Lancashire County Council
Upper-tier local authority for Lancashire, led by Reform UK since May 2025.
Lancashire County Council's Cabinet has authorised legal steps that may include a protective judicial review of the paused July merger decision, Local Government Lawyer reported on 5 October 2026; the Deadline falls around 16 October.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
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Authorised legal steps that may include a protective judicial review claim
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UK Local Elections 2026Background
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier authority for the two-tier part of Lancashire, above 12 district councils, with its headquarters at County Hall in Preston. Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, inside the ceremonial county, run their own unitary councils outside its area.
Reform UK won 53 of the 84 seats in May 2025, the first time since 1974 that neither the Conservatives nor Labour had been the largest party on the council. Stephen Atkinson became leader on 22 May 2025. Under Reform the council moved in May 2026 to leave the UK Resettlement Scheme.
The council's future shape depends on The National reorganisation programme. The July 2026 decision for four unitaries across Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen was paused on 7 September but not withdrawn, and the council is preparing to protect its right to challenge it in court.
Lancashire prepares a protective claim
The government's July 2026 reorganisation decisions chose four unitary councils to cover Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. On 7 September, ministers paused all 14 reorganisation decisions taken on 16 July for a rapid review with no end date but did not withdraw them, so Lancashire's still stands in law.
The council's Cabinet has since authorised its Director of Law and Governance to take "such legal steps as are considered necessary and proportionate", which may include a claim it would ask the Court to put on hold, Local Government Lawyer reported on 5 October. No claim had been filed by then. Leader Stephen Atkinson said the council otherwise risked losing "the opportunity to challenge the July decision", because a challenge to a 16 July decision must be brought by about 16 October.
Lancashire moves to leave resettlement
On 5 May 2026, a year after Reform UK took control, the council announced it would withdraw from the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Home Office programme that places resettled refugees with host councils. It made the announcement through a Cabinet member statement rather than a formal Cabinet resolution, with ratification expected at a summer cabinet meeting.
Participation in the scheme is voluntary, so the council can withdraw its offer of places; the Home Office can only move allocations to councils that still take part. Lancashire was the first council to test a withdrawal of this kind, and the Home Office had published no response.