Lancashire 'should not follow Greater Manchester'

An elected mayor for Lancashire should not be granted the same powers as in city regions like Greater Manchester, a county councillor has suggested.

Reform UK's Ged Mirfin believes any future Lancashire mayor should focus on transport, jobs and investment, with local councils retaining responsibility for day-to-day services.

He said Lancashire's mix of towns, cities and rural communities made it unsuitable for a city-region style mayoralty.

Mirfin added: "Any mayor that comes to power needs to be representing a much more diverse range of communities than a single city region based upon one very large city."

Thomas Loughran, a politics lecturer at Lancaster University, said the proposal reflected some of the challenges involved in creating a mayoral authority for Lancashire.

He said: "It speaks to some of the tensions that exist in the process of developing a mayoral authority for Lancashire, particularly the idea that there is no clear metro centre in the area."

Another suggestion for Lancashire put forward by Mirfin could be the creation of a senate made up of district council leaders, business representatives and other organisations to work alongside the mayor.

Were it to be adopted, Lancashire would be the only mayoral authority in England with such a body, although the Greater London Authority works alongside the London Assembly, which scrutinises and holds the Mayor of London to account.

Mirfin said a senate would help ensure investment was distributed fairly across the county.

"Everybody's voice would be heard, so everybody would have a chance to pitch for any monies that become available to ensure funding benefits East, South, North and West Lancashire - that will be the ultimate test of public funding."

Loughran said Lancashire faced "a fairly significant problem of connection", adding that there was a challenge in bringing together its institutions, towns and councils to create a stronger political structure.

"I think that senate idea speaks to that desire and that approach," he said.

From 2027, Lancashire will likely become the only area in the north of England without an elected mayor.

However, in October's Budget, the government announced it was in the final stages of agreeing 10 new devolution deals, including one for Lancashire.

It is widely expected the county will hold elections for a mayor in 2028, although no formal proposals have yet been published on how the mayoralty will be structured.

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