Central Bedfordshire Council is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

for the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009. Formation Central Bedfordshire was created on 1 April 2009 as part of a structural reform of local government in Bedfor ...

unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England. It was created from the merger of Mid Bedfordshire and

South Bedfordshire South Bedfordshire was, from 1974 to 2009, a non-metropolitan district of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a gen ...

District Councils and

Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Bedfordshire in England. It was established on 24 January 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009. The county council was based in Bedford. In 1997 Luton Borough ...

on 1 April 2009.

Council's current composition

Administrative history

The county council of

was abolished on 1 April 2009. The term of office of councillors of

and of Mid Bedfordshire and

District Councils ended on 1 April 2009. A new unitary council from that date to be known as Central Bedfordshire Council, was created for the same area as the existing districts of Mid and South Bedfordshire. There was to be no county council for the new county.http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/907/note/made - The Bedfordshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008

Elections

Central Bedfordshire Council is made up of 59 Councillors. On 7 October 2020, former UKIP councillor Patrick Hamill became Independent. Similarly, two former Conservative councillors – Nicola Harris and Steven Watkins – became Independent on 29 November and 17 December 2021 respectively.

Leader of the Council

Richard Wenham was elected as the new Leader of Central Bedfordshire Council at the first Full Council meeting of 2021, on 14 January 2021. Wenham is the third leader of the unitary authority, which was created in 2009 and he succeeds James Jamieson, who had been Leader since 2011.

Premises

The council inherited offices at Priory House (built 2006) in Chicksands from Mid Bedfordshire District Council, and the South Bedfordshire District Council offices (built 1989) in Dunstable. Priory House acts as the council's headquarters, whilst the former South Bedfordshire offices were renamed Watling House and continue to be used as office space by the council.

References

External links

Central Bedfordshire Council Website
{{Authority control Unitary authority councils of England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Bedfordshire Billing authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives Central Bedfordshire District