Your council

Lancaster: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Lancaster City Council: Non-metropolitan district (lower tier), England, North West; within the county of LAN. GOV.UK lists it as a district council, within Lancashire County Council. ONS code E07000121.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Lancaster for 2026–27: £272.20 of a £2,503.19 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 0 opened, 1 closed (1 closure)

Prospect House — closed; reason recorded: closure, 1 December 2025

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Lancaster reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Lancaster: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	none budgeted
Highways and transport services	−£2.1 million
Children's social care	none budgeted
Adult social care	none budgeted
Public health	none budgeted
Housing services (general fund only)	£5.0 million
Cultural and related services	£5.9 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£10.3 million
Planning and development services	£3.8 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£4.8 million
Other services	none budgeted
Total service expenditure	£27.8 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Lancaster in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 145,006 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 41 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £20,896 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £567 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 26.7% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 2.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £202,966 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 5.7 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions: 6.6 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 89.1% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 135.2 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 4,525 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

61 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Greens, Liberal Democrats and independents. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Green Party (E&W) 22, Labour Party 20, Liberal Democrats 7, Conservative and Unionist 5, Morecambe Bay Independents 3, Independent / Other 3, Vacant 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 61 councillors, by ward

Gerry Blaikie (Liberal Democrats) — Bare
Kate Knight (Conservative and Unionist) — Bare
Martin Bottoms (Morecambe Bay Independents) — Bare
John Wild (Conservative and Unionist) — Bolton & Slyne
Keith Budden (Conservative and Unionist) — Bolton & Slyne
Paul Newton (Conservative and Unionist) — Bolton & Slyne
Hamish Mills (Green Party (E&W)) — Bowerham
Sarah Punshon (Green Party (E&W)) — Bowerham
Caroline Jackson (Green Party (E&W)) — Bulk
Jack Lenox (Green Party (E&W)) — Bulk
Sam Riches (Green Party (E&W)) — Bulk
Chris Hanna (Labour Party) — Carnforth & Millhead
Jackson Stubbs (Labour Party) — Carnforth & Millhead
Louise Belcher (Labour Party) — Carnforth & Millhead
Dave Brookes (Green Party (E&W)) — Castle
Paul Stubbins (Green Party (E&W)) — Castle
Vacant (Vacant) — Castle
Paul Tynan (Green Party (E&W)) — Ellel
Sally Maddocks (Green Party (E&W)) — Ellel
James Sommerville (Green Party (E&W)) — Halton-with-Aughton & Kellet
Sarah McGowan (Green Party (E&W)) — Halton-with-Aughton & Kellet
Catherine Armistead (Labour Party) — Heysham Central
Susan Penney (Labour Party) — Heysham Central
Claire Cozler (Labour Party) — Heysham North
Roger Cleet (Independent / Other) — Heysham North
Catherine Potter (Labour Party) — Heysham South
Colin Hartley (Labour Party) — Heysham South
Philip Bradley (Independent / Other) — Heysham South
Suhir Abuhajar (Green Party (E&W)) — John O'Gaunt
Wilson Colley (Green Party (E&W)) — John O'Gaunt
Joyce Pritchard (Liberal Democrats) — Lower Lune Valley
Peter Jackson (Liberal Democrats) — Lower Lune Valley
Gina Dowding (Green Party (E&W)) — Marsh
Mandy Bannon (Green Party (E&W)) — Marsh
Nick Wilkinson (Green Party (E&W)) — Marsh
Andrew Gardiner (Conservative and Unionist) — Overton
John Livermore (Liberal Democrats) — Poulton
Paul Hart (Liberal Democrats) — Poulton
Jean Parr (Labour Party) — Scale Hall
Phillip Black (Labour Party) — Scale Hall
Ruth Colbridge (Labour Party) — Scale Hall
Andrew Otway (Green Party (E&W)) — Scotforth East
Jason Wood (Labour Party) — Scotforth East
Abi Mills (Green Party (E&W)) — Scotforth West
Tim Hamilton-Cox (Green Party (E&W)) — Scotforth West
Alan Greenwell (Liberal Democrats) — Silverdale
Martin Gawith (Labour Party) — Skerton
Robert Redfern (Labour Party) — Skerton
Sandra Thornberry (Labour Party) — Skerton
Brett Cooper (Morecambe Bay Independents) — Torrisholme
Roger Dennison (Morecambe Bay Independents) — Torrisholme
Maria Deery (Green Party (E&W)) — University
Tom Fish (Green Party (E&W)) — University
Ross Hunter (Liberal Democrats) — Upper Lune Valley
Sue Tyldesley (Green Party (E&W)) — Warton
David Whitaker (Labour Party) — West End
Joanne Ainscough (Labour Party) — West End
Margaret Pattison (Labour Party) — West End
Chris Harris (Independent / Other) — Westgate
John Hanson (Labour Party) — Westgate
Matthew Black (Labour Party) — Westgate

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.