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Council in bid to run all services


27/ 7/2006

HYNDBURN Council is to make an ambitious bid to run all its own services including those currently administered by Lancashire County Council.

If approved, the move would see the local authority taking charge of functions such as education, social services, libraries and trading standards.

The council would collaborate with Blackburn with Darwen Council in providing senior staff, perhaps by having a joint Director of Education for example.

But it has strongly denied any plans to merge the two authorities.

And managing director David Welsby e-mailed all 450 staff within hours of reading a newspaper report which suggested otherwise.

The report, described by Mr Welsby as inaccurate, suggested that staff from the two councils are to be pooled into one authority.

Mr Welsby said: "These are exciting plans and it would be unique for a council as small as Hyndburn to run all its own services."

Mr Welsby added: "But there would be no question of a merger or a Big Brother-style take-over.

"Blackburn Council officials are already helping us on regeneration projects and it would be an extension of that.

"Hyndburn Council would make all its own policy decisions and all queries from the public would be dealt with locally.

"It would clear up confusion over which council is responsible for which services and could be a way of keeping council tax down.

"But the plan is at an early stage and nothing is decided yet. It would have to go to the Government for approval."

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "This could be the most excellent development in the history of the council.

"If we were successful in our bid it would mean that Hyndburn Council would be responsible for its own destiny."


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Most recent 2 of 5 user comments

   Given that absolutely no professional qualifications are necessary to be a councillor and that there are councillors who are pretty much incapable of holding down a job, should we really not be asking if it is a good idea to have such people in charge of disembursing public funds?
Marcus, Escaped Accrington
23/08/2006 at 12:23
   Would not be a bad idea. Hyndburn needs to improve with its own control of the services being cut by LCC.
Luke Smith, Formerly from Accrington
19/08/2006 at 15:48
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