Luton

Introduction

Luton is a located 32 miles (51 kilometres) north of London and since 1997 the town has been a Unitary Authority.

Luton is famous for hat-making and for many years, it was the location of a large Vauxhall Motors factory. The head office of Vauxhall Motors is still situated in the town, with Luton also being the home to Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport, and the University of Bedfordshire.

Recent Visits

None of note

Demographics for Luton

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Children and Learners

• £15.5m was allocated to school renovation projects in 2005-06, with a further £13.4m forecast for 2006/07. Projects include, £400,000 for Lea Manor High for 20 classroom extensions and a new classroom, £500,000 for Lealands High to improve facilities including access for the disabled and £400,000 for vocational facilities at Ashcroft High, Putteridge High and Stopsley High.

Crime

• In 2005/06 the Safer Luton Partnership was allocated over £333,000, including £25,000 Anti-Social Behaviour funding, under the Building Safer Communities Fund. The funding supported various initiatives, including the employment of Area Community Safety Officers tackling crime at a local level and the continuation of the drugs prevention work to build on and increase drug education
• The Luton Basic Command Unit received an allocation of over £225,000 in 2006/07.
• Luton was awarded £15,000 in 2005/06 for a Domestic Violence Co-ordinator.
• The Luton Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) has received funding of £745,000 to work with drug misusing offenders to help break the cycle of drugs, crime and prison.
• Luton Borough Council has been granted £400,000 for the Safer, Stronger Communities block of the Local Area Agreement for 2006/07. This includes over £80,000 for capital expenditure and £318,000 for revenue expenditure.
• Luton’s community safety strategy for 2005-08 highlights six key areas, they are; Environmental and Quality of Life Issues; Social Behaviour; Youth Inclusion; Tackling Prolific & other Priority Offenders (PPO’s); and Violence & Harassment.

Transport

• The Local Transport Plan Funding allocated to Luton for 2006/07 has over £2.5m for integrated transport and just under £1m for maintenance.
• Provisional approval has been given to the Luton to Dunstable Translink scheme.

Social Inclusion and Regeneration
 
• £48.8m will be provided over 10 years to Luton New Deal for Communities in 2001/02. Projects include: £170,000 for the Spectrum Health project, providing treatment, self-help support and education, nearly £181,000 towards the Key Stage 4 Vocational Curriculum Development project at Marsh Farm high school.
• Over £300,000 was made available through Community Empowerment Fund, Community Chest and Community Learning Chest. Activities for which grants from the Community Chest were awarded include a £5,000 grant to the Khidmat organisation to assist in organising the National Carers Week for Asian home carers.
• Over £4.6m of General Sure Start Grant was allocated to Luton Local Authority for 2004-06 which will include the creation of nearly 1,200 childcare places and the development of children centres.
• Over £670,000 was allocated to support the Sure Start local programme in Marsh Farm for 2005/06, with an additional £1.25m for capital projects to promote the physical, intellectual, and social development of children under the age of four.
• Over £1.1m was allocated to Luton Children’s Fund & On-Track for 2005/06 to identify children aged 5-13 yrs at risk of social exclusion and develop services. A further £1.7m has been allocated for the period 2006-08.

European Funding

• £1.29m was awarded from the Objective 2 European Social Fund (ESF) allocated to eight projects in Luton.
• £15m was allocated to Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Bedfordshire & Luton, the main co-financing organisation within the area
• Approximately £20.4m is currently being used to support 20 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects in Luton. including £3.5m for the Business Innovation Incubation Centre project, nearly £3m for the Prospering in Luton project, £2.2m for Luton’s National Centre for Carnival Arts and £2.2m for the Luton Innovation Centre project.