Lancashire to get four new councils, BBC understands

Lancashire is set to get four new councils as part of a shake-up of local government, the BBC understands.

An announcement is due to be made later that these will replace the current 15 authorities in the county. The government is understood to have told MPs and Labour council leaders, and is meeting with other council leaders and chief executives later.

The councils will be responsible for delivering all local authority services, including education, social care, highways, waste, planning and housing.

The current two-tier local government system has been in place since 1974, with the exception of Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council, which became unitary authorities in 1998.

The government announced in December 2024 that it wanted to get rid of the two-tier system and replace it with smaller unitary authorities, which would control all the services in their areas.

In 2025, all 15 authorities were asked to suggest a way forward and, after they failed to reach an agreement, five options were submitted to the government - ranging from two councils to five.

Now that the government has decided how the new councils will look, elections will be held for these new so-called shadow authorities in May 2027.

These will then run in tandem with the existing councils for a year before those authorities are phased out.

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