Lancashire to split into four authorities with 15 councils abolished by 2028

Details of local government reorganisation become clear ahead of Thursday's announcement - report by Paul Faulkner

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, The Lancashire Lead has learned.

The move will effectively merge large swathes of Lancashire that were previously covered by separate councils.

The government has been mulling over five suggestions for the number, size and shape of the new authorities to be created after it ordered the biggest council shake-up in the county for more than 50 years.

An official announcement is due on Thursday, with council leaders expected to be briefed beforehand.

However, ministers have chosen one of two four-council configurations that were under consideration – rejecting the other, as well as proposals to split the county into two, three or five new authorities.

The selected option will see new standalone councils established that will combine, for local governance purposes:

• Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley;

• Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire;

• Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre;

• Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Rossendale and Pendle.

The option the government has chosen

The chosen arrangement was the one that had received the most backing from existing councils, which had each been asked to come up with suggestions for their replacements.

The now approved set-up was supported by Chorley, Lancaster, Preston, Ribble Valley, South Ribble and West Lancashire councils.

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 £194.9m 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 percent.

The new authorities – whose names will be agreed at a later date – will provide all council services in their area. They will formally come into being on 1st April, 2028, but will exist in shadow form from May 2027 when their first elections will be held.

The 15 current councils will continue to operate until 31st March, 2028 when all of them – Lancashire County Council and the authorities for Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre – will be written into history.

The government had initially said that the new authorities should cover populations of around 500,000 people – which would have required Lancashire to be divided into three.

However, ministers later indicated that they would be prepared to be flexible over the figures so that the new councils made geographic and practical sense.

The ones that got away

Blackpool Council had also backed a four-way split, but along different lines, which would have seen it merge with Preston, Fylde and a small part of Wyre, with the other authorities made up of: Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire; Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, southernmost Ribble Valley and Rossendale; and Lancaster, most of Ribble Valley [excluding Clitheroe and southernmost areas] and eastern and northern Wyre.

Lancashire County Council had sought to cut the county into two huge northern and southern authorities, with the River Ribble broadly being the dividing line between them.

Blackburn with Darwen, Fylde, Hyndburn, Rossendale and Wyre councils had pushed for a three-authority option that would have bound together: Blackpool, Fylde, Lancaster and Wyre; Chorley, Preston, South Ribble and West Lancashire; and Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale.

Meanwhile, Burnley and Pendle councils had proposed a five-council split, with Burnley being particularly keen to avoid any tie-up with Blackburn. Their suggested authorities would have combined: Blackpool, Fylde and Preston; Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire; Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley; Lancaster and Wyre; and Burnley, Rossendale and Pendle.

What does it all mean?

The government’s decision formally sets the clock ticking on 14 Lancashire council areas that have existed in their current geographical form since 1974.

It also brings the axe into view over Lancashire County Council, which dates back to 1889, across a far broader patch than it covers today.

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.

At the moment, responsibilities are divided between the county council and the dozen district authorities – Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre.

County Hall looks after major services including adult and children’s social care, roads, transport and schools, while the districts take care of the likes of waste collection, housing, parks and the majority of planning applications.

The new arrangement will create a handful of standalone authorities that deliver all local services, in the same way that the unitary councils of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen already do.

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 anything between 198 and 313, depending on the chosen configuration.

The current set-up has been in place in Lancashire since the last major shake-up in 1974, with the only shift since being when Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen became unitaries in 1998.