Lancashire councils revamp '£11m more a year to run'
A radical revamp of Lancashire's councils could end up creating a system that is £11m a year more expensive to run than the one it replaces, analysis has shown.Forthcoming changes will see all 15 local authorities scrapped and replaced with a handful of new ones.There is projected to be a huge variation in set-up costs depending on how many new authorities are brought into being, with a total of four estimated to come with a bill of more than £41m.The results of what the County Councils Network (CCN) research described as a "high level" financial assessment of the various possible scenarios were featured in a report presented to Lancashire County Council's cabinet.
'Transition costs'
The research found the government-ordered overhaul would be cheaper to operate only if three or fewer replacement councils were established across the county.However, several of the existing authorities are known to favour the creation of four or even five new councils.The analysis predicted the establishment of four new councils would have a recurring additional annual cost of £11.5m after five years. In contrast, three new authorities were forecast to save £6.4m in running costs after five years, while two would generate savings of £21.2m and just one – for all 1.5 million Lancashire residents – would be £45.3m less costly than the current arrangements.The reason four or five new councils could end up costing more than the 15 existing ones is because they would each be standalone - or unitary - authorities, responsible for delivering all of the services in their patch.Under the current "two-tier" system, Lancashire County Council looks after issues like social care, schools and highways across the vast majority of the county, while the 12 district authorities – Preston, South Ribble, Chorley, West Lancashire, Fylde, Wyre, Lancaster, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Hyndburn, Rossendale and Pendle – take care of the likes of planning applications, parks and waste collection in their own patches.Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils are already unitaries and so provide the full range of local services in those areas. The CCN assessment also estimated the "transition costs" for establishing different numbers of new councils, with the total for four of them being almost double that for one – £41.3m, compared to £22.2m. Two would come in at £28.6m while three would cost £35m.The county council report stressed that the establishment and running cost figures were derived from "detailed assumptions [that] have not been made available" – and so did "not represent a full and final financial analysis".The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Almost a fifth of England's rural bus services disappeared in past five years
Almost a fifth of bus routes in rural areas of England have disappeared over the past five years despite government pledges to improve services, with county councils arguing they have lost out on bus funding to cities and towns. Rural areas have received about half the extra state funding per capita than that awarded to urban areas with more comprehensive services, according to analysis by the County Councils Network. The organisation, which represents local authorities in England's counties, said bus services in rural areas declined by 18% between 2019 and 2024, outstripping the wider fall across the country. The fall comes despite the apparent attempts by governments to tackle the decline of services outside London – including an initial £3bn 'bus back better' promise under Boris Johnson in 2021, although much of the funding was diverted to emergency Covid support for bus operators. An eventual total of £2.1bn in bus service improvement plan money from successive governments was allotted. However, county councils argue it was unevenly spread, with their residents receiving the equivalent of £31 a person, compared with £58 a person for urban authorities. The Labour government has also vowed to bring about better bus services, including legislation extending franchising powers nationwide to enable all local authorities to take buses under local control. Cllr Peter Thornton, a transport spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said they had been 'swimming against the tide with too much money going to urban and city areas where services are more frequent and modern'. He said: 'For the county areas that have seen half the money than the large towns and cities have received, or as much as eight times less in some instances, bus routes are down a fifth on pre-pandemic levels and this decline has not been halted since money first started being distributed in 2022. 'Yet there is a clear demand for county buses, and for many rural areas and smaller towns, they are a lifeline rather than a luxury.' He added: 'Reforms such as integrated transport budgets and bus franchising are useful but they tinker around the edges when what is really needed is more government funding.' Campaign for Better Transport, meanwhile, said an extra £1bn a year was needed for buses, with its own analysis claiming that four out of every 10 council wards across England and Wales do not have a 'reasonable' level of bus services. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Ben Plowden, the chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'Increasing access to local buses is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways of reducing social exclusion, boosting local economies and building thriving communities. Investing an extra £1bn a year in our bus services – around half a per cent of the NHS budget – would have a huge social and economic benefit and would be great value for money for taxpayers.' A Department for Transport spokesperson said: 'Buses are a vital service for millions of people across the UK and we are keen to make sure they remain affordable. 'Our buses bill will introduce first-time protections for services in rural and deprived areas, and deliver on our commitment to improve living standards across the country.'
ITV News
12-05-2025
- ITV News
Reform UK name likely future leader of Lancashire County Council after shock election landslide
Reform UK has named the man set to be the new leader of Lancashire County Council. Cllr Stephen Atkinson was elected as the leader of the Reform UK group on the council, which holds the majority of council seats following the election on 1 is expected Cllr Atkinson will be ratified as council leader at a meeting of the full council on 22 win saw them take 53 of the county council's 84 seats, unseating both Conservative and Labour local leaders - having previously had no seats at all on the authority. Speaking on the steps of County Hall in Preston, Cllr Atkinson said: "We will be considered on our approach. We'll not be reckless but we have a clear focus to deliver on those issues."The British people are fed up. They've been put to the back of the queue for too long and this is a chance to make a difference." Cllr Stephen Atkinson speaks after being elected leader of the majority Reform UK group on Lancashire County Council. Cllr Atkinson, 55, who represents the division of Ribble Valley South West, served as leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council from January 2019 until he stood down earlier this year. Born in Lancashire, he runs an educational furniture business in the county with his brother. The father-of-two said: "I am passionate about Lancashire and can't wait to start working to ensure the council delivers excellent services for all our residents. "Together with my fellow councillors I will be looking to focus our policies on what is most important to residents so we can make a real difference. "I'm also very much looking forward to working with officers as we build a better future for our county."
Telegraph
03-05-2025
- Telegraph
Political Islam is now a feature of British elections: Gaza is just the symptom, not the cause
Reform's strength now poses perhaps a greater threat to Labour even than to the Conservatives. Contained within Thursday's results, however, is another threat to the party – but one which, unlike the Reform surge, builds on a development evident since last year's general election. That threat is the rise of independent Muslim candidates on platforms designed to appeal to their fellow Muslims. Last July showed the pattern when 'Gaza independent' MPs won in Leicester South, Blackburn, Birmingham Perry Barr and Dewsbury and Batley, after similar candidates had won two months earlier in local elections in Blackburn, Bradford and Oldham. That pattern was confirmed on Thursday. In the general election Labour's vote fell by over 14 per cent from 2019 in constituencies where the Muslim population was above 15 per cent. Overall, 37 constituencies have a Muslim population of over 20 per cent, and in another 73 seats the Muslim population is between 10 and 20 per cent. Thursday's results demonstrate again that sectarian Muslim candidates can either win or secure enough votes in such seats to pose a real threat to Labour. In Burnley Central East, for example, Maheen Kamran won with 38 per cent of the vote, beating Reform on 30 per cent. Labour trailed in third with just 14 per cent – down from 49 per cent in 2021. Ms Kamran says she wants 'segregated areas' to prevent 'free mixing' between men and women. She is joined on Lancashire County Council by her fellow independent Usman Arif from Burnley North East, who left Labour over the Gaza war. Azhar Ali, dumped as Labour's candidate in last year's Rochdale by-election, won in Pendle. Ali was removed by Labour after he had been recorded making insinuations about 'certain Jewish quarters' in the media and had said Isael 'allowed' the October 7 Hamas massacre to happen to justify a war in Gaza. It is no longer a prediction but a statement of fact that Britain has sectarian politics. The rise of Reform has led to much commentary about the shattering of political assumptions. But Reform merely challenges the existing party system. The emergence of sectarian politics challenges the foundations of our democratic norms. It is not so much identity politics as theocratic politics. This is not some organic development in the wake of the Gaza war, in the narrative pushed by the independents, but rather a long-planned and well co-ordinated move to push Islamist politics into the mainstream. Gaza energised it and gave it cut through, but the real story is the creation of The Muslim Vote, an umbrella alliance of 24 activist groups which promotes and endorses selected candidates. The Muslim Vote has a long policy agenda, of which Israel and Gaza is merely one. Others – there are eighteen in all – include the legal adoption of a new definition of Islamophobia and reform of Ofcom's rules on extremism. Labour's huge majority in 2024 masked how fragile many of its wins were, but Thursday's local elections have put the fear of God into Labour MPs. It is going to get worse. Next year there will be London-wide elections. Aspire (a de facto Bangladeshi party) already controls Tower Hamlets; last July Labour's Rushanara Ali clung on narrowly in Bethnal Green. Boroughs like Redbridge and Newham are also prime territory for sectarian candidates. Health Secretary Wes Streeting only just held his seat by 528 votes in July and in Birmingham, which will also vote, Jess Phillips scraped home by around 700 votes. The insidious impact of sectarian politics is that MPs with small majorities will tack to embrace their demands to try to head off the threat – and thus start to act as sanitised advocates for Islamist ideas, pushing them into the mainstream and changing not just politics but our country itself.
