Local Government Reorganisation - Consultation to go live tomorrow
5th of February, 2026
You'll already know that last year, Government set out plans to replace Lancashire's existing councils with new unitary councils, each responsible for delivering all local services. To support this, councils across Lancashire were asked to put forward ideas for how reorganisation could work.
In November, five different proposals were submitted:
-One proposal for two unitary councils
-One proposal for three unitary councils
-Two proposals for four unitary councils
-One proposal for five unitary councils
You can view all proposals on the joint Lancashire LGR website: https://lancashirelgr.co.uk/proposals
Government is now reviewing these proposals against the criteria it published earlier in 2025.
Statutory consultation
As part of the decision‑making process, Government is running a statutory consultation on all five proposals to gather views from residents and stakeholders.
The consultation will open tomorrow, Thursday 5 February and will run for 7 weeks, closing at 11:59pm on Thursday 26 March.
Please take part and share your views.
The consultation will mainly take place online. Once Government activates the consultation link on Thursday, it will be available on the joint Lancashire LGR website: https://lancashirelgr.co.uk/
Next steps
After the consultation closes, Government's current timeline is:
- Summer 2026: Decision on the preferred option
- May 2027: Shadow elections for new unitary councils
- April 2028: New unitary councils go live