Lancashire County Council's Cabinet met on 10 July 2025, and approved a new set of focus areas for the coming year, the Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Plan 2025-26, and the Lancashire's Children in Our Care Sufficiency Strategy 2025-2028. They also agreed to increase parking charges at Preston Bus Station and made some changes to the way they collect contributions from developers.

Areas of Focus for 2025-26

The Cabinet approved the council's areas of focus for 2025-26, as detailed in Appendix A of the report. These priorities align with the Council Plan and the incoming administration's vision. Key areas of focus include:

• Improving services for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
• Transforming adult social care and health.
• Providing first-class children's social care.
• Investing in education.
• Building a family-friendly Lancashire.
• Strengthening prevention and early intervention.
• Improving roads and public transport.
• Investing in the economy and supporting local jobs.
• Empowering communities and serving rural communities.
• Enhancing environmental resilience and community cohesion.
• Reviewing council finances and enhancing digital and data usage.
• Exploring devolution and local government reorganisation.

The document outlines challenges, key programmes, and commitments for the year, structured around the four ambitions of the Council Plan: Better lives for all, Economic ambition, Stronger communities, and Thinking differently.

Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Plan 2025-26

The Cabinet approved the Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Plan 2025-26 and recommended it to Full Council for approval. The plan outlines the strategic and operational vision for delivering effective youth justice services, aligning with the Youth Justice Board's strategy for reducing offending and creating safer communities. The plan emphasises a child-first, trauma-informed, and restorative approach.

Lancashire's Children in Our Care Sufficiency Strategy 2025-2028

The Cabinet approved Lancashire's Children in Our Care Sufficiency Strategy 2025-2028, which aims to improve outcomes for children in the council's care by providing a sufficient number of high-quality, good-value homes and accommodation options. The strategy focuses on prevention, strengthening fostering services, increasing the pool of approved adopters, expanding the council's in-house children's home network, and providing more options for young people to develop their independence. Key performance indicators will be reviewed annually to monitor the strategy's effectiveness.

Education Contribution Methodology

The Cabinet approved an updated Education Contribution Methodology to replace the September 2020 version. This methodology outlines how Lancashire County Council assesses the impact of housing developments on education provision and secures developer contributions to mitigate any shortfalls in school places. The updated methodology includes the use of Department for Education pupil yield factors and provides greater flexibility in assigning developer contributions to suitable infrastructure projects.

Preston Bus Station Multi-Storey Pay and Display Car Park

The Cabinet approved a Traffic Regulation Order to increase tariffs and formalise parking restrictions at Preston Bus Station Multi-Storey Pay and Display Car Park. The decision follows a formal consultation, during which one objection was received. The approved order includes a 20% increase in parking charges, formalisation of disabled parking bays, parent and child parking bays, electric vehicle charging points, and a height restriction. The council expects the increased charges to generate an additional £85,000 in income, which is required to support the delivery of the 2025/26 budget.

Questions for Cabinet

County Councillor Peter Buckley asked County Councillor Ged Mirfin, Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property, to identify where the report suggested the council was on the verge of bankruptcy, as claimed by his party leader. County Councillor Ged Mirfin responded that the report did not contain the phrase verge of bankruptcy, and that the leader of the Reform party was not a member of the cabinet. He stated that the report did highlight financial challenges, including a £10.606m overspend, savings delivery challenges, and a growing deficit on the SEND High Needs Block¹.

County Councillor Aidy Riggott asked County Councillor Ged Mirfin to confirm if there was a hole in the budget as claimed by County Councillor Stephen Atkinson at a prior election debate. County Councillor Ged Mirfin responded that the report contained evidence of financial challenges, including a £102 million savings target, an overspend, and a deficit on the SEND High Needs Block.

Other Business

County Councillor Matthew Salter, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, provided an update on the potential sites for a new secondary school in North West Preston, noting that neither the Tulketh site nor Maxy Lane Farm were entirely suitable and that a full report would be presented at the next Cabinet meeting.