Since the 2006 elections Labour have lost two seats to the Liberal Democrats through byelections, in Kentish Town and Haverstock wards. A Labour Councillor in Haverstock ward also defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2009. The Conservatives have also lost two seats, one to the Liberal Democrats in Hampstead, and one to the Green Party in Highgate.

There are now 24 Liberal Democrats, 15 Labour, 12 Conservative and 3 Green councillors[1].

Since the 2006 election, the Liberal Democrats have gained a net 4 seats, Labour have lost 3 and the Conservatives have lost 1.

The organisation's staff are led by the Chief Executive who is currently Moira Gibb. Beneath her the organisation is divided into five directorates:

The directorates are headed by a director who report directly to the Chief Executive. Each directorate is divided into a number of divisions headed by an assistant director. They in turn are divided into groups which are themselves divided into services. This is a similar model to most local government in London.

London Assembly

UK Parliament

Demographics

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth slowed; as while many were drawn in new employment – others were made homeless by the new central London termini and construction of lines through the district. The population peaked at 376,500, in the 1890s, when official efforts began to clear the overcrowded slums around St Pancras and Holborn.

After World War II, further suburban public housing projects were built to rehouse the many Londoners made homeless in the Blitz; and there was an exodus from London towards the new towns under the Abercrombie Plan for London (1944). As industry declined during from the 1970s, the population continued its decline, falling to 161,100 at the start of the 1980s. It has now begun to rise again with new housing developments on brownfield sites; and the release of railway and gas work lands around Kings Cross.

The 2001 census gave Camden a population of 198,000, an undercount that was later revised to 202,600.^[7] The projected 2006 figure is 227,500.

Camden is 73% white, 6% Bangladeshi and 6% African. 35% of householders are owner-occupiers; 86% of households live in purpose-built or converted flats.^[8]

The borough is home to some of London's most desirable areas such as Hampstead, Dartmouth Park, the Holly Lodge Estate and Camden Town, as well as areas with higher unemployment and very high crime levels (especially drug crime) around Queen's Crescent, which divides the two notorious wards of Haverstock and Gospel Oak and, to a lesser extent, the nearby areas of Kentish Town and Camden Town, which is famous for its open drug market around Camden High Street and Agar Grove

On 20 May 1999, The Camden New Journal newspaper documented 'Two Camdens' syndrome as a high profile phenomenon differentiating the characteristics of education services in its constituencies. In 2006, Dame Julia Neuberger's book reported similar variation as a characteristic of Camden's children's health services. Her insider's view was corroboration - in addition to the 2001 "Inequalities" report by Director of Public Health Dr. Maggie Barker, of "stark contrasts in" health and education opportunities - of earlier similar Audit Commission findings and a verification/update of the 1999 CNJ report.^[9]

Major public or private bodies

Attractions

Education

The London Borough of Camden is the local education authority for the borough, organised through the Children, Schools and Families Directorate.

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Independent

Transport

Police

Camden is policed by the Metropolitan Police. There are five police stations across the borough, situated at Holborn, Kentish Town, West Hampstead, Hampstead and Albany Street. Holborn and Kentish Town are open 24 hours to the public. Opening hours of the other stations vary.

London Fire Brigade

Four fire stations (Belsize, Euston, Kentish Town, West Hampstead) are operated by London Fire Brigade in the borough of Camden. None of these fire stations are home to any specialist units; just pumping appliances and a rescue tender. In 2006/2007, the four stations attended just under eight thousand incidents.

During 2006/2007 the ward of King's Cross had the most malicious calls; with over 40 against a total for the borough of 161.

Since 2002, Camden has seen a steady decrease in the number of fires attended (2002/2003 - 768; 2006/2007 - 547: -28%). Something the LFB will put down to its commitment to its Community Fire Safety scheme.

Three of London's busiest railway stations are in the borough; with somewhere in the region of 52 million passengers using the three every year.^[12]^[13]

References

^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
^ Vision of Britain - Camden LB
^ Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2001)
^ Guardian Politics - Hampstead and Highgate
^ Guardian Politics - Holborn and St Pancras
^ "Mapping for the London Boroughs nd the Metropolitan Counties" (PDF). Fifth Periodical Report. Boundary Commission for England. http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7032/7032_iii.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ Camden Council - Camden Key Facts 2001-2016
^ Camden Council - Camden Profile 2007
^ see the DFES Children Act report (2000); The Health Divide by Voluntary Action Camden; Health Inequalities in Camden Dr. Maggie Barker, a public Health Report; "Seen But Not Heard" an Audit Commission report based on research carried out mainly in Camden; and The Moral State We're In by Dame Julia Neuberger, former chair of Camden Community Health Services NHS Trust, et al.
^ List of Primary schools in LB Camden accessed 14 Jun 2007
^ List of Secondary schools in LB Camden accessed 14 Jun 2007
^ http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/about_us/media/Camden.pdf London Fire Brigade - Camden Profile
^ London Fire Brigade - Camden Profile

London Borough of Camden

Contents

History

Districts and environs