A councillor left the Lib Dem group on 13 August and another joined the Independent Alliance. One committee seat moves, and the three independents get none.

Two changes of allegiance in August have moved a committee seat at Luton Council, and Full Council is asked to sign off the new allocation on Thursday 3 September.

The council last set its committee seats on 12 August. Two things happened in the days that followed, both recorded in the report going to next week’s meeting:

  • On 13 August, Cllr David Franks, who represents Barnfield, notified the council that he no longer wished to be treated as a member of the Liberal Democrat Group.
  • On 17 August, Cllr Khtija Malik, who represents Challney, notified the council that she had joined the Independent Alliance Group.

One seat therefore has to move from the Liberal Democrats to the Independent Alliance. The seat offered and accepted is on the Development Management Committee, the body that decides the borough’s larger planning applications. Cllr Rehana Malik has been nominated to fill the vacancy Cllr Franks left on that committee.

The vacancies his resignation created

Leaving a political group costs a councillor the seats the group held for them. Cllr Franks’ resignation from the Liberal Democrat group left vacancies on:

  • the Overview and Scrutiny Board
  • the Scrutiny Finance Review Group, on top of one already unfilled from 12 August
  • the Standards Committee

The leaders of the political groups decided that for the scrutiny bodies, expressions of interest should first be sought from councillors who are not in any group. Cllr Franks has asked to be appointed to both the Overview and Scrutiny Board and the Scrutiny Finance Review Group. Cllr Miller has asked for the remaining seat on the finance group. Cllr Keens has been nominated for the Standards Committee.

Cllr Franks has also agreed to resume sitting on the Local Plan Working Party, and Cllr Stephens is put forward for the Executive Advisory Group on Extremism, a nomination the Executive has to approve.

The timing matters for one story in particular. Cllr Franks was one of the two councillors who called in the Bury Park red route decision after it was published on 5 August. By the time the Overview and Scrutiny Board considered that call-in on 24 August, he was no longer a member of it, and the attendance record for the meeting does not list him.

Three councillors, no committee seats

The wider point is in the second report on the same agenda, and it is a written answer from the Leader of the Council.

At the 12 August meeting, Cllr Tom Shaw asked the Leader, Cllr Tahmina Saleem, why councillors who sit outside a political group are left out of the calculation for committee seats altogether. Her written response is now published.

The numbers show what the question is about. Luton has 48 councillors. Forty-five of them are in a political group, and those groups hold all 54 seats on the committees that have to be politically balanced. Three councillors are in no group, and hold none.

Luton Council seats and committee seats by political group, September 2026 Labour holds 22 of the 48 seats on Luton Council and 26 of the 54 committee seats. The Liberal Democrats hold 13 council seats and 16 committee seats. The Independent Alliance holds 7 council seats and 8 committee seats. The Conservatives hold 3 council seats and 4 committee seats. Three councillors sit as non-aligned independents and hold no committee seats at all. Who holds Luton's 54 committee seats Seats on the council against seats on politically balanced committees Seats on the council (48) Seats on committees (54) Labour 22 26 Liberal Democrat 13 16 Independent Alliance 7 8 Conservative 3 4 Non-aligned 3 0 Source: Appendix A, Constitution of Committees (Political Balance), Luton Borough Council, Full Council agenda 3 September 2026. Committees counted are those where political balance has not been disapplied. Graphic by Luton Daily

Why the law allows it

The report’s answer is that the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 requires seats to be allocated to political groups, and a group must have at least two members. A councillor sitting alone is not a group, so the calculation starts as if the council had 45 members rather than 48.

The report says this is the most common approach. Of 13 councils surveyed by Tendring District Council on the same question, 8 use it. It also notes that the current method produces the same result whether the three are counted in the sums or not, because they get no allocation either way.

Two alternatives are set out, and both have the same catch. Either would require Full Council to disapply the rules under section 17 of the 1989 Act. That needs a resolution with no member voting against it. In both cases political groups would have to give up seats they hold now. Under the simpler of the two, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives would each lose one seat. The report’s illustration uses the council’s composition on 12 August, before the two changes above, but says the principle is unaffected.

The Leader’s recommendation is to make no change for now. The matter would be kept under review until after the borough election in May 2027, and any group can voluntarily give up a seat at any time in the meantime. The report adds that none of Luton’s independents were elected as independents. All of them became independent “for one reason or another”.

What it means for you

If your councillor is one of the three sitting outside a group, they have no vote on the committees that decide planning applications, licensing rules and the council’s audit and constitution work. That is lawful, it is the norm across English councils, and next Thursday’s meeting is where it is confirmed until at least the May 2027 election.

There is a partial exception worth knowing. Luton has switched off the political balance rules for a longer list of bodies than most councils. They include:

  • the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its sub-committees
  • the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Committee and its sub-committees
  • the Standards Committee and its sub-committees
  • the Appointments Panel
  • the Housing Appeal and Review Panel
  • the two joint health overview and scrutiny committees

Seats on those bodies can go to a councillor outside a group. That is exactly the route being used to fill the scrutiny vacancies next week.

Full Council meets at 18:00 on Thursday 3 September in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall. It is open to the public and livestreamed, and the papers are online.

Sources

The other item on next Thursday’s agenda is the Bury Park red route, which we cover in Bury Park red route goes to Full Council. Planning decisions from the Development Management Committee are tracked on Luton planning news.