01 Jul 2025
Whether St Albans’ historic Mayoralty continues in the wake of local government reorganisation will be determined in the coming weeks.
The role, which dates back to 1553, has its long-standing civic and ceremonial duties protected by statute, with a district councillor holding the position since SADC was created in 1974. The current office holder is Cllr Teresa Heritage.
But with the district council facing abolition as part of a Government drive to form new unitary authorities by May 2028, the position’s future is uncertain.
SADC is now considering holding a community governance review to explore ways of preserving the Mayoralty, as well as whether to create a new parish council covering a large, unparished section of St Albans.
The review was recommended by the strategy and resources committee at its meeting on Thursday and was previously supported by the city neighbourhoods committee.
Full Council will now decide at its July meeting whether to go ahead with the review.
Much of St Albans district has a parish or town council which organises community events and looks after assets such as open spaces, play areas and allotments.
There are nine such councils in the district: Harpenden, Harpenden Rural, Redbourn, Wheathampstead, London Colney, Sandridge, Colney Heath, St Michael and St Stephen.
However, much of the city is unparished including around 28,000 households in Batchwood, Bernards Heath, Clarence, Cunningham, Hill End, Marshalswick West, Sopwell, St Peters and Verulam wards.
Council leader Cllr Paul De Kort, chair of the strategy and resources committee, said: “One of the many challenging tasks we are now faced with is the Government’s reorganisation of district and county councils.
“Over the next few years much of our senior officers’ time, focus and resources has to be diverted to dealing with the many complex issues that arise from this.
“The Government has said little about their plans for parish councils, but they form an important part of our local government system and should not be forgotten.
“This seems the right moment to re-examine our current parish and town council arrangements in detail to see if improvements are necessary. I hope Full Council will accept the recommendation for the community governance review.
“In particular, we want to find out what the options are for continuing with the St Albans Mayoralty.
“We also want to see if there is an appetite for a new parish council among our residents in the unparished area. We need to look at the potential benefits to residents, the cost of creating a new council and its future funding.
“Such a parish council could eventually provide a home, as it were, for the Mayor of St Albans at some point after the district council is abolished.”
The Mayor is elected at SADC’s annual meeting in May and chairs full council meetings.
They also represent the city and the council at various events, raise funds for charity and support local voluntary groups.
The office’s civic and ceremonial functions were established in various Royal Charters and Letters Patent.
A future option could be to create charter trustees, comprising councillors from the new local authority whose wards lie within the historic boundaries of the Mayoralty.
They would then take on the role of preserving the city’s civic tradition, either on a permanent or transitional basis.
