Get on with creating a Lancashire-wide Combined Authority

Four local authorities in the east of the county have proposed a ‘breakaway’ grouping and a possible unitary council that would see the break-up of Lancashire.

I say they need to drop their parochial approach and get on with creating a county-wide combined authority so that the region can start to play its full part in the Northern Powerhouse.

Just when it seemed Lancashire was getting its act together, we have a return to the parochial politics that have held us back for far too long now.

City deal investment has masked the cost to Lancashire of a lack of engagement with the devolution process which has cost the county literally millions of pounds worth of investment in areas such as skills and infrastructure – never mind the negative impact it has had on our influence on the wider regional agenda.