It was one of the lower tier authorities within the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London.

The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Hackney) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection.

[13] An independent inquiry in 1998 was highly critical of the council's handling of its investigations into one of its social workers, employed between 1981 and 1993, against whom a number of complaints of child sexual abuse had been made but he had been allowed to continue working.

His position as a Labour activist and trade union official was said to have hindered proper investigations.

The social worker himself was never convicted, having died of an AIDS-related illness in 1995, but the police subsequently reported that they had been about to arrest him at the time of his death.

[14][15] The local Labour party split when the allegations were made public, which was a contributory factor to the council going under no overall control for a number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

[27] The council has its main offices at the Hackney Service Centre at 1 Hillman Street, immediately west of the Town Hall.