THE BENEFITS AND VALUE OF A CIVIC AGREEMENT IN LUTON

Prior to Covid-19, Luton’s economy was performing strongly compared to national trends and progress was being made on addressing key social challenges. In 2017, 46% of children in Luton lived in poverty – a figure that reduced to 39% in 2019 – but due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis this has increased back to 45% in 2022. Recovery from the cost of living crisis will be critical in the next decade for Luton. Central to this are plans for the town centre’s regeneration based on the Council’s successful £20m bid for central government levelling up funding and the construction of a state-of-the-art stadium for Luton Town FC, with accompanying residential development.

staff and student-led activities. There is a need to increase pride in place, which the Council believes will naturally increase the strength and attainment of the community.

The Council launched an important new programme of work in 2022, creating an exciting new place narrative, branding and marketing for Luton to promote Luton’s unique advantages and support economic growth by attracting new investment into the town.

This work is fundamental to the Luton 2040 Vision and making Luton a better destination for people to live, work, visit, study and invest so that everyone in our town can thrive. A focus will be on selling the opportunities within the town centre and the Luton Rising development activity, including Morton House, Bartlett Square and the Green Horizons Business Park, which will become a creative hub for developing sustainable industries, research and finance.

The University is part of this revitalisation, taking a position in the heart of the town centre, including the refurbishment of several key buildings within its estate and the development of new spaces for

The Civic Agreement will contribute to a wider process of creating a greater sense of community and people being ambassadors for the town. It will also take into account the sensitivities around the cost of living crisis and demonstrate why supporting regeneration, jobs, skills and local businesses is more important than ever.