Lancashire councils given reorganisation deadline

All of Lancashire's 15 councils have been given a deadline of March to submit initial plans for how they will reorganise themselves into new authorities.

Minister for Local Government and English Devolution Jim McMahon OBE has set out a timetable for them to work together to come up with a plan of how it will work in the county.

In it he said: "This is a once in a generation opportunity to work together to put local government in your area on a more sustainable footing, creating simpler structures for your area that will deliver the services that local people and businesses need and deserve."

The government wants councils to merge to create single unitary authorities to provide all the services in their area under an elected mayor.

But, the plan is not without its critics.

The Conservative leader of Ribble Valley Council Stephen Atkinson said: "It's rushed, this will have a profound affect on people's lives for the next 50 years.

"It will result in money flowing from the rural areas into the cities and places like Ribble Valley will just be the cash cows."

He said he believed the people should be allowed to decide and that Ribble Valley Council would hold a referendum.

The Green leader of Lancaster City Council Caroline Jackson said: "This is a very quick timescale, and there's an awful lot of information needed, there's a lot of talking, negotiation, and I don't know whether those things can be done in the kind of timescale the government wants to impose on us."

Lancashire has already formed a combined county authority made up of Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council, and Blackpool Council.

Its first meeting is scheduled for March.

The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Phil Riley, said the deadline did not affect the combined authority, which he said "now has a life of its own".

He added: "What does affect the combined authority is we want to continue down the devolution road.

"The government has been quite clear that would require a mayor. That's the next stage of that."

The government expects a full proposal to be submitted by the councils in November.