City of Milton Keynes

The City of Milton Keynes is a borough in Buckinghamshire, England, which has had city status since 2022. It takes its name from its main settlement, Milton Keynes. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder of Buckinghamshire. It is administered by Milton Keynes City Council, which has been a unitary authority since 1997. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region.

The principal built-up area in the borough is the Milton Keynes urban area, which accounts for about 20% of its area and 90% of its population. The borough also includes many rural areas surrounding the Milton Keynes urban area, especially to the north, containing several villages and the town of Olney. At the 2021 census, the population of the borough was just over 287,000.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of four former districts and part of a fifth, which were all abolished at the same time:

Bletchley Urban District
Newport Pagnell Urban District
Newport Pagnell Rural District
Winslow Rural District (part within the designated New Town area only, rest went to Aylesbury Vale)
Wolverton Urban District

The new district was named Milton Keynes after the new town which had been designated in 1967, covering a large area in the south of the new district. The district was given borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

As established in 1974, the borough of Milton Keynes was one of five non-metropolitan districts of Buckinghamshire, with Buckinghamshire County Council providing county-level services to the area. On 1 April 1997, Milton Keynes became a self-governing unitary authority by being redefined as its own non-metropolitan county, independent from Buckinghamshire County Council. Milton Keynes remains part of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire for the purposes of lieutenancy.

On 15 August 2022, letters patent were issued giving the borough the status of a city, allowing the council to change its name to Milton Keynes City Council.

Local government

Arising from the local government elections of May 2024, the borough is governed by a Labour administration. The Liberal Democrat party is the main opposition group.

In the 2024 election Labour gained 4 seats to become the majority party, having previously been part of a joint Labour-Lib-Dem run administration.

The borough is fully parished, with over 50 parishes.

==Economy==

According to data from the Office for National Statistics for 2017, the borough was the highest performing NUTS3 region in the UK outside inner London (which takes the first five places), on the basis of gross value added per head.

Education

Further education in the borough is provided by Milton Keynes College. For higher education, the Open University's headquarters are in Milton Keynes though, as this is a distance education institution, the only students resident on campus are approximately 200 full-time postgraduates. A campus of the University of Bedfordshire located in Central Milton Keynes, provides conventional undergraduate courses.

Cranfield University is the academic partner in project with Milton Keynes City Council to establish a new university, code-named "MK:U",

on a reserved site in the city centre. , the project is stalled pending assurance of government funding.

==Demographics ==

Population

thumb|300px|Population trend of borough and Urban Area 1801–2021

thumb|231x231px|Population of City of Milton Keynes (unitary authority area) in 2021

At the 2021 census, the population of the borough was 287,060. By 2050, the City Council projects that the borough's population will reach 410,000.

=== Education ===

At the 2021 census, of residents aged 16 and over, 15.8% had no qualifications, 10.9% had a level1 qualification, 14.2% had level2, 4.7% were in apprenticeship, 15.7% had level3, 35.8% had level4 and 2.9% had other qualifications.

Ethnicity

In the 2021 census, almost 71.8% of the population described their ethnic origin as white, 12.3% as Asian, 9.7% as black, 4% as mixed, and 2% as another ethnic group.

! colspan="2" |1991 census

! colspan="2" |2001 census

! colspan="2" |2011 census

! colspan="2" |2021 census

!Number

!White: Total

!119,876

!95.6%

!168,679

!94.1%

!187,852

!90.7%

!199,094

!80%

!206,114

!71.8%

|White: British

|–

|179,694

|86.8%

|183,934

|73.9%

|178,568

|62.2%

|White: Irish

|–

|2,918

|2,498

|2,382

|0.8%

|White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller

|–

|72

|156

|0.1%

|White: Roma

|–

|578

|0.2%

|White: Other

|–

|5,240

|12,590

|5.1%

|24,430

|8.5%

!Asian or Asian British: Total

!3,073

!6,127

!9,406

!4.5%

!22,782

!9.2%

!35,645

!12.3%

|Asian or Asian British: Indian

|1,560

|2,940

|3,967

|1.9%

|8,106

|3.3%

|15,348

|5.3%

|Asian or Asian British: Pakistani

|398

|842

|1,682

|0.8%

|3,851

|1.5%

|7,163

|2.5%

|Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi

|388

|717

|1,072

|0.5%

|1,989

|0.8%

|3,189

|1.1%

|Asian or Asian British: Chinese

|325

|688

|1,835

|0.9%

|2,722

|1.1%

|2,913

|1.0%

|Asian or Asian British: Other Asian

|402

|940

|850

|0.4%

|6,114

|2.5%

|7,032

|2.4%

!Black or Black British: Total

!1,722

!2,972

!4,986

!2.4%

!17,131

!6.9%

!27,851

!9.7%

|Black or Black British: African

|289

|548

|2,596

|13,058

|5.2%

|21,502

|7.5%

|Black or Black British: Caribbean

|1,017

|1,716

|1,956

|2,524

|2,975

|1.0%

|Black or Black British: Other Black

|416

|708

|434

|1,549

|3,374

|1.2%

!Mixed or British Mixed: Total

!–

!3,716

!1.8%

!8,235

!3.3%

!11,725

!4%

|Mixed: White and Black Caribbean

|–

|1,347

|2,243

|2,997

|1.0%

|Mixed: White and Black African

|–

|477

|1,597

|2,551

|0.9%

|Mixed: White and Asian

|–

|1,037

|2,228

|2,973

|1.0%

|Mixed: Other Mixed

|–

|855

|2,167

|3,204

|1.1%

!Other: Total

!765

!1,417

!1,097

!0.5%

!1,579

!0.6%

!5,725

!2%

|Other: Arab

|–

|565

|1349

|0.5%

|Other: Any other ethnic group

|765

|1,417

|1,097

|0.5%

|1,014

|0.4%

|4376

|1.5%

!Ethnic minority: Total

!5,561

!4.4%

!10,521

!5.9%

!19,205

!9.3%

!49,727

!20%

!80,946

!28%

!Total

!125,437

!100%

!179,200

!100%

!207,057

!100%

!248,821

!100%

!287,060

!100%

Religion

The following table shows the religion of respondents in recent censuses in the city of Milton Keynes.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"

! rowspan="2" |Religion

! colspan="2" |2001 Census

! colspan="2" |2011 Census

! colspan="2" |2021 Census

!Number

| Christian

|135,715

|65.54

|131,352

|52.79

|122,935

|42.83

| Muslim

|4,843

|2.34

|11,913

|4.79

|20,484

|7.14

| Hindu

|2,596

|1.25

|6,918

|2.78

|12,911

|4.50

| Sikh

|795

|0.38

|1,372

|0.55

|1,959

|0.68

| Buddhist

|747

|0.36

|1,246

|0.50

|1,404

|0.49

| Jewish

|466

|0.23

|427

|0.17

|383

|0.13

|Other religion

|821

|0.40

|1,216

|0.49

|1,558

|0.54

| No religion

|44,633

|21.56

|77,939

|31.32

|108,953

|37.95

| Religion not stated

|16,441

|7.94

|16,438

|6.61

|16,473

|5.74

| style="text-align:left" |Total

|207,057

|100.00%

|248,821

|100.00%

|287,060

|100.00%

Housing and home ownership

Household tenure breaks down to 60.8% of dwellings owner-occupied, 21% of homes privately rented and 18% are socially rented.

Public health

According to Public Health England, "The health of people in Milton Keynes is generally similar to the England average. About 15.1% (8,680) children live in low income families. Life expectancy for both men and women is similar to the England average."

Settlements

Milton Keynes urban area

The City of Milton Keynes is fully parished. These are the parishes, and the districts they contain, that are now elements of the Milton Keynes built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

Abbey Hill: Kiln Farm, Two Mile Ash, Wymbush
Bletchley and Fenny Stratford: Brickfields, Central Bletchley, Denbigh, Mount Farm, Fenny Lock, Granby, Fenny Stratford, Newton Leys, Water Eaton
Bradwell: Bradville, Bradwell, Bradwell Abbey, Bradwell Common, Bradwell village, Heelands, Rooksley
Broughton and Milton KeynesAtterbury, Brook Furlong, Broughton, Fox Milne, Middleton (includes Milton Keynes Village), Northfield, Oakgrove, Pineham.
Campbell Park (civil parish): Fishermead, Newlands, Oldbrook, Springfield, Willen and Willen Lake, Winterhill, The Woolstones
Central Milton Keynes: Central MK, Campbell Park
Fairfields
Great Linford: Bolbeck Park, Blakelands, Conniburrow, Downs Barn, Downhead Park, Giffard Park, Great Linford, Neath Hill, Pennyland, Redhouse, Tongwell, Willen Park
Kents Hill and Monkston: Brinklow, Kents Hill, Kingston, Monkston
Loughton and Great Holm: Loughton, Loughton Lodge, Great Holm, Elfield Park, the Bowl
New Bradwell
Newport Pagnell
Shenley Brook End: Emerson Valley, Furzton, Kingsmead, Shenley Brook End, Shenley Lodge, Snelshall, Tattenhoe, Tattenhoe Park, Westcroft
Shenley Church End: Crownhill, Grange Farm, Hazeley, Medbourne, Oakhill, Oxley Park, Shenley Church End, Woodhill
Simpson and Ashland: Ashland, Simpson, West Ashland
Stantonbury: Bancroft/Bancroft Park, Blue Bridge, Bradville, Linford Wood, Oakridge Park, Stantonbury, Stantonbury Fields
Stony Stratford: Fullers Slade, Galley Hill, Stony Stratford
Walton: Caldecotte, Old Farm Park, Tilbrook, Tower Gate, Walnut Tree, Walton, Walton Hall, Walton Park, Wavendon Gate
Wavendon: Wavendon, Eagle Farm, Glebe Farm
West Bletchley: Far Bletchley, Old Bletchley, West Bletchley.
Whitehouse
Woburn Sands
Wolverton and Greenleys: Greenleys, Stacey Bushes, Stonebridge, Wolverton, Old Wolverton
Woughton: Beanhill, Bleak Hall, Coffee Hall, Eaglestone, Leadenhall, Netherfield, Peartree Bridge, Redmoor, Tinkers Bridge (part)
Old Woughton: Passmore (part of Tinkers Bridge), Woughton on the Green, Woughton Park.

Bletchley, Central Milton Keynes, Fenny Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Woburn Sands and Wolverton are towns.

===Rest of the borough===

The rural area accounts for about 80% of the borough by area and about 10% by population. Olney is a town. These are the extra-urban civil parishes:

Astwood and Hardmead
Bow Brickhill
Caldecote
Calverton
Castlethorpe
Chicheley
Clifton Reynes
Cold Brayfield
Emberton
Filgrave
Gayhurst
Hanslope
Haversham-cum-Little Linford
Lathbury
Lavendon
Little Brickhill
Long Street
Moulsoe
Newton Blossomville
North Crawley
Olney
Ravenstone
Sherington
Stoke Goldington
Tyringham
Warrington
Weston Underwood

Neighbourhood Plans

, the borough has 28 designated Neighbourhood Areas, of which 22 have made/adopted Neighbourhood Development Plans approved by the City Council, spanning both urban and rural parishes.

<span class="anchor" id="Listed buildings"></span> Heritage assets

the National Heritage List for England includes 1,166 entries for heritage assets in the City of Milton Keynes. These comprise 1,111 listed buildings, of which 30 are at Grade I, 59 Grade II*, and 1,022 Grade II; 5 parks and gardens, of which 3 are grade II* and 2 Grade II; 49 Scheduled monuments; and 1 certificate of immunity from listing, for The Point.

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City (from 2022) or Freedom of the Borough (19822021).

Individuals

Jock Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan: 18 March 1982.
James Marshall: 2009.
Leah Williamson: 28 February 2023. (first recipient of the Freedom of the City rather than the Borough)
Dean Lewington: 10 May 2025

Military Units

The Royal Green Jackets: 1998.

Organisations and businesses

Red Bull Racing, 2014