‘Let the people decide’: call for Lancashire referendum over council scrappage plan

As the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed on Friday, the majority of Labour MPs in the county have signed a letter to the government in which they ask for a new simplified local authority structure to be imposed on Lancashire - telling ministers that local leaders will never agree amongst themselves to a revamp they say is vital to address the challenges the area faces.

The LDRS has approached all of those leaders for their initial reaction to the parliamentarians’ proposal to cut the number of councils in the county down to just three or four - with each of the replacement organisations delivering all local authority services in their own patch, rather splitting responsibilities between county and district authorities, as is currently the case in most parts of Lancashire.

Wyre Council's Conservative leader Michael Vincent says there is “no evidence” that the streamlined system being suggested is inherently better than the current two-tier operation - but a good reason to believe that it might be worse.

“If you take adult social care away from a Lancashire-wide model...you'll be competing for staff, which you don't currently have [to do], and you’ll lose some of the economies of scale that exist,” Cllr Vincent said.

He told the LDRS that Wyre will hold a referendum for its residents on any changes that are ultimately brought forward - and said all other council areas should do the same.

“This was not in the government's manifesto - this is not something they have a mandate to do. So we’ll take our position based on what the people of Wyre want,” he added.

His Tory counterpart at Ribble Valley Borough Council has long been strident in his view that the services delivered by district authorities like his should remain at the local, sub-Lancashire level.

“This [would be] civic vandalism, creating ever more remote decision making - they are removing local democracy,” Cllr Stephen Atkinson said of the MPs' blueprint.

“Lancashire residents will remember who took their councils away in four years’ time - and my prediction is huge disruption, less responsive and remote services and millions wasted on reorganisation, whilst we are not concentrating on delivery."

The leader of Labour-run Preston City Council, Matthew Brown, suggested the move by MPs was premature - including their call for next year’s Lancashire County Council elections to be cancelled ahead of replacement local authorities being established in 2026.

“We need to see what the final details will be when the new legislation is published. At this early stage, an attempt should be made through [the] Lancashire Leaders [group] to try and achieve consensus, with support from the Local Government Association or other appropriate bodies around structure, numbers and size of councils if restructuring is taking place.

“I feel an imposition from central government - without a further and final attempt to get agreement on new structures - won't be well received across the county. If agreement cannot be found there may be no choice, but councils should come up with their own proposals to government first,” Cllr Brown said.

South Ribble Borough Council’s Labour leader Jacky Alty says her authority’s focus ”is - and has always been - to make sure that whatever changes are made to local government recognise the different areas of Lancashire and the best interest of its residents”.

“We know there are lots of discussions linked to the government’s ambitions around devolution and how local government should be structured to deliver the biggest impacts and efficiencies,” she added.

The MPs’ call for an overhaul of Lancashire’s councils comes with an associated attempt to get the county’s current devolution deal upgraded to a gold standard ‘level 3’ agreement - a move that would also require Lancashire to agree to having an elected mayor.

That politically charged prospect prompted a joint response from the three ‘top tier' authorities which struck the present devolution deal - minus a mayor - stressing their belief that the agreement signed with the last Conservative government and since approved by the new Labour administration “is in the best interests of Lancashire”.

A spokesperson for the trio added: "We have also agreed with government that following the publication of the new English devolution bill white paper due before Christmas, we will explore all governance models that reflect the geography, the economy and the political landscape of Lancashire, working closely with local councils and other important stakeholders, ensuring that we remain in a strong position to receive further powers and funding in the future."

Specifically on the subject of the proposed council shake-up, Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Phil Riley said "the sensible approach” was to concentrate on implementing the deal that has already been done “until we hear a firm direction of travel from the government with regards to local government reorganisation".

Phillippa Williamson, the leader of Lancashire County Council added: "The devolution deal received strong support during the public consultation and has been backed and endorsed by all three councils [involved], all four universities and by businesses across every sector of industry and our economy.”

She added that proposals for redrawing the council map have “no consensus” amongst local authority leaders.

The coupling by MPs of their proposed council overhaul with a call for a deeper devolution deal heaps political complexity on the situation for Labour-run district councils, who have themselves pushed for the latter, but obviously also have a stake in their own continued existence. The intersection of those interests will no doubt ultimately determine how they engage with the debate that is now sure to rage over both issues.

The Labour leaders of Chorley, Hyndburn and Rossendale councils are yet to respond to a request for comment, as are the leaders of the coalition-controlled authorities in Burnley and Pendle.

West Lancashire Borough Council’s Labour leader said she had no comment to make, while Lancaster City Council said it was unable to respond to a political matter as it is currently without a leader or cabinet.

Conservative-controlled Fylde Council told the LDRS it was unaware of the letter sent to the government by Labour MPs.

Meanwhile, the Labour opposition leader on Lancashire County Council, Matthew Tomlinson, says his group's collective position is that they want "the maximum amount of devolution that we can get - and whatever the implications of that are, we will live with it because we think it's good for the people of Lancashire".

However, he has given his members permission "to have their own view" on any suggested changes to council borders in their own areas, where several of them - himself included - sit on district authorities as well as at County Hall.