Fylde named number one for council tax returns in Lancashire - this is how Blackpool and Wyre compare

The borough took the top spot for Lancashire in a study of local authorities across England, which looked at the number of roads in need of repairs, crimes reported per 10,000 people, the average response time for local fire services, household waste recycling rates, and the number of care homes and schools rated either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the CQC and Ofsted.

The study was carried out by the moneys-saving experts at Money.co.uk using data from 2020 and 2021 to determine where council tax goes the furthest.

In Fylde, the annual band D council tax for two adults stands at £2,005. Just 3.84 per cent of roads in the area were found to be in need of repair in 2020. The crime rate per 10,000 people stood at 509 as of 2020/21, and the average fire services response time was seven and a half minutes for that same year.

Some 90.75 per cent of schools and 82.22 per cent of care homes were rated good or outstanding.

The area also scored well for its environmental efforts, as 48.8 per cent of household waste was recycled in 2020.

Wyre took the number three spot for Lancashire, falling just behind West Lancashire in the overall rankings. Like Fylde, just 3.84 per cent of roads were in need of repair. The number of crimes reported per 10,000 people was 623, the average fire services response time was seven and a half minutes, and the recycling rate was 44.8 per cent.

The percentage of good and outstanding schools and care homes was 90.75 per cent and 82.5 per cent respectively.

Nationally, Fylde was found to be the 38th best local authority for council tax returns, and Wyre ranked at 63.

Blackpool, meanwhile, did not make the top ten list for Lancashire, and ranked 230 out of the 304 local authorities analysed.

READ: Blackpool council tax bandings revealed

Recycling rates in the resort were low – just 15.8 per cent – and crime rates were high, with 1,572 incidents per 10,000 people. The average fire services response time was seven and a half minutes.

88.1 per cent of schools were rated good or outstanding, and 90.91 per cent of care homes.

The top ten for council tax returns in Lancashire was: Fylde, West Lancashire, Wyre, South Ribble, Chorley, Rossendale, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Hyndburn, and Lancaster.

Country-wide, the local authorities offering the best returns were Wandsworth in Greater London, Wigan, and Windsor and Maidenhead near Berkshire. A considerable 50 per cent of the top ten districts in England were in the Greater London area, and three of them were in the Manchester area.

The worst places for council tax returns were Great Yarmouth and Norwich near Norfolk, and Bradford, West Yorkshire.