Lancaster Labour group looks to the future with new leader

Phillip has been a councillor for the Scale Hall ward (previously Skerton West) since 2019.

Jean Parr, also representing Scale Hall on council, was elected deputy leader of the Labour group.

Of the 61 seats up for election on 4 May, Labour won 24.

As the city council is forced to find millions of pounds worth of savings over the next four years, the Labour group is conscious of the need to make sensible and creative decisions.

Over the last four years, Labour councillors fought for the retention of the 100% council tax support package so the most vulnerable families can prioritise heating their homes and feeding their children. Lancaster is now the only council in Lancashire which offers this.

Labour also delivered Lancashire’s first Fair Work Charter, which helps raise pay and employment standards, and lobbied for major local developments like the Eden Project Morecambe to use local firms and keep wealth in

the district.

Labour councillors plan to build on this track record of delivering for working people and the most vulnerable residents in the next four years, while taking action to protect our environment.

Their next step will be to work with employers, workers, businesses and residents to create a Strategy for Economic Prosperity in the district – something which will drive productivity and share the benefits of investment locally.

Coun Black said: “I would like to thank my fellow Labour councillors for putting their faith in me, as well as the people of Scale Hall, who I look forward to serving for another four years.

"While Labour is the largest group on council, we will need to work closely with our colleagues from other parties across the district to deliver for the people of Lancaster, Morecambe, Ellel, Heysham and Carnforth.”

Coun Parr added: “We’re under no illusion that the next four years will be easy, the council has lost almost half its central government funding over the past ten years, and the cost of living crisis means that more people in our local communities are struggling.

"We will look to our Labour values to ensure that no one is left behind.”