Chorley Council tax freeze and budget agreed

Chorley Council is to freeze its share of council tax bills in the year ahead – and has stressed that the move will not mean any cuts to services.

The Labour-run authority opted not to increase the borough charge when it set its annual budget this week – in spite of having the option to hike it by up to 2.99 percent.

The council has balanced the books for the 2026/27 financial year, but is faced with having to make up to £1.7m of savings over the following two – partly as a result of losing out after a recent overhaul of government funding for local authorities.

However, deputy council leader – and cabinet member for resources – Peter Wilson – told the budget meeting that the council tax decision was taken “in the knowledge that we’ll be able to continue to make sure that we’re delivering quality services to the front line – otherwise we wouldn’t do it”.

He said since details of the proposed freeze had emerged, there had been “criticism” from “one or two” members of the public.

“Over the years, sometimes we’ve increased council tax, sometimes we’ve frozen [it].  We continue to work by the principle [that] you only increase council tax when you absolutely have to – you don’t play foot loose with it,” said Cllr Wilson.

It means that the basic charge for a Band D property in Chorley – minus any parish or town council levies or special expenses – will remain at £192.85, the second-lowest of Lancashire’s 12 district authorities.

The financial plan for the next 12 months includes ongoing investment in regeneration of the town centre, £4.5m to upgrade the borough’s leisure centres, £638k to provide temporary accommodation for homeless families and £479k to complete the renovation of Astley Hall.

As he outlined what is his 14th budget for the authority since Labour took control back in 2012, Cllr Wilson said he was continuing to abide by the mantra of “making a difference to people’s lives”.

He said the council had a track record of investing for the benefit of the borough – including in areas for which it has no direct responsibility – and claimed that the authority offered “real value for money” for the nine percent share of council tax bills it receives; the remainder goes to Lancashire County Council, parish and town councils and the police and fire services

Cllr Wilson lauded the fact that past investments made by the authority – including purchasing the Market Walk Shopping Centre and the Logistics House warehouse in Buckshaw Village, creating the Strawberry Fields Digital Office Park and developing the extra care schemes at Primrose Gardens and Tatton Gardens – now brought in £2m a year in revenue for the council, after borrowing costs were taken into account.

He said the authority had had to be “imaginative” and not just “just whinge about [previous government] cuts”.

The current government’s fair funding review is forecast to leave Chorley Council £400k a year worse off from 2027/28 as a result of a shift in support to more deprived local authority areas.  The authority’s overall reserves currently stand at £12.7m, almosy £1.5m of which are earmarked to cover any fyure loss of income from Market Walk and Logistics House. More than £4m of the reserves pot is not earmarked for any particular use.

As well as the £1.7m gap the authority will have to bridge by 2028/29, the council is on track to save £1.2m in the current financial year.

By the time 2028 rolls around, it is expected that Chorley will have been subsumed into a larger council entity as part of the government-ordered streamlining of Lancashire’s local authority landscape.   The borough has proposed merging with South Ribble and West Lancashire councils as part of that process – and ministers are set to make a final decision on the shape of the changes this summer.

Chorley leader Alistair Bradley said it was important that the borough had “a vision” for itself within any broader council patch, warning that otherwise “things will happen to us that we can’t control”.

He added that he was “proud” of Chorley and the council, while acknowledging: “There’s always bits you can improve, there’s always things you can do differently.”

The Conservative opposition group made no comment on the Labour budget proposal, but voted to support it – meaning it passed with unanimous approval.  The lone Reform UK member who sits on the authority was not present at the meeting and sent his apologies.

THE BUDGET’S BIGGEST NUMBERS

£44m, over multiple years – including £20m from central government grant funding, to continue to deliver the town centre transformation programme to create community and multi-use spaces for leisure, business, accommodation and employment;

£6.6m, over multiple years, to deliver a residential development at the Woodlands site alongside space for educational and commercial use to meet the needs of the community;

£4.5m to enhance local leisure facilities and support health and wellbeing through a refurbishment and decarbonisation programme, including improvements to All Seasons Leisure Centre;

£1.5m, to improve recycling and reduce the environmental impact by implementing statutory weekly food waste collections introduced by central government.

£638k to complete the delivery of temporary accommodation at Gillibrand Street to help house larger families who are experiencing homelessness;

£479k, including £100k grant funding, to complete renovations to the West Wing of Astley Hall to improve visitor experience and support the ongoing preservation of heritage assets;

£188k, through the Better Care Fund to help residents to retain independence and ensure homes are safe and accessible by delivering a minor aids and adaptations service;

£25k to commission a project to support school readiness in the borough.

Source: Chorley Council