Ribble Valley Borough Council is set to appoint a new chief executive who is currently Preston City Council’s deputy, ahead of an expected major shake-up of Lancashire councils.
Sarah Threlfall has been offered the top officer role at Ribble Valley Borough Council, where councillors will be be asked to formally approve her appointment next week.
Ribble Valley’s current chief executive, Marshal Scott, will retire at the start of January, 2026. In recent months, a sub-committee of councillors has searched for a replacement.
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Sarah Threlfall joined Preston City Council in 2022. She was previously at Tameside Council in Greater Manchester for just under 19 years. Her roles there included director of transformation. She attended Penwortham Priory High School in the 1990s and has links to Whalley in the Ribble Valley.
The Ribble Valley chief executive remit includes being the ‘head of paid service’, meaning the organisation and management of all paid staff – but not elected councillors.
A second part is the post of electoral registration officer and returning officer for all general elections, borough and parish elections.
This includes overseeing the registration of political candidates before elections and declaring results after the public has voted. It can include other elections too, such as for the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner and Lancashire County Council.
A report for next week’s full Ribble Valley Borough Council meeting states: “The sub-committee considered Sarah Threlfall to be the most suitable candidate and recommends that she be appointed to the position of chief executive. The candidate has been informed and has accepted the informal offer.”
Conservative Cllr Simon Hore, the political leader of the council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We began the search for a new chief executive in August and received some excellent applications from across the UK. We short-listed five candidates and the two-day selection process was rigorous and challenging.
“I am delighted to confirm that the successful applicant and our next chief executive will be Sarah Threlfall, who is currently the deputy chief executive at Preston. Sarah’s starting date will be decided after her appointment is formally ratified by the full council on Tuesday.”
Recently at a Ribble Valley Policy & Finance Committee meeting, current chief executive Marshal Scott gave an update on the government’s aim to reorganise all Lancashire councils. Borough councils could be merged or scrapped to create new, larger unitary authorities delivering all services under one roof.
Mr Scott said borough elections due in May 2027 could be cancelled and Ribble Valley councillors’ terms extended until a new unitary authority begins in spring 2028. Details about the future role of parish and town councils and their elections was unclear. More information would be requested from the government.
The goverfnment’s drive for reorganisation includes ideas from the former Conservative government for English regional mayors and new decision-making systems. These have prompted debate and some criticism including concerns about local democracy become remote from the public.
Overall, the Lancashire shake-up, earmarked for 2028, could bring changes for council services and staff, and transfers of publicly-owned land and buildings including leisure centres, sports fields, parks and town halls. Local democracy, election dates and the ratio of councillors to residents could also change.
Councils have to send preferences and detailed business cases to the government by late November. Ribble Valley’s first choice is for the county and borough system to remain. But its second choice would be to join with Preston and Lancaster. Westminster will have the final say.
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