“What’s most concerning is what’s not being said,” the statement read. “The key question of a continuing authority structure, which would allow one current council to maintain its legal identity and institutional memory, is purposefully left out of public communication.

This omission is not accidental. It is a purposeful silence that threatens to erase the legacy and autonomy of councils like Burnley, replacing them with a new framework that may serve narrow interests rather than regional justice.”

There were also concerns about transparency, with reports that Labour leaders had previously attended “multiple meetings with Minister Jim McMahon” without wider public consultation. “If this is actually about enhancing government, then why the secrecy?

Why the hush on continued authority? “Why the rush to centralise?” the council leader enquired. “This is not only about local government. It’s about local democracy.

“We must be more vocal, bold, and unafraid to challenge a process that threatens to reshape our region without our consent,” the statement stated.

The council leader stated that while reforming the current two-tier structure is necessary, any change should be “thoughtful, not reckless.”

The statement emphasised the impact of NHS centralisation, which saw Burnley’s A&E services shifted to Blackburn, and warned that the same reasoning might “funnel resources away from places like Burnley, Hyndburn, and Pendle.”

Instead, the leader proposes a five-council unitary arrangement that would keep Burnley and Blackburn distinct while guaranteeing the area keeps two seats on the Combined Authority.