Boundary Committee final recommendations (Lancashire)

AS promised by us in last weeks issue, these are the Boundary Committee final recommendations for unitary local government in Lancashire.

Final proposals for unitary patterns of local government in the two-tier areas of Lancashire are being submitted to the Deputy Prime Minister today. The recommendations from The Boundary Committee for England mark the end of an independent review, which began in June 2003. The Committee has set out two options for patterns of unitary authorities in the county. 

Option A

A single unitary authority based on the majority of the Lancashire county area:-

The districts of Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster City, Pendle, Preston City, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre would be abolished and their functions transferred to Lancashire County Council, which would be renamed 'Lancashire Council'.

Blackpool would be expanded to include the Fleetwood and Thornton-Cleveleys area of Wyre, and be renamed 'Blackpool with Fleetwood Borough Council'.

Option B

Three unitary authorities based on combinations of existing districts:-

Lancashire County Council and the districts of Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster City, Pendle, Preston City, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre, and Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland (from Cumbria) would all be abolished. Their functions would be transferred to three new unitary districts, to be named 'Central Lancashire' (comprising Chorley, Preston City and South Ribble), 'East Lancashire' (comprising Burnley, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale) and 'Morecambe Bay' (comprising Lancaster City and Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland from Cumbria).

Blackpool would be expanded to include the areas of Fylde and Wyre, and be renamed 'Blackpool and the Fylde Borough Council'.

Blackburn with Darwen would be expanded to include the area of Hyndburn, and be renamed 'Blackburn with Hyndburn Borough Council'.

Sefton would be expanded to include the western part of West Lancashire, and be renamed 'Sefton & West Lancashire Metropolitan Borough Council'.

Wigan would be expanded to include the eastern part of West Lancashire.

The year-long exercise in the North West, which was also conducted in the North East and Yorkshire & the Humber regions saw the Committee reviewing those areas where there are currently two tiers of local government, both district and county councils. The Committee was directed to propose at least two options for patterns of local government based on a single tier of councils, known as unitary authorities. Retaining current structures was not an option. At a later date, all people living in the three northern regions will be asked to decide in a referendum if they want an elected regional assembly. Those living in the two tier areas, such as Lancashire, will be asked to make a further decision on which option for unitary local government they would prefer if a regional assembly is established.

The review included two rounds of public consultation, each lasting twelve weeks, during which time local authorities, stakeholders and interested parties were invited to submit their proposals for patterns of local government. Over 4,000 submissions were received from Lancashire. The Committee also commissioned MORI to undertake public opinion research on its draft proposals for the county. The research findings were published on 14 April 2004. 

In considering options for unitary authorities, the Committee was guided by the Local Government Act 1992 and Guidance issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Key considerations included local authority capacity, geography, community leadership, representation and the ability for any new unitary authorities to become high performing, delivering quality services to local residents. 

The Boundary Committee Chair, Pamela Gordon said:- "We have given full consideration to all the proposals and representations we have received. In the light of all the evidence put to us, we are satisfied that we are putting forward viable options for patterns of unitary local government in Lancashire.

Our principal objective has been to ensure our options offer realistic prospects of meeting the needs of people living in all the communities concerned through the creation of strong, sustainable and potentially high-performing unitary authorities.

Subject to the Deputy Prime Minister's decision on our final recommendations, electors in the two-tier areas of Lancashire will be able to vote on their preferred pattern for unitary local government in a referendum later in the year." 

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is now responsible for deciding the outcome of the Committee's recommendations and all further correspondence should be addressed to:- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Zone 5/B1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU. The Government will not take final decisions on the local government options for a period of six weeks from today (until 6 July 2004).

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