City and District of St Albans
Non-metropolitan district, Borough, City
St Albans
St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral
Flag of City and District of St Albans
Flag
St Albans shown within Hertfordshire
St Albans shown within Hertfordshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryEngland
RegionEast of England
Non-metropolitan countyHertfordshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district, Borough, City
Admin HQSt Albans
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodySt Albans City and District Council
 • LeadershipLeader & Committee Structure
 • MPsDaisy Cooper (LD)
Bim Afolami (C)
Area
 • Total62.23 sq mi (161.18 km2)
 • Rank177 (of 296)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total147,095[1]
 • Rank141 (of 296)
 • Ethnicity
90.9% White
4.1% S.Asian
1.7% Black
1.9% Mixed Race
1.4% Chinese or Other
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code26UG (ONS)
E07000100 (GSS)
OS grid referenceTL148073

St Albans (/ˈɔːlbənz/),[2] commonly known as the City and District of St Albans, is a local government district with city status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in St Albans, the largest settlement in the district. The district also includes the town of Harpenden and several villages. The district borders North Hertfordshire, Welwyn Hatfield, Hertsmere, Watford, Three Rivers, Dacorum, and Central Bedfordshire.

History

The town of St Albans had been an ancient borough since 1553. It was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough and additionally gained city status in 1877.[3][4]

The modern St Albans district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of three former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[5]

The new district was named St Albans after its largest settlement.[6] It was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing the series of mayors of St Albans which had started in 1553.[7] The city status which had been held by the old municipal borough of St Albans was extended to cover the whole of the new district on 9 July 1974.[8] As such the council could call itself "St Albans City Council", which name is sometimes used for it in official documents,[9] but chooses to style itself "St Albans City and District Council" instead.[10]

Geography

The largest settlement is St Albans, followed in size by Harpenden, with the main villages being Redbourn, Wheathampstead, London Colney, Chiswell Green and Bricket Wood.

Nearby towns include Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City to the east, Luton and Dunstable to the north, Hemel Hempstead to the west, Watford to the southwest and Borehamwood to the south. The district lies close to Greater London, at the closest point being less than 4 miles (6.4 km) from its outer boundary. From the centre of St Albans to the centre of London is about 19 miles (31 km).

Governance

St Albans City and District Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Anthony Rowlands,
Liberal Democrats
since 24 May 2023[11]
Chris White,
Liberal Democrats
since 22 May 2019[12]
Amanda Foley
since 17 July 2017[13]
Structure
Seats56
Political groups
Administration (48)
  Liberal Democrats (48)

Other parties (9)

  Conservatives (4)
  Green (3)
  Independent (1)
  Vacant (0)
Elections
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
2024
Meeting place
Civic Centre, St Peter's Street, St Albans, AL1 3JE
Website
www.stalbans.gov.uk
St Albans 18th Aug 2023
St Albans council 16th Aug 2023

Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including St Albans City and District Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. In some areas there is an additional third tier of civil parishes.[14]

Hertfordshire County Council is responsible for services including education, transport, fire and public safety, social care and libraries. The district council's responsibilities include electoral services, food safety, licensing, car parks, allotments, cemeteries, grounds maintenance, leisure and theatre facilities (in Council's ownership) museums, parks and open spaces, markets, street cleaning, management and maintenance of council owned housing, the administration of housing benefits, town planning, and building control.[10] Parish council responsibilities include allotments, youth projects, leisure facilities, open spaces, traffic calming and community transport schemes.[10]

Political control

The first elections to the district council were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:[15]

Party in controlYears
Conservative1974–1984
No overall control1984–1988
Conservative1988–1991
No overall control1991–1994
Liberal Democrats1994–1999
No overall control1999–2006
Liberal Democrats2006–2007
No overall control2007–2008
Liberal Democrats2008–2011
No overall control2011–2015
Conservative2015–2019
No overall control2019–2021
Liberal Democrats2021–present

Leadership

The role of mayor of St Albans is largely ceremonial. They preside at council meetings and act as first citizen of the district. They are chosen from among the councillors but are expected to maintain a non-political stance, although they do have the right to exercise a casting vote in the case of a tied vote at a meeting. The role of mayor is usually held by a different councillor each year, continuing the series of mayors of St Albans which dates back to the first borough charter of 1553.[16]

Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2004 have been:[17]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Robert Donald Liberal Democrats23 Jun 200418 May 2011
Julian Daly Conservative18 May 201124 May 2017
Alec Campbell Conservative24 May 20175 May 2019
Chris White Liberal Democrats22 May 2019

Composition

Following the 2023 election[18] and subsequent resignations and by-elections in Marshalswick East & Jersey Farm ward(Lib Dem Hold),[19] St Peters Ward (Green Gain[20]), Harpenden North & Rural(Lib Dem Hold) and Sandridge & Wheathampstead(Lib Dem Hold):[21]

PartyCouncillors
Liberal Democrats48
Conservative4
Green3
Independent1
Vacant0
Total56

The next scheduled elections are due in May 2024.

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre on St Peter's Street in the centre of St Albans. The building was purpose-built for the council in 1989[22] and incorporates an emergency bunker in the basement, now used as committee rooms.[23]

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 56 councillors, with the district being divided into 20 wards, each electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing roughly a third of the council each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.[24]

Wards

The district's wards are:[24]

Parishes

There are parish councils in Colney Heath, Harpenden, Harpenden Rural, London Colney, Redbourn, St Michael, St Stephen (including the villages of Chiswell Green and Bricket Wood), Sandridge and Wheathampstead. Harpenden's parish council takes the style "town council". The area of the pre-1974 borough of St Albans is an unparished area, where local affairs are discussed by a City Neighbourhoods Committee comprising the district councillors for that area.[25]

Parish Council Population (2011) Area (2011)
Colney Heath Colney Heath Parish Council 5,962 1,119 hectares (4.32 sq mi)
Harpenden Harpenden Town Council 29,448 1,278 hectares (4.93 sq mi)
Harpenden Rural Harpenden Rural Parish Council 405 923 hectares (3.56 sq mi)
London Colney London Colney Parish Council 9,507 513 hectares (1.98 sq mi)
Redbourn Redbourn Parish Council 5,344 1,908 hectares (7.37 sq mi)
Sandridge Sandridge Parish Council 11,451 1,518 hectares (5.86 sq mi)
St Michael St Michael Parish Council 477 2,120 hectares (8.2 sq mi)
St Stephen St Stephen Parish Council 13,865 2,329 hectares (8.99 sq mi)
Wheathampstead Wheathampstead Parish Council 6,410 2,599 hectares (10.03 sq mi)
Total parishes 82,869 14,307 hectares (55.24 sq mi)
St Albans (unparished) City Neighbourhood Committee 57,795 1,811 hectares (6.99 sq mi)
St Albans City and District St Albans City and District Council 140,664 16,118 hectares (62.23 sq mi)

Economy

St Albans has a highly skilled workforce, with the 4th highest proportion of managers, senior officials and professional occupations in the country. Nearly half of working age residents have a degree or equivalent qualification. Average weekly earnings are £724.40, 44% higher than the national average.[26] The St Albans District has lower than average unemployment and the lowest in Hertfordshire.[26] 2.8% of residents are disabled or permanently sick, compared with 5–6% nationally.[26]

Deloitte, Spreadex, AECOM, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Premier Foods have offices in the district. Sainsbury's Retail Distribution Centre at London Colney employs over 600 staff.[27]

Transport

The M1 motorway, the M25 motorway, the A414 road and A1081 road run through the district. The district has six railway stations. Two (St Albans City and Harpenden) are on the main Thameslink route from Bedford to Brighton via London. The other four are on the Abbey Line branch line from St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction.

Demography

In 2001 St Albans City and District had a population of 129,005 (50.8% female, 49.2% male). The mid 2012 population estimate was 138,800. By the time 2021 Census the population had risen to 148,167, with 75,167 females and 72,296 males.[28] In 2001 there were 20.5% children, 64.5% people of working age (16–64) and 14.9% older people (65+).[26] 86.9% of St Albans residents are White British, 4.3% Other White, 2% Irish and 1.3% Bangladeshi. 71% identify as Christian, 24.1% as "no religion" or "religion not stated", 2.6% as Muslim and 0.9% as Jewish.[26]

Twin towns

St Albans is twinned with:[29]

In addition, there are friendship links with:

Arms

Coat of arms of St Albans City and District
Crest
Issuant from a mural crown Or a demi figure of a knight armed of the period circa 1215 holding in the dexter hand a sword erect and in the sinister hand a roll of parchment Proper.
Escutcheon
Azure a saltire Or.
Supporters
On the dexter side an abbot in Liturgical vestments and plain mitre and supporting with the exterior hand a crozier on the sinister side a figure representing John the Printer and holding in the exterior hand an ink-ball.
Compartment
Per pale of a ploughed field and cobbles all Proper.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Population estimates - Office for National Statistics". Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Local Authority Districts, Counties and Unitary Authorities (April 2021) Map in United Kingdom". Office for National Statistics: Open Geography Portal. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Page, William (1908). A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 2. London: Victoria County History. pp. 477–483. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "No. 24502". The London Gazette. 11 September 1877. p. 5185.
  5. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 12 May 2023
  6. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 12 May 2023
  7. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "No. 46352". The London Gazette. 24 September 1974. p. 7920.
  9. ↑ "The City of St Albans (Electoral Changes) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/2558, retrieved 13 May 2023
  10. 1 2 3 "St Albans City and District Council". Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Barrow, Georgia (29 May 2023). "St Albans: Cllr Anthony Rowlands appointed as new mayor". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Council minutes, 22 May 2019". St Albans City and District Council. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "New chief executive confirmed". St Albans City and District Council. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 3 March 2023
  15. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Mayoral Count" (PDF). stalbans.gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Council minutes". St Albans City and District Council. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  18. ↑ "St Albans election result". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "By-election result in Marshalswick East and Jersey Farm Ward" (PDF). St Albans City and District Council. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  20. ↑ "St Peters Ward by-election result" (PDF). 13 June 2023.
  21. ↑ "Results for Sandridge and Wheathampstead by-election" (PDF). 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "The Civic Centre" (PDF). St Albans Museums. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  23. ↑ Catford, Nick. "St Albans City and District Council Emergency Centre". Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  24. 1 2 "The St Albans (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/900, retrieved 13 May 2023
  25. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  27. ↑ Mapped: St Albans Economy Report 2011
  28. ↑ Nomisweb Topic summary TS008
  29. ↑ "St Albans City & District Council - Town twinning". Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  30. ↑ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

51°47′N 00°20′W / 51.783°N 0.333°W / 51.783; -0.333

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