9 November 2026

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Bedford Borough Council

All the latest Bedford Borough Council news from across Bedford Borough. Everything you need to keep you up to date with what’s happening in Bedford Borough on your mobile or desktop via the Bedford Independent.

The Bedford Independent was founded to provide the people of Bedford Borough with a modern news desk that would give them easy access to genuine and unbiased Bedford news. We are independent in ownership and opinion.

Our mission is to inform and inspire the people of Bedford. To do this we will work hard to bring them the news that matters to them from our town centre to the most rural of the Borough’s villages.

Our editorial team are NCTJ trained and follows a standards code set out by the independent press regulator IMPRESS Standards.

Council to return over £460,000 in unclaimed government grant funding

Bedford Borough Council will have to return over £460,000 to the government due to unclaimed grant funding. Last week’s Rural Affairs Committee (April 3) heard that the council...

Conservatives and Lib Dems row over empty building blame

Bedford Borough Council has surrendered the lease on an empty Bedford property to save “over £600,000” in costs. The Conservative administration claims this lease was a “textbook case of political incompetence” by the former...

“Insufficient detail” in Deputy Prime Minister’s letter on planning reform, say Council

Bedford Borough Council has said the deputy prime minister’s letter to English local authority leaders and metro mayors about planning reform has "insufficient detail". In March, Angela Rayner...

Bedford residents may be able to challenge their council tax banding as costs rise

With council tax rates rising again, some households across Bedford Borough may be overpaying hundreds of pounds a year – particularly those who have recently moved or suspect...

Mayor signs order to write off “irrecoverable” debt owed to Borough Council

Bedford Borough Council is proposing to write off over £385k in “irrecoverable” debt. The debts are considered to be irrecoverable because the debtors are “insolvent and have no...

Mayor brings in former council crisis chief to help Bedford Borough face funding challenges

Bedford Borough’s elected mayor, Tom Wootton, has brought in local government specialist Theresa Grant OBE to help review the council’s finances, as pressure mounts...

“Political point scoring” blamed in overgrown path debate

A Lib Dem ward councillor for Wootton and Kempston Rural said they were “forced” to raise pavement concerns at a full council meeting. But the administration’s portfolio holder said it was “disappointing” to see facts being misrepresented in...

20 new homes approved for Wootton despite flooding concerns

Application submitted for “high quality” HMO

A house in Bedford would make a “lovely home for people who choose to live in shared accommodation”, a planning application has claimed. Bedford Borough Council has received a planning application to convert 35 St Leonard’s Avenue...

Bedford Borough Council’s unaudited accounts delayed due to national backlog

Bedford Borough Council’s unaudited accounts will be published a month later this year following a change to clear a national backlog. Last night’s Audit Committee (Tuesday) heard...