Council removes pledge for zero poverty from new slogan: 'Luton 2020-2040 ... a place to thrive'

A combination of the pandemic and a summer survey have prompted a remodelling of the local authority’s future vision.

"Luton 2020-2040 … a place to thrive" is the proposed new catchphrase, the local authority’s overview and scrutiny board was told this week.

The original intention was for nobody to be living in poverty in Luton by 2040.

Upon his appointment as council chief executive, Robin Porter said an absolute priority would be “to address the levels of poverty still to be found in parts of the town”.

As the logo was reshaped, other options suggested were "Luton 2020-2040 … prosperity for all" and "Luton 2020-2040 … our journey to prosperity".

“People really wanted to see change and action quickly,” according to the council’s policy strategy manager Sinead McNamara.

“A lot of the key activity will happen over the next two to three years," she said.

“It’s very much the response to how we deal with the economic impacts of Covid-19 on our town.”

Ms McNamara referred to the completion of Luton DART and a new heritage strategy for Luton as important landmarks which residents will see over the next five years.

Regarding eliminating poverty in Luton, she told the board: “Some people felt they were struggling to buy into it - because this was supporting one particular sector of the community.

“Some of what we were hearing was around using the word 'prosperity' instead of the word 'poverty'. People felt 'prosperity' was too strong and almost the complete opposite of 'poverty'.

“We felt ‘a place to thrive’ probably makes everyone feel part of this.

“It’s tweaking the priorities, so there are clear outcomes and measures.

“We’ve listened to what our residents, businesses and voluntary community sector have told us and implemented that in the new vision,” she added.

“The more succinct version includes the overall ambition of nobody in poverty, but does talk about having a healthy, fair and sustainable town where everyone can thrive.

“We can do some of the things earlier around a greener transport network, increased walking and cycling, working towards being carbon neutral by 2040.”

A final report is due before the executive on October 12 and a new corporate plan to measure the Luton 2040 vision scheduled for its meeting on December 7.

Liberal Democrat Stopsley councillor David Wynn said: “The changes made are a massive improvement on previous things and might even go some way to making residents think that Luton listens.”

Liberal Democrat Barnfield councillor David Franks proposed the board “support the changes recognising they’re a significant improvement on the previous text, but wonder with the recent decision to make the lowest income 2,000 families pay an extra £200 in council tax”.

Councillors voted against that proposal by six votes to three, with two abstentions, opting instead to agree the four recommendations as written in the report.