Reporting Back: Oliver Ryan MP Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield

ExCo

Hello! I hope we’re all settling into this cold and windy January. This last week started with a visit to The Heights school in Stoneyholme – honestly, a brilliant group of young people: engaged, full of ideas, and genuinely passionate about the future of our town.

I also spent time speaking with a new CIC with a clear aim: to reduce inequality by improving social mobility. That’s a big, serious mission – and exactly the kind of practical, community-led work Burnley needs more of. The rest of the day was meetings and casework, and then Friday – my favourite day of the week – back home to escape the London bubble and spend time in beautiful Burnley.

Then, I opened Facebook (as per!) and saw a car crash. I went to have a look and the car had been moved, but there was still a whole host of debris around the crash site. Five metres away, there was an empty grit bin.

Lancashire County Council used to refill grit bins twice a year – September and January. Now, under a decision made by Reform’s Cabinet, it’s once. September. That’s it. No backup. No common sense.

That’s when I properly lost my rag. Not because it makes for a good Facebook video, but because it’s a perfect example of how Reform runs things at Lancashire County Council: big talk, little delivery, and the basics quietly fall apart.

When you cut a simple safety measure, you don’t just ‘save money’, you gamble with residents' safety. That’s pensioners walking to the shops, parents on the school run, drivers on steep roads.

I’ve called for an immediate reversal and proper winter top-ups – and I want them to publish a clear refill schedule so residents can see what’s being done, where, and when.

And let’s make this clear, they’re going to hike your council tax by 5%, at the same time they’ve received a 27% increase in funding until 2029.

And still, closing your care homes, not refilling your grit bins.

It’s clear, with Reform UK on Lancashire County Council, that you pay more tax and get worse services with it. It’s just not good enough.

If Reform UK can’t run a few grit bins, how can people expect them to run a country?

If you spot an empty grit bin near you, please send me the location, and I’ll take it up. People pay enough in tax not to be left gambling with icy roads on main cut-throughs.

As always, if you need advice or support, get in touch with me at [email protected], call 01282 216398, or visit my office on Grimshaw Street.