Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

South London Polytechnic Institutes (Borough Road Site) Act 1890
6.124 According to its long title, the purpose of the South London Polytechnic Institutes
(Borough Road Site) Act 1890 210 was to authorise the purchase of a site in
Southwark for the South London Polytechnic Institutes. The Institutes was an
association established following the City of London Parochial Charities Act
1883. 211 That Act provided for the distribution by the Charity Commissioners of
money to improve the physical, social and moral condition of Londoners. In 1888
the Charity Commissioners pledged funds to establish three polytechnics in south
London, one of which was to be established near the Elephant and Castle on
Borough Road. 212 The 1890 Act provided the necessary authority for the
purchase of that site to house the new polytechnic. Parliamentary authority was
required because the freehold of the site was owned by the City of London
Corporation.
6.125 The Corporation duly sold their freehold interest in accordance with the 1890 Act
and the polytechnic opened as the Borough Polytechnic Institute in 1892. 213 The
Corporation’s disposal of its freehold interest in the Borough Road site in 1890
fulfilled the purpose of the 1890 Act which thereupon became spent. It is
proposed for repeal on that basis.
King Edward’s Hospital Fund for London Act 1907
6.126 The preamble to this 1907 Act 214 recorded that the King Edward's Hospital Fund
for London ("the Fund") was established as a result of public subscriptions being
invited by the then Prince of Wales in 1897 to secure "more efficient aid and
support for hospitals of London and of thus commemorating the sixtieth
anniversary of the reign of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria". The preamble also
recorded that "it is expedient that for the proper establishment and administration
of the Fund upon a permanent basis the president and general council should be
incorporated”. Accordingly the 1907 Act incorporated the Fund’s president,
governors and general council by the name of King Edward’s Hospital Fund for
London (“the Corporation”).
6.127 The role of the Corporation changed during the twentieth century. Originally its
work focussed on raising money for London's voluntary hospitals. However, with
the founding of the National Health Service ("the NHS") in 1948, the Corporation
began to focus on research and development in the area of health and social
care, and worked to develop good practice in the NHS. Moreover the passage of
time revealed issues with the 1907 Act which became a hindrance to the
Corporation in the carrying out of its work.
210 53 & 54 Vict. c.ix.
211 46 & 47 Vict. c.36.
212 Pressure for the establishment of the polytechnics was exerted by the South London
Polytechnics Institutes Council founded by Edric Bayley, a solicitor and member of the
London School Board. The other two polytechnics were established at New Cross (now
Goldsmiths College) and at Battersea (which eventually moved and became part of the
University of Surrey).
213 Re-named the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1971 and the South Bank Polytechnic in
1987, the polytechnic acquired university status in 1992 and has, since 2003, been known
as the London South Bank University.
214 7 Edw.7 c.lxx.
206