What's in a name? Councils set for rapid negotiations over official titles for new authorities

The next three weeks will see negotiations over whether local councils want to suggest alternative names for the four new authorities that will be brought in proper from 2028

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

On Thursday, it was reported that the four new authorities that will run services in Lancashire had been named. And so they have, by the government. But local councils will be able to put forward alternatives that they agree on - if they can agree on them - by 17 August.

That point about the option for councils to suggest names they feel better suited was not part of the original reporting - and Lancashire County Council took the unusual step to publicly correct the record rather than accepting the reporter make the amendment to his story.

The decision to do that was an odd one - especially as the journalist in question was Paul Faulkner. He’s widely-regarded as a hard working, extremely conscientious and professional reporter who endears himself to almost everyone he comes across. But even the publication of that statement was a meal with many cooks - as today’s edition will show.

It will be the case that some of the councils put forward alternative names to the four the government has either bestowed or inflicted on the county depending on your viewpoint. Some of them will not. We’ve looked into the most likely outcomes based on the conversations we’ve had with senior politicians this week.

Lancashire briefing

🏠 Councillors in Hyndburn have finalised an important document that designates certain parts of the borough for development over the next 14 years – despite the fact it won’t exist.

The final 2040 Local Plan was given near unanimous approval at a full meeting of Hyndburn Council on Thursday night, with only Reform UK’s Cllr Anthony Mitchell voting against it. Though, many others had reservations about certain aspects of the blueprint.

With 3686 homes targeted to be built across the borough over that period, some councillors raised issues with certain allocations of land in their own patches, but ultimately agreed with the plan. In part because the alternative could be much worse.

This is because finding and allocating land for housing or business is one of the biggest responsibilities that local authorities have, as these plans are used to guide developers when they are looking for suitable plots to build on and shape the future appearance of Hyndburn.

Notably, failure to allocate this land and meet government-set targets for housebuilding would essentially result in the council losing its ability to refuse development in parts of the borough where the authority does not want to build.

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✈️ A tech-focused development branded a “once in a generation” opportunity to transform Lancashire’s economy has been given the green light.

The £13.2m Samlesbury Innovation Hub aims to attract a cluster of businesses specialising in the aerospace, defence, advanced manufacturing, engineering, cyber and technology sectors.

Based within the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, it has previously been estimated the hub will help secure 1,500 jobs indirectly related to the new National Cyber Force (NCF) headquarters on the wider site.

The roles are expected to have salaries “almost twice the current Lancashire average”, a meeting of Lancashire County Council’s cabinet was told last year.

The project is being showcased at this week’s Farnborough International Airshow as part of a BAE Systems stand hosting the North West Regional Defence and Security Cluster.

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📮 Nine Lancashire Post Office services will close this week – and there is no indication of when, or even if, they will ever reopen.

The branch at Burscough Bridge is shutting its doors indefinitely on Wednesday afternoon (22 July) for what the Post Office has described as “operational reasons”.

However, the closure will have a knock-on effect across West Lancashire and beyond, because the Liverpool Road North outlet also delivers part-time ‘outreach services’ in places that do not have a fully-fledged Post Office facility.

It means that the shutters will also come down on satellite branches – which usually operate from community buildings for just a few hours a week – in Rufford, Banks, Moss, Bescar Lane and Haskayne, all in West Lancashire; Salesbury in Ribble Valley; Belmont, in Blackburn with Darwen; and Trawden, in Pendle. Three other outreach units outside of Lancashire will also be affected.

An alternative to the Burscough Bridge branch can be found just under a mile away on Square Lane. However, users of several of the Lancashire outreach facilities will have to travel between two and almost four miles to find a Post Office counter – some of which provide fewer services than those that are closing.

The Post Office says it will “continue to work hard to restore services in the area as soon as possible” – and has also appealed for “potential retail partners interested in running a branch locally” to come forward.

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What’s in a name? Councils set for rapid negotiations over official titles for new authorities

By Luke Beardsworth

Lancashire’s councils have three weeks to come to a rare consensus on names for the four new authorities that will cover the county from 2028.

If they cannot come to an agreement on a preferred alternative by 17 August, the names will be North Lancashire Council, South Lancashire Council, Fylde Coast Council and Pennine Lancashire Council.

The matter is set to be discussed at a strategic board meeting in Lancashire next week when alternatives could be put forward, but the government has said it would only consider any “unanimous” proposals for changes.

The names will not officially be instituted until the legislative process to establish the new authorities has been completed in Parliament next year.

Once they are operational, the replacement councils will have the same power as all local authorities to change their names via a vote of their memberships, should they wish to do so at any time.

Possible names were put forward for all of the councils that could have been created under the five proposed reconfigurations that Lancashire submitted to ministers last November – initially just by those authorities that backed each option. Later, the existing councils offered their opinions on how any new authority that might be adopted in their area should be identified.

The new councils will be responsible for delivering all local services in their enlarged areas, ending the current two-tier split between Lancashire County Council and the 12 district authorities in the county. The four will each be all-service ‘unitary’ councils, as the existing Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils have been since 1998.

The county council, the dozen districts and the two current unitaries will all cease to exist on 31 March, 2028.

“This isn’t accurate.”

Lancashire County Council took the unusual step to publicly correct reporting by the very well-respected journalist Paul Faulkner this week.

The original article, which was published on the Lancashire Post and the BBC on Thursday (23 July) confirmed the new names for the four councils but did not include details of action the leaders could take to change those names.

The story was later corrected.

The statement, published after articles had been corrected, reads: “You may have seen reports in the media today that the names of the four new unitary councils for Lancashire have been confirmed.

“This isn’t accurate.

“The names that have been reported have been taken from the successful proposal for four unitary councils, which the government announced was its preferred option last week.

“Councils in Lancashire have until 17 August to respond to MHCLG on preferred names – and we’ll keep residents informed when we’ve agreed those names.”

While the statement was published by Lancashire County Council, The Lancashire Lead has learned that it came as a result of lobbying from some of the chief executives and council leaders of Lancashire’s lower tier authorities.