Two Lancashire council leaders denounce devolution deal

County Hall in Preston, Lancashire

Two Lancashire district council leaders said their residents will be unimpressed with the county's proposed devolution deal.

Council leaders for Preston and South Ribble have renewed their criticism of the agreement.

It was signed between the government and the leaders of Lancashire's three top-tier local authorities in November.

A consultation showing broad support for the agreement among those who responded.

This week Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council heralded the outcome of a consultation process that saw between a half and two-thirds of respondents back each of the deal's eight key policy areas.

However, South Ribble Borough Council's leader, Paul Foster, dismissed the notion that the results were representative of public opinion, noting that only 0.001 percent of Lancashire's population engaged in the survey.

Meanwhile, Preston City Council's leader, Matthew Brown, said that a tweak to the wording of the deal, to try to sooth the fears of district leaders about control of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) shifting from councils like theirs to the soon-to-be formed county combined authority (CCA), had not achieved its goal.

'Unaccountable and inefficient'

Under the agreement, the new body - which will oversee Lancashire's devolved powers - will take on responsibility for distributing the £55.5m Lancashire has been allocated from the UKSPF, a fund created to make up for EU development funding lost to the regions after Brexit.

The funding is currently shared between the 12 district authorities and the standalone councils in Blackpool and Blackburn - and is used to fund a raft of social and economic projects in each local area.

In a letter to the government when the deal was published late last year, eight district leaders expressed concern at seeing the cash transferred to what they described as the "unaccountable and inefficient" CCA model.

In a document outlining their response to all the issues raised during the consultation period, the top-tier authorities pledged to amend the proposed deal to make it clear that priorities for the UKSPF "will be evidence-based and funds will be directed towards areas of need".

However, Mr Brown told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that there was still no "firm commitment" about the future involvement of the districts in how the money will be used.

"This is being spent on great projects in Preston to tackle longstanding inequalities caused by the Tory government. It must remain totally under the control of districts who are closest to the communities they represent," said Mr Brown.

The city has allocated some of its £5.2m UKSPF share to projects focused on green energy, broadband access in less well-off communities and skills programmes for the unemployed.