Three into on will go if this letter from the leaders of West Lancashire, South Ribble and Chorley borough councils to government minister Robert Jenrick is to be believed...

Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MPSecretary of State for Housing, Communities and LocalGovernment

House of Commons

LondonSW1 0AA

By Email: robert.jenrick.mp@parliament.uk

Dear Mr Jenrick,

Local Government reorganisation in Lancashire

There is a widely held belief that the current structure of local government in Lancashire is not fitfor purpose.

It means that local government across the county is unable to fulfil the role it should inproviding clear and accountable leadership to our residents, nor does it support the development ofsustainable public services.

Having considered this position and whilst we understand that local government reorganisation israrely straightforward and should not be suggested lightly, we have come to believe that thechallenges faced by public services are such that local government needs to radically change toensure that Lancashire is served by clear structures that promote accountability and quality publicservices.

We also recognise that there is no perfect answer for what new structures should be put in place,with some favouring a variant of the current 2 tier system and others proposing a wider move to aunitary based model.

Additionally, we have recently been briefed again as to the government'sproposals to bring a white paper forward later this year and been provided with current thinking asto parameters being considered by the government including, for example, preferred populationsize and geographies.

With all of this in mind and whilst we remain open to constructiveconversations with our partners within Lancashire and central government, we believe that thecombination of West Lancashire, South Ribble and Chorley boroughs could provide a coherentbasis for a single council.

That single council would serve a population of over 340,000 people and would not entail breakingup borough areas or crossing county boundaries. This would represent a functioning economicarea and serve communities with many commonalities.

Importantly, it would fit with a widerreorganisation of the rest of Lancashire; for example, the number of Directors of Children’sServices and Adult Social Care across Lancashire will not need to increase.