'Clear and present danger' to Burnley and Pendle Councils if Combined Authority plans become reality

Local council leaders across the county have already agreed in principle to the idea, which is the first step towards submitting a formal bid to central government.

A Combined Authority is different to the Pennine Unitary Authority previously discussed which would have seen Burnley merge with Pendle, Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen, something Burnley Council voted against last year.

In theory, a combined authority for Lancashire with an elected mayor would not see the break-up of individual councils and would mean more decisions made in the North-West, rather than at Whitehall, collaborating on areas such as transport, regeneration and economic development.

However, some local councillors are sceptical - raising fears that the plans could see decision-making taken out of Burnley and Pendle in favour of what one Pendle councillor has called a "power grab" by Blackburn and Preston.

Pendle Liberal Democrat leader Coun. David Whipp said: "Residents risk losing control of local issues as Conservative and Labour leaders throughout the county stitch up a deal to centralise power in Lancashire and impose an elected mayor covering the whole of the county.

“The government has made it quite clear that if it goes ahead, councils like Pendle will be abolished and replaced by sprawling Unitary Authorities. All the things that Pendle now decides and does, affecting our local towns and communities, will be taken in Blackburn (or perhaps even Preston) by people who know little or nothing about our area.

“If implemented, the changes will see the biggest loss of local control in the county since the local government reorganisation in 1974 when Pendle Council was set up out of nine different council areas.

“It is bizarre that people are talking about shuffling the deckchairs when the country is facing the biggest peacetime crisis in centuries. This awful power grab must be stopped.”

His Pendle Lib Dem colleague, Coun. Tony Greaves who also sits in the House of Lords said: “This is a combination of party bosses in Preston and Blackburn seeing the chance of grabbing more power for themselves, and a Government that seems to want to close down genuinely local government and is using the Covid crisis as a cover.”

He added: “The whole idea of just one elected mayor to run things from Skelmersdale to Barnoldswick, and from Bacup to Morecambe, is a nonsense. And a change to huge Unitary Councils will cost at least £30m. just to make the changes – what a shocking waste of money at this time.

“I am afraid that anyone who thinks that Pendle – in the far east of the county – would get a fair look-in which Preston and Blackburn grab everything that’s going is deluding themselves. People in Pendle will just pay out more and get far far less.”

Burnley's Labour leader, Coun. Mark Townsend, said he was broadly in favour of the scheme, but not at the current time.

He said: "On the right terms for Burnley and wider Lancashire I have always been in favour of the establishment of a Combined Authority and elected mayor. Having an accountable body that can take powers, finance and decision making from Whitehall and bring them closer to the people impacted is the right thing to do.

"The problem with the proposals being put forward now is that firstly it’s the wrong time to be concentrating on this. Leaders need to be focussed on relieving the short term hardship caused by the pandemic and not distracted by structures.

"Secondly the proposals also have conditions relating to local government reorganisation which could be decided by people who don’t have Burnley residents as their priority.

"The current proposal contains little detail and is a worse deal than the one I brought forward when leader and agreed by council in 2015. It is a clear and present danger to the future of Burnley Council with no certainty about how future decisions relating to local services for local residents would be taken."