PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION IF YOU AGREE THAT LOCAL RESIDENTS MUST HAVE A SAY ON PLANS THAT PUT OUR PUBLIC SERVICES, DEMOCRACY AND LOCAL HERITAGE AT RISK!

What is the Government proposing?

In December 2024, the Labour Government published plans for rapid and dramatic changes to county and district councils. If the plans go ahead, Lancaster City Council will be forced to merge with at least two other districts to form one of several new unitary councils which will replace Lancashire County Council within 3 years. 

Each new unitary council would take over services currently run by districts (e.g. street cleaning, waste collection, events and leisure services), as well as many of the current responsibilities of Lancashire County Council (e.g. adults' and children's social care, public health, transport and education). The assets and debts of the abolished councils would be transferred to the new unitary council. 

How will this affect local democracy? 

The Government is saying it wants to devolve power - but what is being proposed is more power in fewer hands. 

Their plan is to create huge ‘unitary’ councils of about 500,000 residents. For comparison, Lancaster City Council has about 145,000 residents. 

The result will be much larger wards, represented by fewer councillors. It will be harder for the council, and its councillors, to consult residents and respond to local concerns across these expanded areas. 

Which other councils might Lancaster City Council merge with? 

It is not yet clear who we will be forced to merge with, but it could be Preston or Blackpool, and some rural councils. 

Decisions about our area could be made more than 20 miles away, with less input from people who actually live here.  

Will merging councils save money?

This complete re-jig of local councils will cost millions and cause a huge amount of disruption. There is little evidence that it will save money overall. Bigger unitary councils still won’t have enough money to meet the growing demand for adult and children’s social care, without knock-on consequences for other services.

What would happen to our local services?

We could lose local control over the council-owned assets that make the Lancaster district special - such as parks, Salt Ayre leisure centre, the Platform, Town Halls and museums. They could be seen as too expensive and not essential by a unitary council that has to provide a much bigger range of services.

Will I get any say in what happens?

The Government is pressurising local councils to make a quick decision WITHOUT asking their residents first.

There has been no consultation with local communities or their democratically elected councillors about the potential risks and benefits of so-called devolution. 

We must ensure that any changes will meet local needs and improve services for residents of the Lancaster district.  

THIS PETITION DEMANDS THAT:

1. Meaningful consultation of local residents, such as an informal local ‘referendum’, must happen before any proposal to abolish Lancaster City Council is taken further.
2. There should be no final decision until local residents have been fully informed and their views have been taken into account.

Our two local MPs (Cat Smith & Lizzi Collinge) are asked to convey the concerns of local residents to the Government, and to speak in Parliament against any proposal to abolish Lancaster City Council that is not based on meaningful consultation. 

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