New council faces £43m budget gap, leader warns

A new East Lancashire council could be forced to find £43m in savings before it delivers a single service, according to local authority leaders.

The proposed Pennine Lancashire unitary authority is due to replace Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale councils in April 2028.

But when the decision was handed down from central government in July, local MPs said it could end up being "one of the most deprived unitary authorities in the country".

At a Blackburn with Darwen Council meeting, leader Phil Riley said the proposed Pennine Lancashire authority faced the "significant challenge" of finding £43m in savings in order to balance its budget.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said one factor was the area's relatively low council tax base. More than half (57%) of homes within the new authority's boundaries are in the lowest council tax band, Band A, compared with a UK average of 23.7%.

The new authority will also take on responsibility for services including adult and children's social care, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision and highways maintenance.

While the five councils due to form the authority have all set balanced budgets for 2026/27, most of those services are currently provided by Lancashire County Council rather than the district councils themselves.

Riley said that, without additional support, the new authority could face difficult decisions.

"They can put up council tax, sack a load of people, or cut a load of services. But the options aren't great," he said.

He added: "It would be a complete absurdity, from a democratic point of view, if the first thing that this non-existent council did was to start talking about making lots of people redundant or cutting loads of services.

"There's an enormous challenge there which, in my view, has to be fixed."

The government said Local Government Reorganisation will help improve public services by speeding up the construction of new homes and infrastructure and cutting waste.

£63m will be made available to 21 reorganisation areas, including in Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.