Ribble Valley residents will get referendum over whether council is abolished

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A Lancashire district council will stage a local referendum if a new devolution deal threatens its future.

Ribble Valley Borough Council has resolved to ask residents for their opinion if plans to abolish the authority emerge as part of the latest push for extra powers and cash for the county.

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Lancashire’s provisional devolution settlement - struck with the previous Conservative government - is currently in limbo as the new Labour administration mulls mixed messages from the county’s local authorities about whether to implement it in its current form or negotiate a new agreement.

While ministers have so far been silent on whether a strengthened deal would come with a requirement to reduce the number of individual councils in Lancashire from the current tally of 15, Ribble Valley’s Tory leader says “alarm bells” are ringing for him about just that prospect.

Cllr Stephen Atkinson says Ribble Valley residents must have the final say over the future of the council that serves themCllr Stephen Atkinson says Ribble Valley residents must have the final say over the future of the council that serves them
Cllr Stephen Atkinson says Ribble Valley residents must have the final say over the future of the council that serves them

Stephen Atkinson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he fears some local Labour politicians - MPs and council leaders alike - would be willing to accept the creation of a handful of larger councils in return for what they see as a better devolution arrangement.

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In that scenario, he says the final say should rest with residents - not just in Ribble Valley, but in each of the council areas that could face the axe, including Preston, Wyre and Burnley.

“It's them that it affects and it's them that we need to have consent from,” Cllr Atkinson said.

“In North Yorkshire, they've now got one council between Scarborough and Skipton - a two-hour-15-minute drive.

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“As democracy moves [geographically further] away from people, they get more frustrated and less connected to civic life - and to feeling that they have a voice.

“So we think that the residents should make this decision, not politicians or political parties.”

Local government reorganisation - redrawing the council map in an area - has often been a feature of devolution deals in places like Lancashire, where responsibilities are split between the county council and the dozen district authorities. Lancashire’s situation is further complicated by the presence of two standalone authorities covering Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.

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In 2020, when it appeared that reorganisation was going to be demanded by the government in return for devolution, Lancashire County Council drew up a proposal that would have resulted in the abolition of every local authority in the area - and seen them replaced with three so-called ‘unitary’ authorities that would deliver all council services in their patch.

The blueprint would have bound together 14 places to form a trio of new councils covering: Preston, South Ribble, Chorley and West Lancashire; Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde, Lancaster and Ribble Valley; and Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn and Pendle.

Although the devolution agreement currently on the table for the county does not involve a streamlining of its councils, a deeper deal that involved introducing an Andy Burnham-style elected mayor, could make that more likely.

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As the LDRS revealed last month, separate letters have been sent to the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner by two groups of Lancashire districts, answering her call for devolution suggestions from those areas where a settlement is not yet in place.

The seven Labour-controlled districts - Preston, Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Lancaster, Rossendale and Hyndburn - along with coalition-led Burnley and Pendle, called for “a more ambitious devolution settlement” than that agreed with Rishi Sunak’s government.

Meanwhile, Conservative-run Wyre, Fylde and Ribble Valley pressed home their opposition to an elected mayor and said the provisional deal should be enacted before any new devolution vision for Lancashire is considered.

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Controversially, none of the districts were involved in the negotiation of that deal, which was done by the county council and Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils - and put on ice as a result of the snap general election. The three negotiating partners want to see their agreement implemented and then built upon, rather than the process being started from scratch.

If the current deal goes ahead, two district representatives would be given non-constituent member status on a newly-created county combined authority - but they would not have voting rights on that decision-making body.

Far from suggesting the abolition of district councils, local government minister Jim McMahon said shortly after the election that he was “uncomfortable” with the second-tier authorities being “locked out of the picture” over devolution in some parts of the country.

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However, Cllr Atkinson fears a renegotiated Lancashire deal, creating a mayoral combined authority with potentially 15 different voices on it, could nevertheless herald the demise of the districts.

Last month, the new Labour MP for South Ribble, Paul Foster - who has been a staunch defender of Lancashire’s two-tier system of local government during his previous five years as leader of the borough's council - said the county would need to have a “grown-up conversation” over reorganisation if it was put forward by the government as part of a stronger devolution deal.

Meanwhile, Chorley Council’s Labour leader Alistair Bradley told the LDRS any such proposals would have to at least be given a hearing if they formed the basis of a new package of devolved power.

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But Cllr Atkinson claims the loss of Lancashire’s districts would be at odds with the very premise of devolution - resulting in less local control and all sway instead being held at a sub-regional level.

“We must remember the districts came from the local corporations that…provided clean water and civic functions - so they've grown out of a local need. That's why we're all different shapes and sizes.

“To now go to some kind of Stalinist, top-down [system] is so misinformed, because - to me - that says local government [is seen as] as a delivery mechanism for central government.

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“But it’s actually about civic pride, responsiveness, understanding your residents - and local priorities.”

A resolution committing to the calling of a referendum in Ribble Valley in the event of any proposed local government reorganisation was approved by a majority at a specially-convened council meeting. The exact question would be agreed at the time by the authority’s policy and finance committee.

DEVOLUTION DETAILS

The LDRS approached the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government about the potential link between local government reorganisation and devolution.

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A spokesperson said: “Our ambitious programme of devolution is focused on driving growth and giving power back to local people – and working with local leaders, members of parliament and stakeholders, including those in Lancashire, will be critical to its success across the country.

“Further details on a new devolution framework – setting out more details for local areas on how devolution agreements will work will be announced in due course.”

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