Luton Borough Council, also known as Luton Council, is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. Luton has had an elected local authority since 1850, which has been reformed several times. Since 1997 the council has been a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, being a district council which also performs the functions of a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2007. It is based at Luton Town Hall.

History

Luton's first elected local authority was a

local board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

established in 1850, prior to which the town had been administered by the parish

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

. The town became a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1876 governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Luton', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. In 1964 the borough was elevated to county borough status, which saw the council take over county-level functions from Bedfordshire County Council. On 1 April 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the county borough was reconstituted as a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

. Between 1974 and 1997 Luton was a lower-tier district council, with Bedfordshire County Council again providing county-level services to the town. In 1997, Luton Borough Council regained responsibility for county-level services from Bedfordshire County Council. The way this change was implemented was to create a new

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...

of Luton covering the same area as the existing borough, but with no separate county council; instead the existing borough council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority. This therefore had the effect of restoring the borough council to the powers it had held when Luton was a county borough prior to 1974. Luton remains part of the

of Bedfordshire for the purposes of lieutenancy.

Governance

Luton Borough Council provides all local government services in the area. As a unitary authority it provides both county-level and district-level services. There are no

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es in the borough.

Political control

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: (Put "Luton" in search box to see specific results.) Lower-tier non-metropolitan district Unitary authority

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Luton, with political leadership instead provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The leaders since 1976 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to March 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Elections are held every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2023 there have been 48

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s elected from 20 wards.

Wards

* Barnfield * Beech Hill * Biscot * Bramingham * Central * Challney * Dallow * Farley * High Town *

Leagrave Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton, in the Borough of Luton, Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, in the northwest of the town. The current council ward is roughly bounded by Vincent Road, Torqu ...

* Lewsey * Northwell * Poets * Round Green *

Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

* Stopsley * Sundon Park * Vauxhall * Wigmore

Premises

The council is based at Luton Town Hall at the head of George Street, the town centre's main street. The current building was completed in 1936, replacing an earlier town hall of 1847 on the same site. The earlier building had been destroyed in a fire in 1919 in the town's "Peace Riot" which followed the formal proclamation of peace at the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

NHS

In July 2017 it decided to merge its health commissioning budget with the local Clinical Commissioning Group, establishing an integrated commissioning committee. It is one of the first areas which the NHS has designated an Accountable care system.

Arms

References

External links

* {{Authority control Unitary authority councils of England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Bedfordshire Leader and cabinet executives Billing authorities in England Borough Council