Milton Keynes City Council: local authority assessment

Published: 6 February 2026 Page last updated: 6 February 2026

Assessment published: 6 February 2026

About Milton Keynes City Council

Demographics

Milton Keynes is a unitary local authority located in the South East of England. It was officially designated as a new town in 1967 and was developed to relieve housing congestion in London. It was officially granted city status in August 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeths II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The city has a population of approximately 305,884. The age distribution reflects a strong working-age population, with 61.40% aged 18-64 years, 24.38% aged 0-17 years and 14.22% aged 65 years and over. The city’s ageing population is increasing, with the number of residents aged 65 and over rising by 24% over the past decade.

Milton Keynes ranks 108th out of 153 local authorities in England for deprivation (with 153 being the least deprived), with an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) score of 3 (with 10 being the least deprived). This ranking considers various factors such as income, employment, health, education, and crime and the scores for Milton Keynes indicate moderate socio-economic challenges overall, though some areas such as Bletchley East and Woughton & Fishermead fall within the most deprived 3% nationally. Milton Keynes has a health index score of 97.1 which shows the population’s health was slightly below England’s average health status in 2015. The health index score is a composite measure that reflects various health-related aspects of the population, including physical wellbeing, lifestyle choices, and access to healthcare services. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) describes scores above 100 indicating better health, and below, worse health compared to England overall in 2015.

Milton Keynes is a diverse city. Around 71.80% of residents identify as White, 12.42% identify as Asian or Asian British, 9.7% identify as Black, Black British, Caribbean or African, 4.1% identify as Mixed or Multiple ethnicity and 2% identify as Other.

Milton Keynes is part of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System (BLMK ICS), which aims to improve health outcomes and service coordination across the region. The local authority works with partners such as Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust to meet the healthcare needs of its residents.

Politically, Milton Keynes operates under a council structure without a directly elected mayor. The local authority is currently Labour-led, with representation from the Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrat Party, and Independent councillors across its 57 seats.

Financial facts

The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £431,220,000.00. Its actual spend for the year was £459,594,000.00, which was £28,374,000.00 more than estimated.
The local authority estimated that it would spend £98,507,000.00 of its total budget on Adult Social Care in 2023/24. Its actual spend for that year was £100,092,000.00, which was £1,585,000.00 more than estimated.
In 2023/2024, 21.78% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through adult social care precept varies from local authority to local authority.
Approximately 3360 people were accessing long-term Adult Social Care support, and approximately 840 people were accessing short-term Adult Social Care support in the 2023/24 period. Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only. 