Lancashire will be split up into four new council areas when the county’s 15 existing local authorities are abolished in less than two years’ time, it is understood.
An official announcement is due today on the biggest council shake-up in the county for more than 50 years.
The new set up was favoured by Chorley, Lancaster, Preston, the Ribble Valley, South Ribble and West Lancashire councils.
The groupings will be: Lancaster, Ribble Valley and Preston; Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale; South Ribble, Chorley and West Lancs; and Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.
Names for the authorities are yet to be decided.
Together, in their business case for the proposal, they argued each new, so-called ‘unitary’ authority would be “large enough to be financially secure and stable but small enough to remain responsive to local needs and ensure fair access to democracy”.
Even taking a “cautious approach”, they said they expected to achieve cumulative net savings of £194.9 million across the four councils, with recurring annual benefits of £81.9m from 2032/33 onwards.
Meanwhile, it was estimated that the council tax rates paid by households in the existing local authority areas could shift – theoretically in either direction – under their new council by between one and 10.9 per cent.
The authorities will formally come into being on April 1, 2028, but will exist in shadow form from May 2027 when their first elections will be held.
There had been five proposals put forward for two, three, five and two four-council options, each favoured by different councils.
The replacement councils will be responsible for delivering all council services in their area ending the current ’two-tier’ system that operates across most of Lancashire.
The changes will see the number of councillors across Lancashire slashed from the almost 700 that currently have seats on the upper and second-tier authorities to a number somewhere in the 200s.
Share