‘We just need to know': South Ribble leader calls for certainty amid council shake-up delay

The leader of South Ribble Borough Council says the unexpected delay to the overhaul that will see the authority abolished came as “a bit of shock” - and called for clarity as soon as possible.

Matthew Tomlinson was responding to the government announcement on Monday that a shake-up of Lancashire’s councils, which ministers themselves had demanded, was being paused to check that it is lawful.

Under the changes - which were set in motion by the government almost two years ago before finally being confirmed in July - South Ribble will merge with the local authorities for Chorley and West Lancashire in a configuration that will be known as South Lancashire Council.

The new authority is one of the four that were set to be established in April 2028 to replace Lancashire’s 15 current councils.

However, local government secretary Angela Rayner stunned the sector with her statement in the Commons that most of the near two dozen council streamlining revamps taking place nationwide were on hold - with no indication of when they would now happen, other than that she was working "at pace” on the issue.

With the government having now postponed the elections that would have created a so-called ‘shadow’ version of the new South Lancashire Council in May 2027, the point at which the existing South Ribble Borough Council disappears from the map has been pushed back, seemingly for at least a year, until April 2029.

However, Angela Rayner’s statement to MPs referenced not only the need to check the legality of the new local government landscape she wants to create, but also that it “meet the priorities of the new…Prime Minister“.

While telling South Ribble MP Paul Foster that Andy Burnham’s administration was "absolutely committed to…local government reform”, her comments hinted that it was at least possible this particular version of it might yet be strangled before birth. The former deputy Prime Minister also failed to directly answer a question from Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin as to whether retaining two-tier councils might be an option.

Cllr Tomlinson - who has always said he would never have sought the abolition of South Ribble - told the Lancashire Post that the sudden question mark placed over a seemingly done deal was difficult to swallow.

“Naturally, this all comes as a bit of a shock,” the Labour veteran said.

“The continued uncertainty is definitely not helpful - and it's certainly not helpful to our staff who remain unclear as to what the future holds.

“Whatever the government has in store for us all, we simply need to know.”

The delay to local government reorganisation also looks likely to have implications for when Lancashire might be able to get an elected mayor, should it ever agree to the introduction of the role in the county.

The government’s current policy is that any planned restructure of the local authority arrangements in an area must predate the installation of a mayor to oversee devolved powers.

While Lancashire has had a basic devolution deal in place for two years, its tortured transition to a deeper, mayor-led set-up - if and when that ever secures local agreement - would now appear to be on hold until the four new councils are fully fledged in spring 2029.