The boroughs

The boroughs (and the City of London) run most of the day-to-day services that keep London ticking. Together they spend more than £12 billion a year, including about £7 billion on children's services, including education, and £2 billion on adult social services.

They own and maintain nearly half a million homes (one in seven of all homes in London), run the libraries, deal with planning applications, and are responsible for waste collection and licensing the capital's pubs, clubs and restaurants. They repair and maintain 95 per cent of London's roads, deal with parking enforcement, and pay £213 million a year to allow a million older and disabled Londoners free travel on buses, tubes and trains. They also deliver environmental services, including consumer protection, and many arts and leisure services.

As you know, the 32 boroughs are run by elected members (there are 1,861 of you in all). Three boroughs (Hackney, Lewisham and Newham) have directly-elected mayors, the rest have a leader appointed by his or her fellow councillors. All operate a cabinet system, with executive groups of between seven and 10 members led by the directly-elected mayor or leader.