Luton Borough Council

Luton 2040

Our vision for Luton in 2040 is a bold and ambitious one - a healthy, fair and sustainable town, where everyone can thrive, and no one has to live in poverty.

Together, as key system leaders and anchor institutions, we've developed this vision with residents and partners across Luton, based on their aspirations for the future of the town and the 225,300 people that live here.

Five priorities

We know that poverty and inequality cuts across outcomes and life chances of our residents in education, health and employment, which is why creating a town free of poverty is at the heart of our vision. The vision is built around five priorities, each of which contributes to achieving our overall vision for the town.

Building an inclusive economy that delivers investment to support the growth of businesses, jobs and incomes.
Improving population wellbeing and tackling health inequalities to enable everyone to have a good quality of life and reach their full potential.
Becoming a child friendly town, where our children grow up happy, healthy and secure, with a voice that matters and the opportunities they need to thrive.
Tackling the climate emergency and becoming a net zero town with sustainable growth and a healthier environment.
Supporting a strong and empowered community, built on fairness, local pride and a powerful voice for all our residents.

Progress

Since the launch in 2020, we've made strong progress towards our 2040 vision. Most notably, 5,000 people moved out of destitution, as the proportion of households living in destitution has decreased from 12.1% to 9.9%. This reflects the joint efforts of housing initiatives, employment support programmes and welfare assistance.

Luton has also achieved the highest job growth nationally between 2010 and 2022 and was ranked second in business creation in 2024, which is a great advancement towards a prosperous and inclusive town.

The % of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) is now lower than the national average. Disadvantaged students in Luton are outperforming their peers nationally, showcasing effective youth support strategies and progress on the way to a child-friendly town.

These advancements highlight measurable progress towards Luton’s vision of becoming a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable town.

Read our latest progress report here.

What do we mean when we say ‘no one in poverty’?

Ending poverty is an incredibly ambitious task. So, is it even possible?

In Luton, we measure poverty through our Minimum Income Standard, which identifies the number of people within different levels of living standard. The latest data shows that 47,000 residents are sometimes of often unable to afford basic essentials with 22,000 of those living in the most severe poverty (destitution).

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a well-respected charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. Their research suggests that, given the right approach it is possible to end destitution across the UK and stop anyone from living in poverty for more than 2 years.

We're working to deliver the right approach in Luton, alongside doing all we can to impact on national policy that will have the impact we need in Luton.

Therefore, we believe that it is possible that by 2040, no one in our town will be living in destitution and no one living in poverty for more than two years.

Roadmap to Luton 2040

We've developed a roadmap which plots our journey towards 2040. The roadmap is based on a set of 40 outcomes that describe what will be different as a result of our work together. We've identified one measure for each of the outcomes, which gives us an indication as to whether we are making the right impact. Take a look at our outcomes wheels, showing our resident-centred 2040 outcomes.

We've set targets and milestone for each of the measures, helping us plot our journey towards 2040. Targets and milestones can be found here.

Our key partnership boards, listed below, oversee progress towards these targets and help ensure the system is delivering towards our outcomes.

Luton 2040 Partnership
Brings together the work of all five priorities with a specific focus on reducing the number of people having to live in destitution and long-term poverty in the town.

Inclusive Economy Board
The Inclusive Economy Board is the strategic partnership board driving the Inclusive Growth strategy and Net Zero Road Map with representatives from private sector businesses and public, voluntary and community organisations.

Fairness Task Force
Launched in November 2021, the Luton Fairness Taskforce (FTF) is intentionally co-designed as a cross-sector and community-centered network to identify and overcome structural barriers on a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges facing the town.

Health and Wellbeing Board
This board provides the leadership for and oversight of the development of wider health and social care partnership arrangements, operating within the statutory framework established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

It's locally accountable for improving the health and wellbeing of the population of Luton, through integration and joint working/commissioning of services across the NHS, Social Care and Public Health.

Getting involved at Luton Council

Alongside playing a key role in supporting the system to deliver towards 2040, we're orientating all of our work towards delivering 2040. That means everyone who works for us is helping to deliver towards Luton 2040, whatever role they're in, including those who are:

making sure we have the right resources or people in place to deliver on our work
making sure the right type of buildings have the correct permission
keeping our streets clean or supporting young people in the care system

With more examples of how colleagues across the council are delivering towards Luton 2040, the My Luton 2040 campaign is coming soon.

To maximise on our contribution towards 2040, we all concentrate on:

prioritising those in most need
living out the CARES values, with a particular focus on collaborating with others
listening to what residents, including our young people want
building on what is good about our organisation and our town

For those involved in leadership within the council, we've developed a strategic framework which demonstrates how all our plans, policies and strategies can be aligned to 2040.

If you're responsible for a plan, policy or strategy, or are in the process of developing one, please find support and guidance around how to align your planning towards 2040 here.

We have a group that runs monthly to help colleagues identify the collaborations they need to integrate their plan across the organisation and strategically align work towards 2040.

To find out more about how this group can help you, please contact [email protected]. If you're responsible for being in contact with central government regarding key policy issues, please contact our Public Affairs Lead, [email protected]. Jamie can support with ensuring our collective messages to government are consistent and integrated.

Getting involved across the rest of the system

Beyond membership of our partnership boards, any organisation can pledge to contribute towards Luton 2040. A pledge is a commitment made by organisations to take specific actions that contribute to Luton 2040.

Pledges support the vision of creating a healthier, fairer and more sustainable Luton by participating in initiatives that drive positive change. Creating a meaningful pledge involves the following:

identifying a focus area: choose an area aligned with Luton 2040 priorities
setting clear actions: define specific, measurable steps your organisation will take to make a difference
demonstrating commitment: ensure the pledge is actionable and realistic, with a plan for implementation and tracking progress
aligning with the community: collaborate with local organisations, businesses and residents to enhance impact.

Each pledge helps Luton move closer to achieving the 2040 vision.