The Lancashire Combined County Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Friday, 10th October 2025, at County Hall, Preston. The agenda included an update on the Key Decision Definition and Threshold, a discussion of the Lancashire Growth Plan, and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2025-26. The meeting was also scheduled to note the appointment of Anthony Oakman as the Independent LCCA Overview and Scrutiny Chair.

Lancashire Growth Plan

The committee was scheduled to discuss the Lancashire Growth Plan, which was finalised and ratified by the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA) at its meeting on 9 September. The report pack states that the Lancashire Growth Plan puts forward:

a clear narrative for capital investment in a range of Lancashire projects which, if properly resourced, could contribute to the national mission to deliver economic growth whilst delivering a strong return on investment and creating high quality jobs for local people.

The report pack also states that an independent analysis of project ideas submitted by partners as part of the Growth Plan consultation exercise, has assessed their readiness, depth and strategic alignment, and considers their fit with the revised Green Book project appraisal criteria¹. The report pack notes that the release of the final document has taken place digitally via the Combined Authority's website and the Invest in Lancashire web portals, and that a limited print run of the document will be available and mailed to key stakeholders including local authorities, the Lancashire Business Board², CCA Economy Advisory Board and the Lancashire MPs. The report pack states that officers are seeking to move forward to a phase of realising the growth opportunities set out in the document, including: launching the document and equipping those able to lobby for Lancashire; producing a Lancashire Investment Prospectus to highlight key developments and projects to investors, developers and end-users; further refining and improving the business cases and investment readiness of Lancashire's projects; positioning projects for relevant funding and investment, considering opportunities such as the revisions to the Government's Green Book Appraisal mechanism; actively working with investors to highlight the potential of Lancashire projects; reinforcing that Lancashire has a strong track record of delivery where funds are made available; and working to secure the wider revenue-based support which allows local residents and local businesses to fully engage and add to the wider impact of new development.

The report pack also notes that while officers from the LCCA and its constituent members are considering how an economic development function could take shape as part of the LCCA, staffing and resource is currently limited, and that local partners will need to continue to work collectively from within their own organisations to drive forward and develop projects, with local authorities acting as principal sponsors and representatives of projects within their own geographic areas.

The structures of the LCCA and its Economy Advisory Board can provide a valuable role in ensuring that when bidding or resource allocation opportunities arise, local partners can reach a consensus on which project or projects offer the best chance of success and are strategically aligned with the Growth Plan. It is also suggested that the Economy Advisory Board will be the platform to monitor practical progress across four main domains: the programme of work designed to raise the profile of the area with key public and commercial funders, the strategic alignment and readiness of projects to be put forward for funding, the wider base of ongoing/revenue based economic activities around enterprise and business support, skills and employability and transport which are necessary to create the conditions for inclusive growth, and maintaining an understanding of the wider conditions for growth and competitiveness – even where the levers of control lie outside of local control and understanding where these are having a differential impact on Lancashire.

The report pack recommends that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report and content of the Growth Plan and Project Pipeline documents, and request officers to prepare and bring back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee a programme of key milestones and key performance indicators which will form the basis of analysing the progress and impact of CCA sponsored economic development activity, as CCA budgets and resourcing are confirmed.

The Lancashire Growth Plan itself is included as an appendix to the report pack. It identifies five 'sectoral drivers of growth' for Lancashire:

• A Strategic Role in National Security and Resilience
• Clean Growth and a Nuclear Renaissance
• Sustainable Digital and Artificial Intelligence
• Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence
• Culture and Tourism as Economic Catalysts

The Growth Plan also identifies six 'strategic enablers' that underpin Lancashire's ambition for a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-led economy:

• Infrastructure and Place Transformation
• Knowledge and Innovation Assets
• Business Growth and Enterprise
• Skills for Growth and Inclusion
• Health, Wellbeing, and Inclusive Communities
• Data and Evidence

The Growth Plan also includes a list of transformational projects, including the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, the Warton Enterprise Zone, Heysham Nuclear Power Stations, Springfields (Westinghouse UK), the Blackburn Cyber Skills and Education Campus and Innovation Quarter, the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone and Silicon Sands, the Blackpool Central Leisure Development, the Morecambe Seafront and the Eden Effect, the Preston Station Quarter, the Burnley Town Centre and Canalside Masterplan, a Strategic Rail Programme, and the Talbot Gateway Skills and Education Campus (Multiversity).

Key Decision Definition and Threshold

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the analysis used to define the Key Decision definition and threshold for the Lancashire Combined County Authority.

The report pack notes that in accordance with the Combined Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny, Access to Information and Audit Committees) Order 2017 (as amended by the Combined Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Access to Information and Audit Committees) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, the LCCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee was required to set the Key Decision threshold at its first meeting in July 2025 in order for the LCCA to be able to take decisions accordingly in compliance with these regulations. When a decision is defined as a Key Decision the authority is required to publish a notice of any Key Decision a minimum of 28 days in advance of the decision being taken, this assists authorities with ensuring transparency and openness by giving advanced notice of Key Decisions due to be taken. The Committee approved the following definition:

An LCCA Key Decision is defined as:

• (i) Having a significant effect on communities living or working in an area made up of two or more electoral divisions in the LCCA area; or
• (ii) Resulting in the LCCA spending or saving a significant amount (set by the Scrutiny Committee as £500,000).

The report pack states that this is a technical matter that the LCCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee is required to determine on behalf of the LCCA and simply sets the definition of how a Key Decision is defined and recorded appropriate as such, and that this does not impact or change the ability for the LCCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee to have oversight of all aspects of the LCCA and any decisions it takes in that regard. The LCCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee can, in accordance with its Terms of Reference, review or scrutinise decisions made, or other actions taken, in connection with the discharge of any functions which are the responsibility of the LCCA amongst other powers.

The report pack also clarifies that there are different types of scrutiny it can undertake, including reviewing longer term policies, plans or programmes that the LCCA has set to benchmark their performance against the original objectives, and the request to call-in specific decisions made by the LCCA during the call in period of three clear working days after the decision is made.

The report pack includes a table setting out the Key Decision thresholds used by other Combined Authorities and Local Authorities: