London Borough of Brent

London Borough of Brent
London borough

Coat of arms
Council logo
Motto: Forward Together

Brent shown within Greater London
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region London
Ceremonial county Greater London
Status London borough
Admin HQ Forty Lane, Wembley
Created 1 April 1965
Government
 • Type London borough council
 • Body Brent London Borough Council
 • Leadership Leader & Cabinet (Labour)
 • Mayor Kana Naheerathan[1]
 • MPs Barry Gardiner (Lab)
Tulip Siddiq (Lab)
Dawn Butler (Lab)
 • London Assembly Navin Shah (Lab) AM for Brent and Harrow
 • EU Parliament London
Area
 • Total 16.70 sq mi (43.24 km2)
Area rank 284th (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
 • Total 320,762
 • Rank 26th (of 326)
 • Density 19,000/sq mi (7,400/km2)
 • Ethnicity[2]

18% White British
4% White Irish
0.1% White Gypsy or Irish Traveller
14.3% Other White
1.4% White & Black Caribbean
0.9% White & Black African
1.2% White & Asian
1.6% Other Mixed
18.6% Indian
4.6% Pakistani
0.6% Bangladeshi
1% Chinese
9.2% Other Asian
7.8% Black African
7.6% Black Caribbean
3.4% Other Black
3.7% Arab

2.1% Other
 • ONS code 00AE
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
 • Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes HA, NW, W
Area code(s) 020
Police force Metropolitan Police
Website www.brent.gov.uk

The London Borough of Brent ( pronunciation ) is a London borough in north west London, and forms part of Outer London. The major areas are Kilburn, Wembley and Harlesden.

It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east and Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea to the south, and Westminster to the south-east. Most of the eastern border is formed by the Roman road Watling Street, which is now the modern A5. Brent has a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial land. Brent is home to Wembley Stadium, one of the country's biggest landmarks, as well as Wembley Arena. The local authority is Brent London Borough Council.

The borough has seen illegal dumping on the borough’s streets between 2013/14 and 2014/15 surge by 84 per cent, the most recorded by a local authority in England.[3] According to the findings of a survey by property group Rightmove, Brent is the third most unhappy borough in London, based on a number of factors including décor, space, value, pride, costs, safety, amenities, recreation, community, contentment, neighbourliness and area contentment.[4] Brent has the highest proportion of housing benefit claims by private tenants in the country as a percentage of all households according to the Financial Times.[5]

History

A map of Brent in 1872, by John Marius Wilson

Brent was formed in 1965 from the area of the former Municipal Borough of Wembley and Municipal Borough of Willesden of Middlesex. Its name derives from the River Brent which runs through the borough.[6]

Politics and local government

Wards

A map showing the wards of Brent since 2002

Brent is divided into 21 Electoral Wards. Some wards share a name with the traditional areas above, others include Barnhill, Dudden Hill, Fryent, Mapesbury and Welsh Harp.[7]

The Brent borough includes three parliamentary constituencies: Brent North, Brent Central, and Hampstead and Kilburn, which includes part of the London Borough of Camden. Before the 2010 United Kingdom general election it was divided into three constituencies contained wholly within the borough - Brent South, Brent East and Brent North.

Politics

Brent London Borough Council is elected every four years, with currently 63 councillors being elected at each election. While the Labour Party has been the largest single party on the council for about half its history and the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have each been the largest party at other times, there have been several periods when no party has had overall control. Labour regained control in 2010 and increased their majority at the 2014 election. As of the 2014 election the council is composed of the following councillors:-[8]

Party Councillors
  Labour Party 56
  Conservative Party 6
  Liberal Democrats 1

The leader of the Council is Labour Councillor Muhammed Butt[9].

Demographics

Population
YearPop.±%
1801 2,022—    
1811 2,690+33.0%
1821 3,074+14.3%
1831 3,991+29.8%
1841 5,416+35.7%
1851 5,646+4.2%
1861 14,749+161.2%
1871 23,852+61.7%
1881 32,955+38.2%
1891 67,674+105.4%
1901 105,613+56.1%
1911 164,833+56.1%
1921 202,448+22.8%
1931 248,656+22.8%
1941 277,842+11.7%
1951 310,457+11.7%
1961 294,804−5.0%
1971 280,009−5.0%
1981 251,249−10.3%
1991 248,569−1.1%
2001 263,463+6.0%
2011 311,200+18.1%
Source: A Vision of Britain through time

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased. The population peaked in the 1960s, when industry began to relocate from London.

In the 2001 Census, the borough had a population of 263,464 – of whom 127,806 were male, and 135,658 female. Of those stating a choice, 47.71% described themselves as Christian, 17.71% as Hindu, 12.26% as Muslim and 10% as having no religion. Of the population, 39.96% were in full-time employment and 7.86% in part-time employment – compared to a London average of 42.64% and 8.62%, respectively. Residents were predominantly owner-occupiers, with 23.17% owning their house outright, and a further 31.33% owning with a mortgage. 10.59% were in local authority housing, with a further 13.29% renting from a housing association, or other registered social landlord.[10]

The borough of Brent is extremely diverse, ethnically. In the 2011 census, those who claimed British white heritage made up 18% of the borough's population. 18% claimed other white heritage, 5% were of mixed heritage, those of South Asian heritage comprised about 33%, those of African and Caribbean heritage about 19%, and other ethnic groups about 7%. Whites were found in highest proportion in the wards of Mapesbury (the area between Willesden Green and Cricklewood), Brondesbury Park, Queen's Park and Kilburn. Blacks in highest proportion were found in Stonebridge, Harlesden and Kensal Green wards. Asians are centred in the wards of Alperton, Wembley Central and Kenton.[11] Brent has the highest proportion of Irish residents in mainland Britain, with 4% of the population.[12]

As of 2011, 41.5% identified themselves as Christian, 18.6% Muslim, 17.8% Hindu and 10.6% irreligious.[13]

Geography

Major districts of Brent include: Cricklewood, Kilburn, Willesden and Wembley.

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[14]

Climate data for Borough of Brent, UK
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8
(46)		 8
(46)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 15
(59)		 17
(63)		 19
(66)		 19
(66)		 17
(63)		 14
(57)		 11
(52)		 8
(46)		 13.2
(55.7)
Average low °C (°F) 3
(37)		 3
(37)		 4
(39)		 5
(41)		 8
(46)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 12
(54)		 10
(50)		 8
(46)		 6
(43)		 4
(39)		 7.1
(44.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 132
(5.2)		 109
(4.3)		 79
(3.1)		 84
(3.3)		 79
(3.1)		 64
(2.5)		 80
(3)		 89
(3.5)		 89
(3.5)		 145
(5.7)		 150
(5.9)		 155
(6.1)		 1,255
(49.2)
Source: Weatherbase[15]

Economy

Diageo has its head office in Park Royal and in the London Borough of Brent,[16][17] on a former Guinness brewery property.[18] The brewery was closed in 2004; it had produced beer since 1936.[19] Diageo planned to move its head office to Brent from Central London when the lease on the Central London office expired in 2010.[18]

Brent is the joint fourth-worst Borough in London for levels of child poverty. Save the Children reported in 2011 that 11,000 children are impoverished.[20]

Education

Compulsory recycling

Recycling has been compulsory in the borough of Brent since 2008.[21] Through a green box collection scheme[21] the borough aims to improve on the 25 per cent recycled waste it already achieves.

London Fire Brigade

The London Borough of Brent has three fire stations within the borough: Park Royal, Wembley and Willesden. Brent has a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial land. Most notably, Wembley National Stadium is within the area - on match days the safety of over 90,000 people is the responsibility of the London Fire Brigade. Wembley covers the largest area in the borough, 19.1 km2 (7.4 sq mi).[22] Two pumping appliances, a fire rescue unit and an aerial ladder platform are based there. Willesden, for its relatively small, in comparison to Wembley, station ground (10.5 km2 (4.1 sq mi)), responded to over a thousand incidents in 2006/2007.[22] Two pumping appliances reside there. Park Royal, with its one pumping appliance and an incident response unit, has one of the smallest station grounds; just 8.1 km2 (3.1 sq mi). Within the borough, 4,105 incidents occurred in 2006/2007.[22]

Transport

The numerous London Underground, London Overground and National Rail stations in the borough are:

Travel to work

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74):

Landmarks

Parks and open spaces

Sport and leisure

The Borough has three Non-League football clubs:

References

  1. ↑ Kana Naheerathan announced as new mayor of Brent, brent.gov.uk; accessed 28 February 2015.
  2. ↑ 2011 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in England and Wales, Office for National Statistics (2012). See Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom for the full descriptions used in the 2011 Census.
  3. ↑ King, Lorraine (September 1, 2015). "Brent suffers the highest increase in fly-tipping in England". Brent and Kilburn Times. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ King, Lorraine (August 6, 2015). "Brent dubbed the third ‘most unhappiest’ borough in London". Brent and Kilburn Times. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  5. ↑ Allen, Kate (August 6, 2015). "Benefit cuts threaten buy-to-let landlords’ income". Financial Times. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  6. ↑ King, Rosamund & Barres-Baker, Malcolm - Britain in Old Photographs: The London Borough of Brent (Stroud, The History Press, 2011) p.4 ISBN 0-75245-827-2
  7. ↑ Borough of Brent official website, brent.gov.uk; accessed 7 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Brent". BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  9. ↑ https://www.brent.gov.uk/your-council/about-brent-council/council-structure-and-how-we-work/the-cabinet/cllr-muhammed-butt-leader-of-the-council/
  10. ↑ Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics: Brent, neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk; accessed 25 February 2009.
  11. ↑ 2011 Census data, accessed 4 November 2013.
  12. ↑ 2011 Census data
  13. ↑ Brent profile by religious adherence, http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk; accessed 7 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Climate Summary
  15. ↑ "Weatherbase.com". Weatherbase. 2013.
  16. ↑ "Diageo Contacts." Diageo. Retrieved on 1 September 2011. "Diageo plc Lakeside Drive Park Royal London NW107HQ"
  17. ↑ "Brent Boundary (approximate)." London Borough of Brent. Retrieved on 1 September 2011.
  18. 1 2 Dunkley, Jamie. "Drinks maker Diageo to close London office", The Daily Telegraph, 20 March 2009; retrieved 1 September 2011.
  19. ↑ Innes, John. "Guinness closes UK brewery", The Scotsman. 16 April 2004; retrieved 1 September 2011.
  20. ↑ Thousands of Brent children in severe poverty, harrowobserver.co.uk; accessed 7 December 2014.
  21. 1 2 "Mass sign-up to London recycling scheme". BBC News (UK, England). 2 August 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  22. 1 2 3 London Fire Brigade - Brent Profile, london-fire.gov.uk; accessed 7 December 2014.
  23. ↑ "2011 Census: QS701EW Method of travel to work, local authorities in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 November 2013. Percentages are of all residents aged 16-74 including those not in employment. Respondents could only select one mode.

External links

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Coordinates: 51°33′58″N 0°16′26″W / 51.56611°N 0.27389°W / 51.56611; -0.27389

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