Preston’s fate in a new political map of Lancashire will be known before the month is out.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is expected to confirm the arrangements for how councils will be structured from 2028 in the county.
Blog Preston understands this is still due to be before the parliamentary summer recess which begins on Thursday 16 July.
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Preston City Council will cease to exist in its current form as it, and fellow district-level councils, are replaced with larger unitary authorities which means they are responsible for everything from education, to parks, potholes and planning rather than the current sharing of services between the county and district councils, known as a two-tier set up.
How many of these councils there are has been consulted on by the government and ministers will announce a decision.
A cross-party proposal by councillors opts for joining with Ribble Valley and Lancaster in a new super council under a four council set up.
Documents which were recently put before councillors give a hint at what the new super-councils may be called.
In a two super councils set up – just North and South – Preston would be included in a North Lancashire uber council.
In a three-councils option, the city would sit as the lynchpin in a ‘Central Lancashire’ council.
Under a four or five council set up, there are no names for North or South councils which Preston could potentially fall into and would include the preferred Preston-Ribble Valley-Lancaster link up.
The documents also outline how many councillors each area of the county could see under the different options – as the number of councillors is dramatically reduced compared to the current two-tier set up between county councils and district councils.
While Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has made clear he wants to see greater Devolution out of London, if he takes power, there is currently no elected-Mayor deal as part of Lancashire’s greater powers and new council set up.
It is not expected the local government reorganisation process in Lancashire will be affected by the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer which may yet trigger a Labour leadership contest if anyone chooses to stand against Burnham.
As it stands, there are due to be ‘shadow election’s for the new councils in May 2027 using the boundaries of the Lancashire County Council divisions e.g. Preston South West before the new councils begin fully operating in 2028 and the likes of Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council, South Ribble Borough Council and Chorley Council are consigned to the history books.
