Lancaster's Red Wedding sees council fall apart
Plus: Two-year battle for justice and devolution plans revealed
Hello and welcome to the 70th edition of The Lancashire Lead. It’s easy to throw around words like ‘chaotic’ and ‘unpredictable’ but they are entirely appropriate to describe what happened at a meeting of Lancaster City Council this week as the cabinet was torn apart and its leader immediately resigned. Read on for more on that.
There’s also an extraordinary report from BBC reporter Lucy Manning about her two year battle for justice after being targeted by a known sex offender and repeatedly let down by police both in London and Lancashire.
As well as news of protests at an historic but ailing football club, this edition also contains updates from two of the subjects I’ve followed closely since launch - Eden Project Morecambe and Lancashire’s devolution deal.
When Lancaster’s councillors assembled for a meeting on Wednesday, they could hardly have been prepared for what was to come. With no party in overall control, the council has been operating through an alliance of Labour and Green councillors, with Labour’s Cllr Philip Black chosen as a leader on the basis his party has the highest number of representatives.
That balance is no longer the case, with the Greens having 23 to Labour’s 21 thanks to more recent votes and while there have been rumblings of disquiet, drastic action was not expected. However, that’s exactly what came as Cllr Black addressed the meeting to announce the resignation of Labour cabinet members and the effective sacking of their Green counterparts.
To complete the exodus, he then confirmed his own departure as leader - leaving the authority with no elected cabinet whatsoever. Explaining his reasoning, he told the meeting:
“I have had a few weeks off duties because of a health condition. When I came back, there were demands from Green councillors following the recent by-election that I should resign or face a vote of no confidence. That was not the welcome I expected.
“I wanted to focus on running the council and follow agreed positions we have held. But that was flatly rejected. I was told we were politicians and so have to serve the ‘here-and-now’. We are not lawyers.
“I don’t deny the Greens are the largest group. But I don’t know how we can cross the choppy waters if we continue jockeying for power after every by-election?
He added: “It is with sadness I announce that Labour councillors Joanne Ainscough, Jean Parr, Catherine Potter and Jason Wood have resigned from the cabinet with immediate effect.
Secondly, I have removed councillors Caroline Jackson, Tim Hamilton-Cox, Paul Stubbins and Nick Wilkinson from the cabinet. Caroline Jackson is no longer the council’s deputy leader.”
He continued:
“This council voted me into office on the basis of an agreement which no longer exists. There is only one conclusion I can arrive at. My time as leader is at an end. I can lay my hand on my heart and tell you that I always gave my best, that I tried with all sincerity to shepherd our cross-party alliance through the most challenging local government landscape our district has ever had to face.
A fifteen minute break followed during which councillors and legal advisers attempted to figure out their respective next steps and the result is Lancaster’s cabinet responsibilities now being handled by a non-elected chief executive. An extraordinary will be held to determine who takes over the running over of authority. In the meantime, this bare graphic on the council’s website shows quite how bizarre things have become:
While no response was given at the meeting, the Greens issued a statement to local democracy reporter Robbie MacDonald expressing their disappointment at what had unfolded. Cllr Caroline Jackson said:
“We are sad that Cllr Black and the Labour group have chosen this abrupt and unconstitutional way of ending the current administration.
“Cllr Black should have given advance notice so that a new leader could have been elected at the meeting. The effect of this action in the middle of the budget process is to halt essential work and ultimately delay decision-making.
“We are disturbed that Cllr Black has interpreted perfectly civil negotiations between the Labour and Green leaders and deputy leaders as threatening.
“We understand that the Labour group is disappointed to have lost three seats and become the smaller political group. In May 2023, Cllr Black insisted that he should be leader of the council because Labour had more members than Greens. We are surprised, therefore, that he has been unable to negotiate with us to create a smooth transition at this point.”
If you ever have the misfortune to be a victim of crime you want to have confidence that justice will be delivered and swiftly so - all the more so if the offence is as disturbing and insidious as the sexually-motivated one endured by BBC reporter Lucy Manning.
Lucy had the misfortune of answering the phone to Blackburn sex offender Amjad Khan during which he was audibly masturbating while saying her name and making lewd and offensive comments.
Having endured such an unpleasant and disturbing ordeal, Lucy then did all she could to prepare evidence to hand to the police, only to find herself let down by officers at the Met Police, their counterparts at Lancashire Constabulary and then by the ludicrously slow judicial system.
All in all, two full years and apologies from both police forces passed between the initial offence and the conviction. Even that result was only achieved as a result of repeated lobbying from Lucy and a threat to complain about police inaction. Statistics for reported sexual offences resulting in conviction are desperately, desperately poor in the UK and if Lucy’s example is anything to go by, it’s easy to see why. I’d urge you to read her full account of what happened here.
It’s known for being a particularly affluent place to live but details of how the cost of living crisis affected Ribble Valley have been made clear in a council report.
According to the report, more than 900 elderly, vulnerable or isolated people in the borough received help last winter through community warm spaces, lunch clubs or Christmas meals.
Those estimates were made as further spending is considered in order to ensure help is given to those who need it. Twenty-five warm space or lunch club projects are registered in a Ribble Valley Council directory but not all clubs want to appear on it.
The council report states: “In the immediate period after Covid in 2022, the number and frequency of lunch clubs dramatically reduced to just 12 from 20 previously. The recent cost-of-living crises has dramatically increased the cost of heating venues and providing food, which has further affected the continued viability of lunch clubs.”
By Robbie MacDonald
Calls to ‘seek a ban’ on camper vans overnight from Morecambe promenade have been backed by Lancaster city councillors – but with warnings that a simple ban now could simply ‘shift the problem’ to residential streets.
Lancaster City Council debated a motion from Labour councillors Margaret Pattison and David Whitaker which motion called for an overnight ban on camper-vans and motor-homes on the promenade and city council-owned car parks.
Coun Pattison said the vehicles caused hundreds of complaints but that there was no intention to ban them from the town, instead just on overnight stays on the Promenade. Labour councillor Clare Cozler said:
“I used to live near the promenade. I’ve seen people cooking on gas stoves and emptying chemical toilets there. It’s not nice. There are regulations about gas cookers and there’s a real risk to residents. I support this motion.”
Councillors backed the motion but with clarifications about ‘seeking a ban’ on vehicle occupation and focused on Morecambe only.
Over in Lytham St Annes, the RSPB blamed funding pressures as it announced plans to close its visitor centre and shop at Fairhaven Lake. The charity also says it will end its education work with local schools.
It said the shop currently runs at a loss and this can no longer be absorbed, with a closure expected some time next year. In a statement, the charity said:
“We know and recognise the RSPB Fairhaven Lake visitor centre has a special place in the hearts of many and this decision is not one we have taken lightly. We are proud that work delivered here by staff and volunteers over the years has benefited wildlife and provided much enjoyment and many opportunities for visitors and school children to connect with and learn about local wildlife and the natural world.
“This connection with nature will be the long-term legacy of the RSPB’s work at this site. However, moving forward we do need to make changes to focus our finite resources where they can have the most impact for nature and wildlife.”
🗣️ The first week of a public inquiry into Blackpool’s Multiversity has heard evidence from those behind the plans but not those objecting to it (Blackpool Lead).
🔥 A missing man feared to be inside a building which was hit by a major fire has been found elsewhere (Blog Preston).
👑 Volunteer group Care for Cleveleys have been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2024 (LancsLive).
🚕 A Blackpool taxi driver says Uber drivers in the town are charging as little as 36p for a two-mile journey as he called for reform (Blackpool Gazette).
After all the back and forth and arguments and counter arguments, there’s some real progress on the devolution front. The agreement originally agreed by the Conservative government and later approved by the new Labour administration included a £20m fund for “innovation-led growth and net-zero ambitions” and we now have details on how that will be spent.
This week, Lancashire County Council has now announced a five-way split for the cash, agreed with the two other top-tier local authorities – Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils – that signed up to the devolution arrangements.
The project related to the National Cyber Force HQ has been crystallised in the creation of an “innovation hub” within the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, which will get the joint-largest share of the fund, at £6m. The hope is that it will encourage a ‘cluster’ of related specialist businesses to locate there and enable the site to become a centre of excellence in the cyber security field.
In line for the same amount is a new “innovation quarter” in Blackburn, which is similarly intended to drive the development of digital, cyber and creative ventures.
Across Lancashire, £2m will be invested in the existing £41m Cosy Homes initiative, which helps secure grants for householders to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient.
Meanwhile, Blackpool will see £4m head its way as a contribution to the development of a new town centre office for the Department for Work and Pensions, while the town will also get £4m for its Silicon Sands scheme to create a low-carbon data centre within the Blackpool Enterprise Zone It is hoped that the project – which will be powered by renewable energy – will kickstart a digital campus for high-performance companies.
The value and the one-off nature – so far – of the devolution cash pot for Lancashire has previously proved controversial, with opposition parties on the county council comparing it unfavourably to the amounts initially awarded to other areas at the start of their devolution journeys. The likes of the Liverpool City Region were told they could expect £30m a year for 30 years.
However, the ruling Conservative group has described the deal as “historic” and stressed that it also gives the county control of other budgets – like adult education – which currently sit with the government.
At the Lancashire County Council cabinet meeting where the newly-funded projects were revealed, Labour opposition group leader Matthew Tomlinson said the £20m injection was “better than nothing”, but that it should be seen only as “a step on the journey”.
Cabinet agreed that the county council should become the “accountable body” for the £20m funding ahead of the establishment of the new combined county authority (CCA) which will be set up – likely early in the new year – to oversee Lancashire’s devolved powers.
Under the terms of the deal, the money has to be committed before the end of the 2024/25 financial year next spring – hence the need for an organisation to be responsible for it until the CCA comes into existence.
Lancashire County Council leader Phillippa Williamson said the £20m in funding is “just the first pot of money which will come to Lancashire thanks to the new CCA”.
“These schemes are a great illustration of the type of projects we want to support, which we know will make a lasting difference in the county.
“Each scheme will have real tangible benefits, helping to innovate and create jobs – and, in the case of Cosy Homes, help some of our most vulnerable residents keep warm using the latest technology.
“The innovation hub located at Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, will be a new, exciting, space that allows Lancashire businesses, residents and key sectors to engage with National Cyber Force and the businesses within their supply-chain.
“This will open up new jobs, technologies and opportunities across the Lancashire economy strengthening our capacity to embrace innovation and drive growth,” County Cllr Williamson added.
Phil Riley, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said the projects being funded “will start us on the journey of a new way of working with government for the benefit of the whole of Lancashire once the CCA is formally established”. He added:
“We are looking forward to seeing a new digital and creative business hub be created as a direct result of the devolution deal funding. The former St John Church in Blackburn town centre will get a new lease of life and the Making Rooms, home of innovative technical developments for all to use, will be extended.
“These are all designed to make sure we are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities ahead and our borough’s entrepreneurial spirit.”
Meanwhile, Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams described the delivery of the £20m investment as “a historic moment – and signals the start of this new way of working where we will have more control over local decisions and the funding that supports those decisions”. She said:
“The projects being funded in Blackpool are of strategic importance to us. The new town centre offices for the DWP will bring over 3,000 workers into the centre of Blackpool.
“Silicon Sands is a forward-looking project that will bring new, high quality tech jobs to Blackpool. Starting with a small data centre at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, it will bring a new industry and investment to Blackpool while also tackling the climate emergency at the same time.”
One of the key selling points for Eden Project Morecambe has always been the wider investment and regeneration it would trigger through knock-on effects of the potentially massive influx of visitors to the town.
That impact is being stressed in Lancaster City Council’s efforts to attract new operators to take over the former Frontierland site. Having recently invited potential development partners to visit the key site, it is again inviting bids to take over its future.
The council continues to seek bids from commercial leisure, hospitality and mixed-use developers or consortia and lists the “estimated 3,700 peak daily visitors” from Eden as a key selling point but insists the the focus is not just on visitors and “the redevelopment of the site must also benefit residents, particularly the leisure offer”.
Authority leaders also say the project will create significant local employment opportunities, both during the construction phase and once the site is operational. Jonathan Noad, chief officer (sustainable growth), said:
“This is an exciting opportunity to transform one of Morecambe's most iconic sites into a vibrant destination that will benefit both our residents and the growing number of visitors to the area.
“The redevelopment will play a key role in helping Morecambe thrive by boosting the local economy and improving leisure offerings for the community. We're keen to hear from developers who share our vision and can help us deliver a lasting legacy for the town."
The bidding process is now open and will remain so until January 31, 2025, with the contract due to begin in December 2025 and an expected completion date of September 2027
Once again, I’ll finish with a few What’s On stories which have caught my eye over the past week:
Beyond Radio to host Lancaster Christmas Lights Switch On for fourth year
Beach House Bistro in Blackpool launches new Mediterranean inspired winter menu
Lancashire Tea and Farm Yard Brew Company team up to release limited edition tea-infused pale ale
Free parking announced for Christmas shoppers in Lancaster district
Thank you for reading the 70th edition of The Lancashire Lead. I’ll be back with the next issue on Wednesday and if you’ve enjoyed reading then please share so others can find it too and consider taking a paid subscription to support my work. As always, your feedback is very welcome so please get in touch using jamie@thelead.uk if you have any comments or suggestions.
