The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen.
The borough's main settlement is Dudley but it also includes the outlying towns of Brierley Hill, Halesowen, Kingswinford, Lye, Netherton, Sedgley, and Stourbridge.
The borough borders Sandwell to the east, the city of Birmingham to the south east, Bromsgrove to the south in Worcestershire, South Staffordshire District to the west, and the city of Wolverhampton to the north.
History
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was created in 1974 from the existing boroughs of Dudley, the Municipal Borough of Stourbridge and the Municipal Borough of Halesowen. This followed an earlier reorganisation in 1966, as per the provisions of the Local Government Act 1958, which saw an expansion of the three boroughs from the abolition of the surrounding urban districts of Amblecote, Brierley Hill, Coseley, and Sedgley; and the municipal boroughs of Tipton, Oldbury, and Rowley Regis.
Initially the borough had a two-tier system of local government, with the borough council sharing power with the West Midlands County Council. In 1986 metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985, and Dudley effectively became a unitary authority.
Government
Dudley Council has its main offices in Dudley town centre (where Dudley Council House is located), along with additional smaller offices throughout the borough. The council is made up of 72 councillors representing 24 wards.
On its formation in 1974, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was controlled by the Labour Party. Since then the controlling party has frequently changed, sometimes with no political party having a clear majority.
Following the local elections in May 2024 the council returned to no overall control.
Mayor The Mayor of the Borough acts as the Borough's first citizen attending many civic and ceremonial functions to represent the Council. They are elected at the Annual Meeting of the Council and serves for the whole of the Municipal Year until the next Annual Meeting.
As part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, Dudley is also served by the Mayor of the West Midlands.
Wards The 24 wards of the Dudley Borough are each represented by 3 councillors. Ward name Population (2021 census) Change since 2011 census Population density (residents per square km) Amblecote12,927Decrease (-466)4,320.8 Belle Vale14,291Increase (+807)4,369.8 Brierley Hill15,016Increase (+1,081)3,463.6 Brockmoor and Pensnett14,726Increase (+1,803)2,798.5 Castle and Priory17,029Increase (+3,290)3,776.4 Coseley East13,409Increase (+1,052)4,165.6 Cradley and Wollescote13,730Increase (+290)3,287.0 Gornal13,354Increase (+362)2,854.4 Halesowen North13,359Increase (+1,186)3,287.1 Halesowen South12,245Increase (+86)1,747.9 Hayley Green and Cradley South11,980Increase (+118)2,638.0 Kingswinford North and Wall Heath11,853Decrease (-708)2,816.7 Kingswinford South12,647Increase (+17)3,787.0 Lye and Stourbridge North12,467Increase (+118)3,629.0 Netherton, Woodside and St. Andrews14,909Decrease (-108)2,819.8 Norton11,856Increase (+15)2,082.3 Pedmore and Stourbridge East12,284Decrease (-187)2,656.9 Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood13,667Increase (+226)3,830.9 St. James's14,242Increase (+29)4,115.9 St. Thomas's16,285Increase (+1,891)4,832.5 Sedgley11,750Decrease (-337)3,118.2 Upper Gornal and Woodsetton13,592Decrease (-201)4,134.4 Wollaston and Stourbridge Town13,429Increase (+337)4,603.1 Wordsley12,440Decrease (-412)4,225.1Source: ONS 2021 Census data
Demography +Ethnic population in Dudley2021 UK CensusDudley BoroughWest Midlands (region)England Total population323,4885,950,75756,490,048 White84.9%77.0%81.0% Mixed groups2.8%3.0%3.0% Asian/Asian British8.4%13.3%9.6% Black/Black British2.5%4.5%4.2% Arab & other groups1.4%2.1%2.2%Source: ONS 2021 Census
At the 2021 Census, the total population of Dudley Metropolitan Borough was 323,488, an increase of 10,563 from the 2011 Census. The population density was 3,320.4 residents per square km compared to the West Midlands region population density was 457.8 residents per square km.
84.9% of Dudley's population identified as White, with 82.4% identifying as White British, 0.3% as White Irish, and 2.1% as Other White. The second largest ethnic group was Asian and British Asian, making up 8.4% of the population (an increase from 2011 where the figure was 6.1%). Black and Black British people comprised 2.5% of the population of the borough (an increase from 2011 where the figure was 1.5%).
Statistics on religious beliefs show that 49.3% of the population identify as Christian (65.3% in 2011), with the second largest religious group being Muslim, at 6.2% (4.1% in 2011). 36% identified as having no religion.
Unemployment amongst those aged 16 and over in the borough stood at 3.8%, slightly higher than the national average of 3.5%. 41.1% of those aged 16 and over were economically inactive, consisting of 24.3% retired, 5.2% looking after homes or family, 4.5% long-term sick or disabled, 4.2% students and 3.0% other economically inactive.
+Religion in Dudley2021 UK CensusDudley BoroughWest Midlands (region)England Total population323,4885,950,75756,490,048 Christian49.3%46.6%46.3% Buddhist0.2%0.3%0.5% Hindu0.7%1.5%1.8% Jewish0.0%0.1%0.5% Muslim6.2%9.6%6.7% Sikh1.6%2.9%0.9% Other0.5%0.5%0.6% No Religion36.0%32.9%36.7% Not Stated5.5%5.7%6.0%Source: ONS 2021 Census
Economy A part of the Black Country, Dudley traditionally has been an industrial centre of manufacturing, quarrying, and mining, although this has declined in more recent years, with a shift in focus towards the service sector (accounting for 79.1% of employment) and tourism. Despite this, there are still numerous large industrial sites around the borough, such as the Pensnett Trading Estate, with the manufacturing industries making up 15.3% of employment.
Tourism is of increasing importance to the local economy, with approximately 6,600 people employed within the sector. Attractions such as the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoo bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.The Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK and is the main retail centre of the borough, with an average of 23.5 million visitors a year, and houses branches of several large retailers including Primark, Marks & Spencer, and Next.
Other large employers in the borough include JCDecaux UK, which has its Birmingham area office in Halesowen,"Contact ." JCDecaux UK. Retrieved on 28 September 2011. "JCDecaux - Birmingham 209-215 Long Lane Halesowen, West Midlands Birmingham, B62 9JT" Rentokil Initial, and Midtherm Engineering.
Tourism and visitor economy Dudley borough has an increasing tourism offer, with attractions such as the Black Country Geopark being recognised in 2020 and the Stourbridge Glass Museum that opened in 2022. Tourism and the visitor economy is an important sector to the borough, supporting approximately 8,000 jobs.
Many of the borough's tourist attractions draw on the industrial heritage of the area. For example, the Red House Glass Cone is an original structure from the 18th Century glass making industry in Stourbridge. The site includes designer-maker studios, galleries and hot glass studio. The Stourbridge Glass Quarter locality is also home to The Lace Guild, Glasshouse Heritage Centre and hosts the International Festival of Glass every 2 years, most recently in 2019 with the 2021 festival postponed to 2022 due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The Caste Hill area of Dudley is also a hub of visitor attractions including the Black Country Living Museum and the Canal and Tunnel Trust. Dudley Zoological Gardens, which is also in this area, is the second most visited paid visitor attraction in the West Midlands. The Archives and Local History Centre is now also the home of the council run Dudley Museum. The museum is also the headquarters of the Black Country Geopark.
Along with sites recognised as part of the Geopark, the borough has seven nature reserves and many parks contributing to its green spaces. In 2021, the Green Flag award was obtained by seven of the boroughs sites (Buffery Park, Huntingtree Park, Mary Stevens Park, Priory Park, The Leasowes, Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve and Saltwells National Nature Reserve). Mary Stevens Park and Priory Park were also awarded Green Heritage Site status, with Abbey Road Allotments recognised with a Green Flag Community Award.
Despite not being in the bounds of Dudley borough, Himley Hall and Park is owned and run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. In addition to the 180 acres of ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland, the Hall has a gallery exhibition space and is a wedding venue.
Regeneration Large public and private sector developments have taken place in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley since its creation in 1974.
The closure of Round Oak Steelworks in December 1982 paved the way for the creation of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre on nearby farmland between 1985 and 1989. The Waterfront leisure and commercial complex was developed on the site of the steelworks itself between 1989 and 1995.
Pensnett Trading Estate in Kingswinford has been developed since the 1960s for mostly light industry and services.
A major redevelopment of Halesowen town centre took place in 2007/08, when the bus station was rebuilt and a section of the 1960s shopping area demolished to make way for a new Asda superstore.
A similar redevelopment of Stourbridge town centre in 2011/12 saw most of the Crown Centre completely rebuilt to incorporate a new Tesco superstore.
There are currently several major regeneration projects throughout the borough. Significant infrastructure projects include the new Dudley Transport Interchange and the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension. The 11 km metro extension will connect Dudley, Merry Hill and Brierley Hill with the metro network and so to the proposed HS2 line. The first phase to Dudley town centre is expected to open for passenger services in 2024. The second phase will then extend to Brierley Hill, terminating in Cottage Street in the town centre following an additional £60million funding from central government.
Regeneration projects around the Castle Hill area are combining innovation and education. The Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology opened in September 2021 and focuses delivery on higher level courses in manufacturing and engineering, medical engineering, modern construction methodologies and digital technologies. The Very Light Rail (VLR) National Innovation Centre will provide a research facility for the development of VLR technologies and projects. The centre will redevelop the former Dudley Railway Station and reconnect the town with the National Rail Network.
The DY5 Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone was launched in 2017 with the ambition to create 7,000 new jobs over 25 years. The zone is centred around the Brierley Hill area.