Your council

Sefton: 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.

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council: Metropolitan district (unitary), England, North West; part of the LCR combined authority. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E08000014.

Council website · Publication scheme

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 Sefton for 2026–27: £2,145.51 of a £2,583.22 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

Linacre Primary School (primary) — proposed to open; reason recorded: new provision; proposed date 1 September 2027

In the last twelve months: 2 opened (1 academy converter, 1 new provision), 2 closed (1 academy converter, 1 closure)

Merefield School — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 September 2025
Peregrinate Ltd. — closed; reason recorded: closure, 19 December 2025
Merefield School — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 October 2025
PANDA Schools — open; reason recorded: new provision, 5 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 Sefton reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Sefton: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£233.7 million
Highways and transport services	−£5.5 million
Children's social care	£98.7 million
Adult social care	£142.0 million
Public health	£29.8 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£11.5 million
Cultural and related services	£10.7 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£20.3 million
Planning and development services	£12.9 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£15.7 million
Other services	£302,000
Total service expenditure	£570.1 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).

Sefton in numbers

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

Total population: 286,281 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 45 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £23,038 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £600 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 24.8% 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: 3.7% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £224,289 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 6.2 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 59.5 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 59.0 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 4.1 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 88.3% 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: 61.1 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: 8,785 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

66 seats in 2026. Run by: Labour, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Labour Party 36, Liberal Democrats 17, Reform UK 5, Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent 5, Green Party (E&W) 3.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 66 councillors, by ward

Lesley Delves (Liberal Democrats) — Ainsdale
Lynne Thompson (Liberal Democrats) — Ainsdale
Rowenna Gibson (Liberal Democrats) — Ainsdale
Danny Burns (Labour Party) — Aintree & Maghull South
Marion Atkinson (Labour Party) — Aintree & Maghull South
Sam Hinde (Labour Party) — Aintree & Maghull South
Iain Brodie-Browne (Liberal Democrats) — Birkdale
Mike Ryder (Reform UK) — Birkdale
Simon Shaw (Liberal Democrats) — Birkdale
Christine Howard (Labour Party) — Blundellsands
David Roscoe (Labour Party) — Blundellsands
Diane Roscoe (Labour Party) — Blundellsands
Brenda O'Brien (Labour Party) — Bootle East
Graeme Cooper (Labour Party) — Bootle East
Maria Porter (Labour Party) — Bootle East
Daniel McKee (Labour Party) — Bootle West
Jay Cooper (Reform UK) — Bootle West
Jim Conalty (Labour Party) — Bootle West
Leo Evans (Liberal Democrats) — Cambridge
Mike Sammon (Liberal Democrats) — Cambridge
Pat Keith (Liberal Democrats) — Cambridge
Danny Howard (Liberal Democrats) — Duke's
John Pugh (Liberal Democrats) — Duke's
Michael Braham (Liberal Democrats) — Duke's
Ian Moncur (Labour Party) — Ford
Liz Dowd (Labour Party) — Ford
Paulette Lappin (Labour Party) — Ford
Anthony Howe (Labour Party) — Formby East
Catie Page (Labour Party) — Formby East
Christopher Page (Labour Party) — Formby East
Carol Richards (Labour Party) — Formby West
Karen Cavanagh (Labour Party) — Formby West
Peter Harvey (Labour Party) — Formby West
Janet Grace (Labour Party) — Great Crosby
Jennifer Corcoran (Labour Party) — Great Crosby
Leslie Byrom (Labour Party) — Great Crosby
Anne Corbishley (Liberal Democrats) — Kew
Mike Kirby (Liberal Democrats) — Kew
Yaso Sathiy (Liberal Democrats) — Kew
Daren Veidman (Labour Party) — Litherland
John Kelly (Labour Party) — Litherland
Julia Garner (Labour Party) — Litherland
Barry Nixon (Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent) — Lydiate & Maghull West
Liam Stoddart (Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent) — Lydiate & Maghull West
Sonia Crompton (Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent) — Lydiate & Maghull West
David Leatherbarrow (Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent) — Maghull East
Joanne McCall (Lydiate and Maghull Community Independent) — Maghull East
Phil Hart (Labour Party) — Maghull East
Daniel Lewis (Liberal Democrats) — Meols
John Dodd (Liberal Democrats) — Meols
Lauren Keith (Liberal Democrats) — Meols
Carla Thomas (Labour Party) — Netherton North
Helen Duerden (Labour Party) — Netherton North
Joe Johnson (Labour Party) — Netherton North
Chris Hannaway (Labour Party) — Netherton South & Orrell
Joanne Williams (Labour Party) — Netherton South & Orrell
Tom Spring (Labour Party) — Netherton South & Orrell
Charles Denton (Reform UK) — Norwood
John Costello (Reform UK) — Norwood
Thomas Swaney (Reform UK) — Norwood
Clare Carragher (Labour Party) — Thornton & Hightown
Dominic McNabb (Labour Party) — Thornton & Hightown
Rosa Battle (Labour Party) — Thornton & Hightown
Kieran Dams (Green Party (E&W)) — Waterloo
Neil Doolin (Green Party (E&W)) — Waterloo
Samantha Cook (Green Party (E&W)) — Waterloo

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.