Preston Lancaster and Ribble Valley name change
The government has been formally asked not to call the new local authority for Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley ‘North Lancashire Council’
The government has been formally asked not to call the new local authority for Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley ‘North Lancashire Council’.
It emerged on Thursday that the leaders of the three existing district authorities for those areas want them each to be namechecked in the title of the council that will replace their own in April 2028.
Their preference is for the new standalone – or unitary – authority to be called ‘Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley Council’.
However, ministers have insisted there must be unanimous agreement between the current councils covering the patch before they will consider changing the provisional North Lancashire moniker. Crucially, that includes Lancashire County Council, which has effectively vetoed the wishes of the district leaders by insisting ‘Lancashire’ should feature in the title of the new authority.
A formal submission made to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on Monday on behalf of Lancashire‘s 15 main councils – all of which are being abolished as part of a government-ordered shake-up – noted the desire of the three districts for a different name, but acknowledged that it could not be proposed as part of the official suggestion process because of the lack of unanimity.
As the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) previously explained, the hope from the Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley leaders was that ministers would take the hint and rethink their requirement for complete local agreement.
Now, however, the trio – Matthew Brown (Preston City Council), Caroline Jackson (Lancaster City Council) and Simon Hore (Ribble Valley Borough Council) – have gone a step further by sending a separate letter to the department making the case for their preferred three-pronged name.
It comes as the area’s MPs also waded into the naming debate, with Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick saying that ‘Central and North Lancashire’ would be a more sensible option. Meanwhile, Lancaster and Wyre’s Cat Smith said she is happy with the North Lancashire title the government is currently considering.
Meanwhile, Preston’s deputy leader, Valerie Wise, has warned that the residents living under the new, enlarged council need it to be easily identifiable as the authority for their area – not least to avoid confusion at its inaugural elections next year.
The district leaders’ letter focuses on geography, identity and history in its argument for their favoured title – reflecting some of the themes the three politicians alighted upon when speaking to the LDRS about the issue last week.
Writing to the MHCLG’s co-deputy director for local government reorganisation (LGR), Ruth Miller, they say: “The name ‘Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley’ provides clear geographical recognition and reflects the breadth and diversity of the new authority.
“It encompasses the historic county town and heritage of Lancaster, Preston’s central role as the principal economic engine of the area, the concentration of academic excellence across the two cities, and Ribble Valley’s nationally recognised rural economy, food production sector and outdoor leisure offer.
“The proposed name also reflects a spirit of partnership and equality between the constituent areas. The use of alphabetical order acknowledges the equal importance of each place and supports the creation of a shared identity for residents, businesses, elected members and staff.
“As we embark on the significant task of creating a new organisation, it is important that the chosen name builds on longstanding local identities while establishing a positive foundation for future innovation and collaboration.”
The letter also stresses Cllr Brown’s concern – previously expressed to the LDRS – that North Lancashire is a geographically nonsensical name for a council that covers Preston.
Ms. Miller is advised that the title “does not accurately represent the area the authority will serve” – and that its purpose was only ever as a working name while competing proposals for the new-look local authority landscape in Lancashire were being drawn up.
The Whitehall mandarin is also given a history lesson, with the letter noting that Preston received its first Royal Charter back in 1179, while Lancaster was handed a borough and market charter in 1193.
The LDRS asked MHCLG whether it was open to persuasion on the subject of the new council’s or if its unanimity requirement was a red line, but did not receive a response.
The government will decide on the new title – and a range of other LGR issues – in the coming weeks, before the legislative process begins in Parliament to formally enact whatever has been decided, via what is known as a ‘structural changes order’.
‘Just call it what is’, MP says
After 26 years as the MP for the Preston constituency – whose own boundaries have shifted during that time – Sir Mark Hendrick has no interest in seeing the city name wiped from the local authority map.
However, while he believes the sprawling shape of the new authority leaves little choice in that regard, he told the LDRS that the sub-region that Preston has always anchored did not have to face the same fate.
“Preston is the centre of Lancashire, so the new council should be called ‘Central and North Lancashire’.
“If Preston has to be dropped as a council name, then at least keep ‘Central Lancashire’ – because if you lose that, you’ve lost the lot. It’d be like Central Lancashire didn’t exist anymore and had been eradicated as a result of all this.
“It also makes sense to just designate roughly what part of the county the new council covers, rather than naming individual places – because otherwise people get really parochial and possessive about it,” Sir Mark said.
Lancaster and Wyre MP Cat Smith is also unpersuaded by the prospect of ‘Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley’ as the new council name – but she is content with the ‘North Lancashire’ suggestion that is formally on the table.
However, she told the LDRS she would have preferred to see the easternmost area of Wyre – around Garstang – become part of the authority’s patch, rather than joining the new Fylde Coast Council that will be made up of the existing Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre local authority areas.
“That would mean you could drive down the A6 between Lancaster and Preston and stay in the North Lancashire Council zone,” Ms. Smith said.
Meanwhile, her Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency neighbour, Lizzi Collinge MP, has warned that a ‘Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley’ council name risked people living in some parts of the new authority patch feeling left out.
“The name is overly complicated and would leave communities such as Morecambe, Carnforth and the Lune Valley feeling overlooked and on the periphery,” she said in a post on Facebook, adding that she had written to the existing council leaders in the area to make that point.
“I believe something simpler, like North Lancashire, would be a more inclusive and geographically accurate name for the new authority.”
Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis – whose consistency also covers northern parts of Preston – was also approached by the LDRS for comment.
Land of confusion: ‘It’s hard enough persuading people to vote’
Whatever name the government decides to impose on the new authority for Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley – and the three others being created across Lancashire – it can always change it once it officially takes over from the current councils in little more than 18 months’ time.
However, almost a year before that – in May 2027 – residents will elect its first cohort of councillors, allowing the authority to begin operating in so-called ‘shadow form’.
Cllr Wise told the LDRS that it was vital the most appropriate name had been bestowed on the new body by that point – to reduce the risk of confusion when the public were being encouraged to cast their vote to determine the political make-up of the replacement council.
“We want to make sure people realise they’re voting for the new unitary authority that is going to cover them. Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley aren’t going anywhere as places – we’re all still going to exist.
“It’ll be hard enough getting people out, because most people don’t vote in local elections turnout is usually between a quarter and a third.
“But this is a really important local election as it’s going to determine the future of this council until 2032. So there’s a lot at stake and we think people are more likely to be interested if they understand this is the council to do with them,” Cllr Wise said.
Preston residents are used to electing city councillors in three years out of every four, while Lancaster and Ribble Valley councils hold ‘all-out’ polls every four years. However, the first term of the new authority – including its shadow period – will be a five-year one.
The new set-up will end the two-tier split between the county council and district councils which sees County Hall take responsibility for services like highways, social care and schools, while the districts look after the likes of bin collections, parks and most planning applications.
North Lancashire Council – or whatever it ends up being called – will deliver all local authority services in its area.