The state of Lancashire report
A wide-ranging synopsis of the county

Strong in historic associations and synonymous with industry and commerce, the present-day Lancashire region is only part of what history knows as "Lancashire" – the great duchy covering most of North West England that gave the world the Industrial Revolution. Much of the traditional imagery of the Red Rose County is embodied in towns that are now part of the two great conurbations of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. That which remains, however, still contains towns and cities that are the product of this earlier industrial era.

Today's Lancashire region – which includes the 12-district Lancashire County area and the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool – covers 3,075 sq.km and has a population of nearly 1.5 million people. A further 8 million people live within 50km of the county in one of Europe's most densely populated areas. It is a large and in many respects a unique geographical area, retaining a strong economic base underpinned by long urban and industrial traditions. But, paradoxically, Lancashire is also a multi-faceted region and is widely renowned for its environmental and quality-of-life attractions, notably its diverse and beautiful landscapes and countryside and its coastal fringes offering many opportunities for recreation and leisure.

With a £23.4bn per year economy and home to more than 45,700 enterprises with an employee workforce of around 585.500, Lancashire is one of the largest sub-regions in Britain in respect of its contribution to national output. Within the North West alone, Lancashire provides for about a fifth of the region's total economic production of goods and services, its contribution being second only to that of Greater Manchester.

The Lancashire region was at the forefront of the "Industrial Revolution" and its accompanying urbanisation and mass production. It is where many of Britain's more traditional industries – most notably textiles, clothing and footwear but also engineering, vehicles and chemicals among them, as well as deep coal mining – had their earliest start. Cotton production in particular became synonymous with the county and at its zenith dominated the local economy employing more than a quarter of a million people within present day boundaries alone. In many manufacturing communities across the old cotton belt "King Cotton" accounted for three quarters or more of all locally insured employment and indirectly supported much of the remainder – a degree of economic dependency scarcely imaginable today.

To this day the legacy of canals, older industrial and commercial premises and industrial structure still bears witness in parts of the county to the area's contribution to the development of manufacturing industry in Britain. Many towns too still retain the physical stamp of this earlier manufacturing era.

As it was (Accrington)

But constant change and adaptation has been a feature of Lancashire's industry: the massive expansion of the textile and allied industries to become a global force over the late 18th and 19th centuries and then their protracted contraction over the 20th century; the growth of aerospace and defence activities, engineering, electronics, vehicles, rubber and plastics, and publishing and printing in the 1940s, 50s and 60s; the development and more recent retrenchment of a large slice of the region's defence and automotive sectors; and today, the massive structural shift into public services like education and health and welfare, and into private business, financial, scientific and technical services and the visitor economy, retail and leisure markets.

Today, as in many other aspects of its character Lancashire has a highly diverse economic base with a strong mix of both international and indigenous companies. Compared with the backcloth of very large vertically integrated companies, often employing thousands of workers, that characterised the area 25-30-years ago, today 90% of local businesses are small, employing fewer than ten people and 54% of these are less than ten years old. A high number of these companies operate successfully in niche and often global markets. Manufacturing in Lancashire remains a key and highly valued wealth creating sector and accounts for a quarter of local output; through increased outsourcing and purchases each production job probably carries at least another one on its back in one way or another. The old sectors have largely given way to a much more productive, knowledge-intensive and higher technology industrial base. However, despite the continuing key role of production industry, including an active construction sector, as elsewhere in the UK it is services, particularly the commercial, business and technical services along with public-sector employment in areas like education, health and welfare that is today fuelling much of the new jobs growth.

Lancashire is today a very different place from what it was only a generation or two ago and is far removed from its traditional and somewhat gritty image. It is a record of achievement that testifies to Lancashire's resilience and positive response to change. All this is not to deny that the region continues to face a challenging future. There remain numerous local issues relating to the economic welfare of many of its residents still to be fully addressed together with associated concerns relating to social, health and environmental well-being in some parts of the region such as those detailed further below, as well as with those arising from the rapid ageing of the population and the quality of much of the local infrastructure. Many of these are of a scale and nature more akin to those to be found in some of Britain's larger cities rather than those of a more traditional "shire" area. There are, too, global challenges in which Lancashire will be required to play its part. These will include not only the competitiveness of the region's industry and commerce but also the amelioration of the unprecedented movements of population and in adapting to and managing the key issue of climate change.

The current mood, particularly in the business community, is one of concern driven by the economic slowdown. After a long period of growth, Lancashire will have a tough time accommodating the myriad of economic, social and environmental issues that the future holds. The county's economic difficulties are far from being resolved and its economy, while more diverse and robust, still has significant structural weaknesses that may be cruelly exposed during a period of challenging economic conditions.

A step change will be necessary if Lancashire is to achieve an improvement in its relative position in the nation's economic ranking, but where does Lancashire have a competitive advantage to enable this to be achieved? Other areas of the country will looking to develop their local economies and will not be waiting around for Lancashire to close the gap.

As it is (Rising Bridge Business and Enterprise Village)

The 10 issues

1. The Rate of Growth of the Lancashire Economy
2. Job Creation Disparities within Lancashire
3. The Number and Type of Enterprises
4. Business Premises
5. Very Poor Health Indicators in Parts of the County
6. Poor Housing Conditions
7. Significant Problems of Deprivation
8. The Needs of an Ageing Population
9. Perceptions of Lancashire Residents
10. Education

1. The rate of growth of the Lancashire economy

In terms of Gross Value Added, the rate of growth of the Lancashire economy has for a number of years lagged behind the national rate of change. The longer-term implication of this differential growth rate is quite substantial as the gap between the rate of change at the county and national levels continues to widen. The differential is to some extent accentuated by the dramatic growth of the financial services sector in the city of London, but the fact remains that in times of economic growth the Lancashire economy has under-performed in comparison to many other areas of the UK. The county is not well represented in the higher value service sector employment categories.

2. Job creation disparities within Lancashire

The economic slowdown that commenced in 2008 has meant that employee numbers have declined at the national level and across most areas of Lancashire.

3. The number and type of enterprises

The number of VAT/PAYE-registered enterprises in the 14-authority broader Lancashire area was approaching 44,500 in 2011. The figures by broad industrial groups reveal that Lancashire has high proportions of enterprises in sectors such as production (includes manufacturing). Retail, motor trades and health. In contrast, information and communication is a sector where the broader Lancashire area has a much lower proportion than the national average. This relates to point number one in that the county has a low proportion of enterprises in some of the high value service sectors.

4. Business premises

Low industrial and commercial rental levels and rates of return act as a disincentive to new private sector speculative property development in many parts of the county.

5. Very poor health indicators in parts of the county

A range of indicators reveal a number of problems. The most important, life expectancy, continues to improve across all parts of Lancashire but in some of the Lancashire local authorities, male and female life expectancy at birth rates are amongst the worst in England and Wales.

Published in November 2009, the Health Inequalities across the Lancashire Sub-region report asserts that Lancashire experiences a greater share of deprivation than the national average and performs relatively badly in terms of health outcomes compared to other areas of the country. Within the county, the social and economic diversity between different parts of the county is reflected in the health experience of its citizens, with persistent health inequalities between different groups and areas. People in the most deprived parts of Lancashire experience significantly poorer health than those in the most affluent parts of both Lancashire and the rest of the UK.

6. Poor housing conditions

Areas of Lancashire have high numbers of terraced properties that result in significant numbers of dwellings classified within the lowest Council Tax Band A. This is a contributory factor to very high levels of unfit housing, particularly in a number of East Lancashire authorities.

7. Significant problems of deprivation

The 2010 Index of Deprivation highlights a number of local authorities and much smaller areas in the county that have a range of significant problems. For the broader Lancashire area, six authorities are ranked in the bottom fifty out of 326 local authorities in England. The percentage of the 940 lower super output areas in the 14-authority Lancashire area falling into the 10% most deprived in the country increased from 16% in 2007 to 17.4% in 2010.

8. The needs of an ageing population

It is a well known that people are living longer and many pensioners enjoy a reasonable standard of living. A number of coastal areas in Lancashire are particularly attractive to the older generation looking for a good quality of life. A large proportion of the retired however have limited financial means and pension credit is claimed by many thousands in the county. High numbers of Pension Credit Claims are located within the inner-urban areas, even though these areas often do not have particularly large numbers of pensioners. The pensioners that reside in these areas are often those in most need of this benefit.

9. Perceptions of Lancashire residents

There are great variations in perceptions of the local area across Lancashire. The Place Survey is a postal survey that all local authorities in England are required to complete. The results for the 12-district Lancashire County Council area reveal that there are large variations in the general satisfaction of residents with their local area. For England as a whole, 79.7% of people surveyed were satisfied with their area and the average for the county council area was slightly lower at 79.2%. Pendle (66.2%), Hyndburn (68.2%) and Burnley (68.6%) recorded quite low levels of satisfaction, whereas the 94.2% for Ribble Valley was the highest rate recorded out of 352 local authorities across England.

10. Education

There is some evidence to suggest that fewer Lancashire residents are qualified qualified to degree level (NVQ level 4) than the national average. GCSE pass rates have noticeably improved over recent years and this has been reflected in the results for all Lancashire authorities. Pass rates in Burnley in particular, and to an extent in Pendle district, however remain a cause for concern. The two authorities did benefit significantly from the building schools for the future programme and it is hoped that state-of-the-art facilities will have a positive impact on future pass rates.

(Strengths) 1. Prosperous Lancashire

• The broader Lancashire area in 2008 had a £23.4bn per annum economy measured in terms of its production of goods and services. This contribution to national wealth creation (gross value added) amounts to 1.8% of the UK total and 19.3% of the North West region total. Within the three northern English regions, the Lancashire sub-region total GVA generation was exceeded by only Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

• A large and diverse economic base, including the representation of many well-known and respected national and international companies together with successful indigenous enterprises, sectoral clusters or concentrations of national or regional importance and a large SME sub-contractor/supply chain network. Overall there were in 2011 approaching 44,500 VAT/PAYE-registered enterprises in the broader Lancashire area.

• The manufacturing industry remains an important force within Lancashire. Notwithstanding the long-term contraction of employment in the sector across the county, in value added terms it produces more today than at any other time in its history. There is little question that it has been steadily re-inventing itself into a much more higher value, flexible and dynamic sector, responding to global forces and learning how to build businesses that cannot easily be transplanted overseas. With annual turnover in 2008 of £5.0bn and still accounting for over 20% of local gross value added, it continues both directly and indirectly to dominate economic activity and wealth creation in the county. Even though job numbers have diminished greatly, Lancashire still has a larger manufacturing workforce than any other shire county in the UK. In 2010, 14.5% of all local employees were still engaged in manufacturing compared with a share of 8.6% nationally.

Buckshaw village, Chorley district

• Analysis of the manufacturing industry in the broader Lancashire area clearly emphasises the importance of the manufacture of aircraft which is a big business in Lancashire with a long and distinguished pedigree in both airframes and aero-engines extending back to the very earliest days of aircraft construction. Today the county is a world class centre of excellence in aerospace/defence equipment design and manufacture, high technology engineering and associated modern industrial organisation across a wide range of capabilities.

• British Aerospace is by far the largest private sector employer in Lancashire. Other major employers include the county council and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

• An adaptable workforce of around 585,500 employees with a wide range of skills and technical competencies. More than two-thirds of all employees work on a full-time basis. An above-average share of these employees work in the manufacturing sector but the bulk (79% in 2010) are in service activities of one sort or another. Estimates of employees plus working owners for 2010, give a total workforce of 616,000 for the 14-authority Lancashire area.

• The growth in services employment and particularly in business services over the past decade has encouraged a rapid expansion in the stock of office properties in the broader Lancashire area, both within town centres and on new business estates and parks in more peripheral locations. The growth in office floorspace in the county means that the stock now stands at some 1.9m sq.m.

• The total unemployment rate for the broader Lancashire area has been below the UK and North West region averages for many years but the gap has narrowed over time.

• A good track record of innovation and trading performance with a core of innovative and growing industrial and commercial small and medium-sized enterprises on which to build, alongside R&D facilities of major employers (e.g. BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Pilkington's), with opportunities for technology transfer. Lancashire companies (mainly in manufacturing) have now won or shared in 124 Queen's Awards for Enterprise: 97 for outstanding international trade achievement and 24 for outstanding performance in all forms of innovation. In 2011, a second Lancashire company won an award in the outstanding sustainable development category. Lancashire-based companies have won and participated in some of the biggest single export orders ever obtained by the UK.

• Lancashire has an impressive collection of long-established and independently owned businesses. Together they make a valuable contribution to local employment, and many stress their long-term commitments to customer satisfacton, close partnerships with suppliers and sustainable businesss practices. They also help to underpin local pride and promote local patronage. A number of older Lancashire firms are now subsidiary parts of much larger organisations, but still maintain their traditional brand names and provide significant numbers of local jobs.

• Nationally important natural resources in the form of offshore gas in the Morecambe Bay gas fields and ready availability of construction materials. As part of the global maritime safety system, ships of over 300 tons are required to broadcast their positions using an Automatic Identification System. Real time information regarding the movements of large vessels is available at the ShipAIS website. The current positions of accommodation and wellhead platforms, along with service vessels for the Morecambe Bay gas fields can be identified via this facility. Gas production figures emphasise the substantial cumulative total output from the Morecambe North and South fields, but also confirm that production levels are well passed their peak.

• At Heysham, the two AGR plants owned by British Energy (now part of EDF Energy) represent one of the largest concentrations of power generation in the UK. Fuel for these plants, and for all other UK nuclear plants, is manufactured at the Westinghouse Springfields site near Preston. Heysham 1 is capable of supplying 1.5 million homes and is expected to be in production until 2019, whilst Heysham 2 has a slightly larger output capacity and has an estimated decommissioning date of 2023. The Department for Energy and Climate Change website has an electricity energy statistics section that links to a 'power stations in the UK' spreadsheet. The installed capacity figures 1,160mw for Heysham 1, and 1,230mw for Heysham 2, mean that the latter has the highest capacity figure of the ten nuclear power stations listed in the spreadsheet.

• Lancashire is the North West's largest producer of aggregate minerals such as sand and gravel, gritstone and limestone and contains major complementary industrial facilities in the form of an important cement works. The Minerals and Waste Local Plan (together with the Minerals and Waste Development Framework) provide the policy context for all these activities.

• A sound infrastructure of business support and development organisations, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Lancashire County Developments Ltd, the economic development arm of Lancashire County Council helping businesses, individuals and local communities through loans, grants and practical advice and assistance.

• The Lancashire local enterprise partnership (LEP) was approved in April 2011 and covers the 14-authority Lancashire area. The LEP membership has a strong focus on the private sector. The partnership will support local bids for investment from the regional growth fund. In addition, the government's multi-million pound growing places fund is designed to help boost economic growth by developing the infrastructure required to enable the creation of new jobs and homes. The Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership area in November 2011 received a funding allocation of just under £12.9 million.

• In October 2011, the government announced the creation of a single enterprise zone that covers the two BAe sites at Samlesbury in Ribble Valley district and Warton in Fylde district, that together form an area of around 130 hectares. Enterprise zones are areas where financial incentives and a simplified planning structure are designed to encourage businesses and create employment.

• The Social Enterprise Lancashire Network (Selnet) is a member organisation that promotes social enterprises in the county. These are organisations involved in business activities that have explicit social aims such as job creation, training or the provision of local services. The Selnet website has a trade directory that highlights the large number of social enterprises in Lancashire that offer a diverse range of goods and services.

• Access over parts of the sub-region to European Funding and Regional Selective Assistance. For the period from 2007-2013, the North West of England has received approval for European Assistance totalling £521m for European Regional Development Fund projects. The aim is to enhance the competitiveness of the region's economy by the creation of the right conditions for growth in employment and enterprise.

• The Buckshaw Village site to the north of Chorley is one of the largest mixed use developments in the North West. Five hundred acres of the former Royal Ordnance site are being transformed by new homes, community facilities, business space and a new railway station. The site includes the 128 acre Revolution logistics and industrial park.

• The former ICI site at Thornton Cleveleys is being transformed by NPL Estates. The Hillhouse Business Park on the site is being expanded and now includes one of two major new waste treatment facilities for the county, whilst the separate Burnhall development is a mixed-use commercial and residential scheme. In August 2008, it was announced that planning approval would be sought for a £600m 850MW combined-cycle gas turbine power station to be run by Welsh Power with the gas supplied from the national transmission system. The ability to generate power at the site should help to attract other large manufacturing companies to the locality.

• The 2010 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings reveals median average wage rates by place of residence for all employees in the Lancashire County Council area of £375.50. This compares with the GB average of £406.70. Three Lancashire district authorities recorded median average wage rates by place of residence that were in excess of the national average.

(Strengths) 2. Accessible Lancashire

• The county council's website charts the fascinating history of the development of Lancashire's highway network. Having initiated England's first ever motorway (the M6 Preston bypass), Lancashire has a top rate road communications infrastructure including the M6, M55, M58, M61 and M65 motorway network of 171 km providing both north-south and east-west rapid access to other parts of the region and beyond. Connectivity within the sub-region is also good.

The motorway network

• Road casualty numbers between 2001 and 2009 reveal a very encouraging pattern of decline across the broader Lancashire area and for the country as a whole. The Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety website has details of speed camera locations and offences recorded by fixed cameras.

• The county council's website provides up-to-date information on road works in the area and allows residents to report faults with street lighting and a variety of road signs.

• Preston and Lancaster stations are important stops on the electrified West Coast Main Line, which now has maximum line speeds of up to 125 mph. A fleet of nine-car Pendolino trains operate the West Coast franchise whilst Voyager diesel trains serve the Birmingham to Glasgow route. Lancaster benefits from being the starting point for a number of London bound services, whilst Preston is fortunate in having a small number of non-stop services to the capital.

• A total of 51 trains (153 carriages) underpin the First TransPennine Express network services. These 100 mph diesel trains are used on semi-fast services that call at Chorley, Lancaster, Preston and stations to Blackpool North, and go to Barrow, Windermere, Manchester (including the airport), Glasgow and Edinburgh. Northern Rail operates a range of local rail services that serve all but two of the 61 stations in the broader Lancashire area. Merseyrail is the other passenger train operator in Lancashire which is responsible for a high density service from Liverpool that terminates at Ormskirk. A number of lines in Lancashire are designated as community railways.

• The latest railway station usage figures for 2009/10 stress the significance of passenger numbers at Preston station. In addition, Lancaster, Blackpool North, Ormskirk and Blackburn were the four other Lancashire stations that each recorded around 1 million or more combined station entry and exit figures. The new Buckshaw Parkway station on the line between Preston and Chorley opened in October 2011.

• Sea transport adds an additional thread to Lancashire's transportation offer. From the Port of Heysham, passenger services to the Isle of Man are operated by the Steam Packet Company whilst Stena Line Ferries operates a freight service from Heysham to Belfast. Seatruck Ferries also specialises in the carriage of freight and operates three services from Heysham to Dublin, and the Northern Ireland ports of Larne and Warren Point. Real time details are available for ship arrivals, departures, expected arrivals and vessels in port in Heysham.

• The small port of Glasson Dock to the south of Lancaster provides facilities for cargos to the Isle of Man in conjunction with Mezeron.

Blackpool airport terminal

• Blackpool Airport has a range of flights to a number of European destinations and the Civil Aviation Authority reported a figure of 235,505 passengers during 2010. Free parking near the terminal building offsets the airport development fee for many of the travellers who use the airport.

• Low cost airline Jet2.com operates a number of routes from Blackpool Airport whilst Manx2.com and Aer Lingus also offer services out of Blackpool.

• Inexpensive coach travel to London and to destinations in Scotland is available from Preston. National Express offers an online booking facility for its range of services from towns in Lancashire to locations across the country.

• Numerous local public transport improvements have been undertaken including the redevelopments of Burnley, Chorley and Lancaster bus stations. Clitheroe and Carnforth railway stations are bases for integrated connections with local bus services. The new Nelson Bus Station (opened October 2008) has 10 bus stands, a direct link to the railway station and a travel information centre. For further details of proposed developments go to the Local Transport Plan for Lancashire.

A tram to Starr Gate at the start of its journey in Fleetwood

• A total of 77 million bus passenger journeys in 2010/11 originated in the broader Lancashire area.

• The 11-mile tram link from south Blackpool (Starr Gate) to Fleetwood provides an important service for both locals and tourists. From the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, the Fylde Coast was the only place left in Great Britain with a street-running public tram service. Growth in traffic congestion, pollution and a focus on safety issues has brought in to question the policies of previous generations. The passage of time has confirmed the foresight of those who kept the Fylde Coast route in operation. Easter 2008 saw the reopening of the tram system after being closed for a few months for major upgrade work. Future substantial improvements to the route include track refurbishment, a new tram depot and the introduction of 16 new fully accessible trams. This £100 million upgrade commenced in June 2009 and is expected to finish in April 2012.

Millennium pedestrian and cycle bridge, Lancaster

• Preston is the midpoint of the national cycle network which comprises 10,000 miles of traffic-free routes and traffic-calmed or minor roads. A selection of the national routes in Lancashire include Route 6: Preston-Lancaster; Blackburn-Rishton; Accrington-Baxenden. Route 55: Preston-Cuerden Valley Park, north of Chorley and the Old Tramway Preston-Bamber Bridge. In June 2008, the Department for Transport announced that Blackpool was one of a further 11 towns given the designation.

• The National Highways and Transportation network organises yearly public satisfaction surveys that cover a range of themes including accessibility, public transport and road safety. Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Unitary Authority are among the list of English Highway Authorities that participate in the survey.

• There are two canals in Lancashire. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is the longest canal in Britain built as a single waterway (127 miles) and passes through the towns of East Lancashire and parts of rural West Lancashire. Points of interest in the county include the impressive Burnley Embankment and Foulridge Tunnel. The Lancaster Canal is considered by British Waterways to be one of the most scenic on their network with wonderful views of the Silverdale coast, the Forest of Bowland and the rolling countryside of Wyre. It is unique in being a contour canal (built along the natural lie of the land), and has 41 miles without locks (the longest stretch in the country). The canal now has a connection to the national waterway network via the Millennium Ribble Link.

• Most of the urban population live within 1km of five basic services (food store, post office, primary school, bus stop and GP's surgery).

(Strengths) 3. Dynamic rural Lancashire

• Agriculture represents the largest single land use in Lancashire and farming activities extend from intensive horticulture and general cropping in the coastal plains, dairying in other lowland areas to cattle and sheep rearing in upland regions. This local agricultural resource base (including the largest extent of top grade farmland in the west of Britain) makes a significant contribution to the national food supply. Livestock and dairy farming is particularly important in Lancashire, with about 84% of the County's total agricultural area being used for grassland or rough grazing purposes (England=49%). There is a growing interest in good quality, locally produced food products and Lancashire has long-established strengths in this area amongst both producers and retailers that source from local suppliers, e.g. Booths Supermarkets. Marketing and general business support facilities are in place to promote locally produced food and drink products, and the Forest of Bowland name has a strong association with high value meat and milk products. The West Lancashire area has a strong presence in the horticulture sector, e.g. Huntapac and MA Forshaw. Finally, a number of farming businesses have successfully diversified in to running profitable farm shops or retail and leisure developments.

River Hodder, Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• The Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Beauty, and the surrounding countryside, is a popular area for walking, cycling, bird-watching and many other pursuits. The quality of the local environment is attracting more visitors and there is a growing interest in renting good quality accommodation.

• Rural Futures is a consultancy that delivers economic and environmental development in rural Lancashire. It has a role in rural projects covering areas of farm diversification, tourism, renewable energy, local food and community initiatives.

• The Duchy of Lancaster is a unique portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the Sovereign in His or Her role as Duke of Lancaster. It has an historic link with the County Palatine of Lancashire dating back to 1265. Lands and properties are administered in five separate units known as Surveys. The Lancashire Survey consists of five agricultural estates located between Preston and Lancaster, covering a total area of 4,650 hectares (11,500 acres). The Duchy is also the major owner of foreshore in North West England between the centre point of the River Mersey and Barrow-in-Furness. In total, the landed interests in Lancashire are said by the Duchy to extend to just over 40,600 hectares (100,000 acres), and comprise all the holdings in agriculture, residential and commercial property, manorial interests and foreshore.

• The Grosvenor Estate is a portfolio of businesses, rural estates and other assets owned by trusts on behalf of the Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family. The portfolio includes the Abbeystead Estate, which comprises 23,500 acres either side of the River Wyre and with the village of Abbeystead at its heart.

• The HM Revenue and Customs website lists a number of rural sites in Lancashire that benefit from the UK heritage conditional exemption tax incentive. The incentive helps private owners take care of their heritage and improves public access to a number of sites in Lancashire.

(Strengths) 4. Greener Lancashire

• The Lancashire Countryside Service manages two country parks (Beacon Fell and Wycoller), and a host of other sites (picnic sites, recreation sites, access areas, etc) that together offer a range of opportunities for people to enjoy the Lancashire countryside.

• The Lancashire landscape is diverse in both physical appearance and function. The great bulk of the regional land use is defined as "greenspace" making up more than 82% of the total area, whilst water (including foreshores) accounts for a further 7%. Despite the urban nature of much of Lancashire, only about 4% of its land area is given over to buildings proper with a similar amount being used as road, rail or path. Domestic gardens make up just 1% of the total county area but within some parts of urban areas can often constitute 40% or more of the local land use.

View from Roeburndale, Lancaster district

• Great natural physical diversity from coast and estuary landscapes to uplands with extensive areas of beautiful countryside and moorland. The county incorporates parts of two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Forest of Bowland and Arnside/Silverdale). They together cover a quarter of Lancashire and are in close proximity to urban areas.

• Designated green belts intended as "permanent" restraints to development to check unrestricted urban sprawl, to assist in safeguarding the countryside from urban encroachment and to prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another cover over 79,500 hectares or a quarter of the county's total land area (13% for England as a whole).

• The Natural England website reveals that there are two national nature reserves in Lancashire (Gait Barrows and Ribble Estuary), whilst their interactive mapping facility allows users to target the Lancashire area and highlight for example, sites of special scientific interest.

• The website also confirms that the geology of the broader Lancashire area is formed of four major rock types from three main geological periods.

• There are a number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the country that include a selection of sites in Lancashire. These are zones of the seas and coasts where wildlife is safeguarded from damage and disturbance. There are five designations that together form the MPA network, and these five include sites of special scientific interest. Please also see the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website for further information on Marine Protected Areas.

• Biological heritage sites are the most important non-statutory wildlife sites in Lancashire. They contain valuable habitats such as ancient woodland, species-rich grassland and bogs. There are over 1,200 of these sites in the broader Lancashire area covering over 33,500 hectares (8% of total land area).

Sunderland Point

• Significant wildlife assets, especially wildfowl and nature reserves – world-class RAMSAR sites for migrating birds on the Lancashire coast, with some high-quality visitor facilities. Lancashire's Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) offers guidance on what everyone can do at the local level to maintain and enhance Lancashire's wildlife.

• A well-established and successful track record of providing a range of grants to facilitate local community involvement in environmental improvements. Of particular note is the Lancashire Environment Fund that is supported by a number of partner organisations. The county council's Environmental Projects Team works with community groups to regenerate derelict land.

• The Ancient Tree Hunt website is an important tool to help the Woodland Trust's conservation work. The interactive map allows users to focus in on the Lancashire area.

• The seafront at Cleveleys has received a major facelift, which started in November 2005. The £26 million scheme combines new integrated sea-defenses and an improved promenade area. Recent years have also seen extensive coastal protection works along the Blackpool seafront.

Heysham 1 Power Station

• The coastal protection work has improved public access to the seafront and visitors to the Lancashire coastline can also take advantage of the Lancashire Coastal Way. In the long term it is the intention that it will form part of the North West Coastal Trail from Chester to Carlisle and it also complements the plans for the Ribble Coast and Wetlands Regional Park. Elements of the trail include the former Lancaster-Glasson railway and the Coastal Way also complements the plans for the Ribble Coast and Wetlands Regional Park.

•The Ribble Estuary Regional Park encompasses one of the most important places for birdlife in Europe and links in with a number of planned and existing visitor attractions.

• Lancashire has benefited over the years from improvements to drinking water quality, and the county also experiences fewer of the type of water supply restrictions that are more prevalent in parts of the South East. The local reservoirs and land assets that are owned by United Utilities as part of their land assets in the North West form important wildlife habitats and are also popular recreational facilities. The United Utilities website lists details of water quality and other investment projects in Lancashire and other parts of the North West.

• The Environment Agency website lists the catchment flood management plans that cover the Lancashire area.

• The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. Parks and green spaces play an important role in the local community. They bring people together, enhance the local environment and improve health and wellbeing. In 2011/12, a record number of 1,288 Green Flag awards were approved. The broader Lancashire area was well represented amongst the winners with around 55 awards going to parks and green spaces in the area.

• The green tourism business scheme is the national sustainable tourism certification for the UK. The list of members in Lancashire includes a large number of guest houses, hotels and visitor attractions. The 'Visit Lancashire' website contains additional supporting information.

• Total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Lancashire sub-region were an estimated 10.5 million tonnes, or 7.3 tonnes per head in 2009, some 2.3% of the national total. Per head of resident population the UK average was 7.4 tonnes. At the local authority level, figures ranged from a low of 5.1 tonnes per head in Blackpool to 8.7 tonnes in Fylde and an exceptional 14.8 tonnes in Ribble Valley. A single major energy user in the form of a large cement works has a significant impact on the outturn for Ribble Valley however the district has seen a dramatic decline in emission levels over the past few years. Overall, 38.9% of Lancashire emissions were attributable to industry and commerce sector sources, 30.9% to the domestic sector, 28.4% to road transport and a minor residual of 1.8% to land use, land use change and forestry.

• The average Lancashire Lower Super Output Area has an air quality indicator of 1.01, which is notably better than the figure for England, whilst the highest recorded score in Lancashire (1.39) is significantly below the worst level recorded in the country. No areas of Lancashire experience air pollution levels on anything like those recorded in the centres of large cities in other parts of the country. There are some parts of the sub-region where the figures are not encouraging but the Combined Air Quality Indicator reveals no Lancashire LSOA in the worst 15% of results for the whole of England. Indeed, nearly nine in every ten of Lancashire's LSOAs are ranked within the best 50% of England for air quality and 260 of the sub-region's LSOAs (27% of the total) sit within the best 10% in England.

• The report on energy generation details amongst other things, wind farm developments in the county. These include Scout Moor in Rossendale, the largest onshore project in England with 26 turbines capable of generating 65 megawatts of electricity. Please see the British Wind Energy Association website for details of all current and future wind energy projects in the county.

• Lancashire has, within a generation, undergone a step change in how it deals with household waste. The amount of household waste either recycled or composted has risen from a miserly 1% in 1990 to an impressive 45.0% by March 2010 in the Lancashire County Council area. In comparison, the rate for England as a whole was 39.7%.

• There are a number of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) across the Lancashire County Council area. There are an additional two centres in the Blackburn with Darwen authority area and a further HWRC in Blackpool.

Farington waste recovery park, South Ribble district

• Global Renewables in partnership with Bovis Lend Lease Limited, is undertaking one of the most significant Waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts ever awarded in the UK. The 25-year contract awarded by Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Council is worth more than £2 billion over the full term and will drastically reduce the amount of domestic waste being sent to landfill. It will avoid the need for incineration, increase recycling rates and significantly reduce the greenhouse gas legacy that comes with land filling household waste along with the risk of toxic minerals leaching into groundwater supplies. Under the terms of the contract, Global Renewables and Bovis Lend Lease has made a substantial investment in the design, construction and operation of two modern waste management facilities at Leyland and Thornton, to handle some 600,000 tonnes of household waste per annum.

• The Lancashire Community Recycling Network was formed in 2002 to support community-based waste reuse, reduce and recycling initiatives in the county.

(Strengths) 5. Learning Lancashire

• Learning is integral to improving the overall wellbeing of the population, and is linked to better health, and stronger and more resilient communities. It is valuable for its own sake and not just to achieve formal qualifications and to help career enhancement.

• The latest performance results for Lancashire schools at the various Key Stage levels can be viewed on the Department for Education website. The website also includes GCSE figures by school, and achievement and attainment results (post 16) for schools and colleges.

• The county council's Lancashire schools website lists schools in Lancashire County Council area.

Borwick Hall (Lancaster district), a Lancashire outdoor education facility

• The Lancashire Outdoor Education Service is a major provider of outdoor and residential facilities.

• The Via Partnership (formerly the Lancashire Education Business Partnership) aims to work with employers, schools, work based learning providers and colleges across the county. The partnership is involved with work experience placements and other initiatives to help create a motivated, prepared and knowledgeable work force of the future.

• The county has a number of highly-regarded private independent schools, e.g. Stonyhurst College in the Ribble Valley; Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn; Westholme School, Blackburn; Kirkham Grammar School; King Edward VII and Queen Mary School; Lytham St Annes; Rossall School, Fleetwood; Lancaster Royal Grammar School; and Lancaster Girl's Grammar School.

• Strengths in higher, tertiary and vocational education via three universities and a number of colleges of further education, including a specialist nautical campus in Fleetwood and a centre of excellence for land-based courses such as agriculture and horticulture at Myerscough College.

Lancaster university

• Lancaster is consistently rated as one of the best UK universities by the complete university guide. Central Lancaster is also home to a major campus that forms part of the University of Cumbria.

• The University of Central Lancashire has grown over recent years into one of the largest universities in the country and its expansion has impacted significantly on the physical regeneration of central Preston. The university has over 30,000 students and a dynamic course portfolio of over 500 undergraduate programmes and 180 postgraduate courses. The university has seen a number of major new developments over recent years at sites in central Preston and further expansion is planned.

• Edge Hill is a former college of higher education. The main campus is in Ormskirk with outreach centres in Liverpool, Cheshire and Manchester, that together account for a surprisingly large number of students. Granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council in November 2005, Edge Hill celebrated 121 years of excellence by achieving university status in Spring 2006.

• The Higher Education Statistics Agency website contains a statistics section that, besides student numbers, lists employment, financial data and estates management results (area, number of buildings, energy consumption etc) by institution. From this wealth of information, the employment results for the universities with major sites in Lancashire have been added to a table on our website.

(Strengths) 6. Every child matters

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) represents the average number of children per woman that would be born to a group of women if current age-specific patterns of fertility persisted throughout their childbearing life. The TFR rate for the Lancashire County Council area of 2.00 per 1,000 women throughout their child-bearing life in 2009 was similar to the national average, whilst a number of East Lancashire authorities recorded much higher TFR rates.

• Lancashire County Council has overseen the development of a large number of children's centres across the 12-district area.

• GCSE and equivalent results for pupils in maintained schools aged 15 for the 2009-10 year, reveal that 10 of the 14 Lancashire authorities recorded pass rates for grades A*-C (by place of residence) that were higher than the England average of 76.1%. These included rates of over 80% in six Lancashire authorities.

• Lancashire was one of the first local authorities to be included in the Building Schools for the Future programme and a large number of new developments were either under construction or took place prior to the funding being cut as part of government spending reductions.

• Child benefit is claimed by claimed by over 185,000 families in the broader Lancashire area.

• There is a substantial amount of information and analysis available on children and young people at the county, district and even smaller area levels that together present a wealth of material on health, wellbeing and academic standards. It includes the Department for Education achievement and attainment tables. Our small area profiles contain quick links to the Lancashire ward level information provided by the Department for Education. Ofsted inspection reports are a useful source of local information.

• Every school day, Lancashire County Commercial Services – who employ over 3,500 front line personnel – serves over 50,000 meals, cleans 400 buildings and the school crossing patrol service helps thousands of children safely on their way to school.

• The Lancashire Young People's Service provides a range of opportunities for young people and community members designed to be appealing, supportive, and fun. It encourages those involved to develop their skills and understanding of themselves.

• The Lancashire Sport partnership aims to increase participation and development in sport throughout the county. It works with other services including Youth Offending Teams, Connexions, Group Intervention Panel, Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire Drug Action Team to encourage involvement in sport and a healthy lifestyle.

• Lancashire Outdoor Education is a major provider of outdoor and residential facilities, including Borwick Hall, Hothersall Lodge, Tower Wood and Whitehough. Visitors include schools, colleges, teachers, youth and community groups etc.

• Each of the 12 district authorities in the county council area has a Local Children's Trust Partnership that allow closer working relationships and better communication between people from various organisations that work directly with children and young people.

(Strengths) 7. Caring and healthy

• Figures for life expectancy at birth continue to show problem areas in the county, but rates are improving with some of the biggest gains over the past decade being achieved within districts that historically have had rather low life expectancies relative to the nation. The reduction over recent years in the number of physically demanding manufacturing occupation jobs may partly explain why the differential between male and female life expectancy rates has narrowed.

• Sport England manages the active places website that enables people to search for sports facilities any where in England. By focusing in on the Lancashire area, the map highlights the large variety of sites and facilities in the county.

• The Sport England website also contains local sport profiles for each local authority in England.

(Strengths) 8. Living in Lancashire

• The Place Survey is a postal survey that all local authorities are required to complete. For the 2008/09 edition, over 16,000 people in the Lancashire County Council area gave their views on areas such as local quality of life, community safety and satisfaction with local services. A total of 79% of respondents were satisfied with their local areas as a place to live.

Clitheroe market town

• A wide range of reasonably priced housing/apartments in rural and urban locations. Recent popular developments include sites that are well located for commuting to the rest of Lancashire and beyond. For example, the large Buckshaw Village complex situated to the north of Chorley and developments in the Fernhurst area of Blackburn close to junction 4 of the M65. Preston benefits from the movement back towards city centre living and from the popularity of the Riversway Docklands area, whilst the Ribble Valley maintains its sought after status amongst people desiring a rural location. See HM Land Registry.

• The number of households registered as homeless and in priority need has been declining for a number of years in Lancashire and at the national level. For the year to March 2011 every Lancashire had a lower every Lancashire authority apart from Lancaster had a lower rate than the England average of 2.0 households in every 1,000 accepted as homeless and in priority need. The number of households living in temporary accommodation in Lancashire has also seen a significant decline over the past few years.

• Results for the ratio of median house price to median earnings confirm that houses in the Lancashire County area have in general terms, a history of being noticeably more affordable than the England average. Ribble Valley district however, has proved to be an area where the ratio has constantly exceeded the national average. Changes in residential property prices over the years emphasise that for the county as a whole, house price changes have been less volatile than at the national level.

• At the national level there is a tendency towards higher proportions of new dwellings on previously developed land and higher dwelling densities. These trends assist urban regeneration and help to curtail developments on Greenfield sites. The majority of the14 Lancashire local authorities reveal new dwelling development patterns that follow the national trends.

• The population of the broader Lancashire area grew by 32,000 or by 2.3% between 2001 and 2010 to 1.45 million (England and Wales = +5.5%). The highest growth rates were in Ribble Valley (7.2%), Wyre (5.3%) Lancaster (5.3%), and Chorley (4.8%). At the smaller local (sub-district) level the pattern of recent population change is highly complex with most districts experiencing pockets of population decline as well as areas of strong growth. Lancashire in 2010, in comparison to the England and Wales average, had a small bias towards a higher proportion of people aged 45+ and also aged 25 or under. It was in the 25-44 working age group where the county had a smaller proportion than the England and Wales average.

• Lancashire is steadily becoming ever more diverse in terms of its population and ethnic make-up. In 2009, 88% of the population described itself as "White British" against 92% in 2001. The equivalent proportion in England was 84%. In some individual districts such as Blackburn, Preston and Pendle, the proportion of White British is very much lower. Asian or Asian British groups now account for about 94,500 people or 6.5% of Lancashire's residents. Over recent years there has also been increases in the numbers of people classified to a range of ethnic groups such as Other White"; (i.e. mainly immigrants from other European countries), mixed ethnic groups, black or black British and Chinese.

(Strengths) 9. Safer Lancashire

• According to police recorded crime records, there were about 102,503 criminal offences in Lancashire in 2010/11. This was equivalent to a rate of 70.9 offences per 1,000 resident population, a position that was lower than rates for the North West (75.6), and England and Wales (75.7). The Lancashire MADE Public website contains crime details down to the ward level.

Lancashire police headquarters, Hutton

• Overall, total recorded crime within the Lancashire sub-region fell by 4.5% between 2009/10 and 2010/11. Reductions in recorded crime have been seen in violence against the person, criminal damage and vehicle crime. The increase in sexual offences reflects an ongoing process across the country to encourage more reporting of these offences and reduce tolerance to domestic violence in general.

• The Vulnerable Localities Index (VLI) is a method for measuring community cohesion, by highlighting areas where social and economic conditions exist which could lead to a breakdown in the community. There are 940 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) covering the broader Lancashire area and a VLI score of 200 or more is considered to be a high. Figures published in 2011 revealed that there were only 84 LSOAs (8.92%) which have a VLI score of 200 or more indicating that they are at least twice as vulnerable to community cohesion issues as the Lancashire average. These are concentrated in the main urban areas, and of these only 10 had scores between 300 and 400.

• Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010 Lancashire Constabulary received 140,956 complaints about anti-social behaviour (97.1 per thousand residents). This was a reduction of 11% from the previous year and a reduction of 27% when compared with the same period in 2005/6. A further 49,469 complaints were made to other organisations (local authorities, transport links, registered social landlords and British Transport Police).

• Lancashire now has five HM prisons (all male) with a combined certified normal accommodation capacity for approximately 3,250 prisoners. The five sites include Lancaster Farms, which is said to be the only dedicated institution in the North West for young offenders aged 18-21. The web link details the range learning and skills workshops that are made available and the partner organisations that have a presence onsite. Lancaster Castle prison closed in March 2011, and the site occupied a large section of the historic building in central Lancaster. The closure of the facility opens up the possibility of its reuse as a major tourist destination.

• The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service covers the 14-authority broader Lancashire area. Their website lists a number of documents that measure their performance and also provide details of the challenges facing the service. The website includes details of all the local fire stations across the county.

• The Safer Travel Unit was set up to reduce anti-social behaviour and crime on the bus network and thereby to improve the confidence of passengers on buses and waiting at bus stops and stations. The Unit is said to have played an important regional and national role in developing strategies for making school transport safe and enjoyable, including education programmes, reporting procedures and acceptable behaviour contracts. Reported incidents have fallen by a third since 2004/05.

• Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards service seeks to protect the interests of consumers and businesses by enforcing legislation that controls the quantity, quality, price, description and safety of most goods and services. Other duties include licensing activities e.g., fireworks/ explosives, petroleum, poisons and animal movements. To ensure compliance, the service investigates complaints, undertakes visits to businesses, advises traders and consumers and sample tests goods and services. Trading Standards also work closely with other agencies to reduce issues such as doorstep crime, loan sharks and underage sales.

(Strengths) 10. Older people's Lancashire

• An increasing number of Lancashire residents are living to an older age in reasonable health and free of disability and the number of state pension claimants in the sub-region is rising year-on-year. The state pension caseload in the broader 14-authority Lancashire area amounts to over 295,000. In many wards across Lancashire, and particularly those in coastal locations popular with retired migrants, state pensioners can comprise between 30-40% of the total resident population providing a significant economic contribution to the local economy.

• The broader Lancashire area has proportionately slightly more people aged 65 or over than the England and Wales average. The local authorities of Fylde and Wyre have particularly high proportions of residents in this age group.

• Lancashire residents who are aged 60 or over, and are holders of the NoWcard, are entitled to the standard English national concession on bus fares and free off-peak travel on Blackpool Trams and the Knott End to Fleetwood Ferry.

• The Lancashire Care Homes Association is an organisation that represents care providers across the broader Lancashire area. The website lists a large number of care and nursing homes across the county along with domiciliary care agencies in the area.

(Strengths) 11. Cultural Lancashire

• Lancashire is an area of astonishing physical diversity and there is much to be admired in the traditional townscapes, the multitude of stone-built dwellings and mills, handsome civic architecture and the relics of early industrialisation in which the region led the world. There are attractive stretches and beaches too along its 77-mile (123-km) coastline and the rural villages and unspoilt landscapes of Lancashire are particularly fine. Famous artists and literary figures have over the years found inspiration in the beauty of the Lancashire countryside.

• Lancashire offers a wealth of attractions embedded both in its vast cultural and built heritage and in its varied landscapes and natural interest sites.

• Lancashire's built heritage includes historic buildings of many sizes, periods and types, ranging from the humblest barn to the grandest mansion. This remarkable richness and variety reflects the distinctive aspects of the County's history and contributes to the economic life of the County, and the quality of life enjoyed today by residents and visitors alike.

Hoghton Tower

• The County Council's Archaeological Service maintains the Lancashire Sites and Monuments Record which contains extensive information on over 25,000 known sites across the County that range from standing ruins, prehistoric or medieval earthworks or simply findspots for objects such as Bronze Age tools or Roman coins etc. Buried archaeological remains, as well as finds recovered and placed in Lancashire Museums, are widely distributed across the county. Few are highly promoted as visitor attractions but some, such as the Bleasdale Circle, a prehistoric timber circle thought to date from the Bronze Age (1700-500 BC), still receive significant attention. The web link also highlights other important archaeological sites in the county.

• An important role as a centre for seaside and inland tourism, leisure and heritage, with access to a wide range of cultural, leisure and sporting facilities. Blackpool has a nationally recognised leisure brand being the most visited resort in the UK. The visitor enconomy in Lancashire is estimated to support around 58,700 employee jobs and others who are self-employed or family/casual workers.

• The Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Board website is an online resource for business advice, the latest industry news, information on skills and training and marketing opportunities for tourism businesses.

• The British Resorts and Destinations website contains some general information for four coastal authorities in Lancashire.

• The Visit England website contains local authority level analysis of for trips, nights spent, and total spend for all 14 Lancashire local authorities.  Recent results reveal some small setbacks, but the figures for local authority by size confirm the importance of Blackpool as a visitor destination.   

• The canal system in the county is a very important tourism asset and waterside locations are also a catalyst for housing, leisure and recreation, popular eating establishments, mixed-use commercial developments and other regeneration activities. The British Waterways leisure website details a variety of sites in the Lancashire and Greater Manchester area. There are organisations that specialise in boat hire, boat purchase, canal cruises, boat building, repair and service; and boat clubs. Recent years have seen an expansion of marina facilities. BWML operates three marinas in Lancashire. The Barton Grange Group has an 80-berth marina and associated development bordering the Lancaster canal, whilst Bridge House Marina, Moons Bridge Marina and the Tewitfield Marina are also located on the Lancaster canal. Mooring facilities are also available opposite the Canal Turn eating establishment in Carnforth. The Leeds and Liverpool canal is home to St Mary's Marina, the neighbouring Fettler's Wharf Marina in Rufford, and the nearby Scarisbrick Bridge Marina. Reedley Marina is next to the Barden Mill retail development near Burnley, and the nearby Lower Park Marina in Barnoldswick which added 50 new berths in 2009. Boats can be hired from locations on the Leeds and Liverpool and Lancaster canals. Finally, Preston Marina and Fleetwood Marina, where a £2 million investment in 2009 increased the number of berths from 300 to 450, also emphasise how leisure cruising along the Lancashire coast and the inland waterways is growing in importance.

• Opened in 2002, the four-mile Ribble Link navigation provides a connection between the once isolated Lancaster canal and the rest of the national canal network. It follows the course of Savick Brook. At the confluence with the Ribble at Lea, there is an unusual tidal lock with radial gates. On selected high tides, boats can sail via the River Ribble and the River Douglas/Asland to the join the Burscough arm of the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Tarleton.

• The Royal Lytham Golf Club course is one of the premier links courses in the world. Over the years it has brought this part of the county to the attention of an international audience by hosting Open Championships (it will be the venue for the 2012 Open), Ryder Cups and numerous other major tournaments including the Women's and Seniors' Opens. It is one of four along the Fylde Coast that form part of England's golf coast.

• Lancashire contains four of the 12 clubs that were founder members of the football league, and the proud tradition of professional football in the county is still very much alive and well in Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley, Blackpool, Morecambe and Preston. Fleetwood Town is a less well-known Lancashire club that has made significant progress over recent years. Ground facilities have improved enormously over recent years. Preston completed their stadium redevelopment before the start of the 2007/08 season, and more recent improvements include the redevelopment of Blackpool's Bloomfield Road ground and the new stadium for Morecambe that incorporates extensive outdoor community sports facilities. Matches are important sources of income for local pubs, food outlets etc., and attract visitors to the county who might not otherwise visit. A number of the grounds are located in deprived inner-urban areas where their redevelopment has helped to underpin local regeneration. The improved facilities incorporate areas for corporate hospitality and events that are useful to the local business community, whilst some clubs also support initiatives that help new small enterprises. The Minerva Health Care Centre run by Central Lancashire NHS occupies two floors of a stand at Preston North End and is a vitally important facility for the local community. The clubs are involved in community schemes that look to generate new supporters, but which are also of benefit to disadvantaged groups and other sectors of the local community. The clubs instill local pride and raise the profile of places in Lancashire to a level that could not be achieved by any other means. The interest in football means that through their teams, Lancashire towns are known to an enormous worldwide audience.

• Lancaster University is home to the Ruskin Library. Described as one of the finest modern buildings in Britain, the Library houses the world's foremost collection of art, manuscripts, books and diaries relating to the Victorian art critic and social commentator John Ruskin.

Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston

• The Lancashire Museums website details a number of the historic properties in the County that are open to the general public. Lancashire museums have a wide range of sites and objects on display, with appropriate interpretative material. Many of these are of international importance, such as Lancaster Castle, Queen Street Mill in Burnley, the remains of a Palaeolithic elk with some of the weapons it was hunted with (Harris Museum, Preston), and the recently recovered tombstone of a Roman cavalry soldier (currently in conservation but to be placed in Lancaster City Museum).

• The Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington is home to a world famous collection of 'Favrile' ("hand-made") vases, tiles and mosaics and related material, from the New York Studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1843-1933). It is the largest public collection of Tiffany glass in Europe, and consists of over one hundred and forty pieces of highly decorative, gloriously coloured and intricately styled glass in the "Art Nouveau" style.

• Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery has one of the finest collections of Christian icons outside the British Museum. The bulk of the collection was gathered by Thomas Boys Lewis, a Blackburn cotton manufacturer, and date from the 15th to the late 19th century and are mostly Greek or Russian in origin. Edward Hart, the son of a local manufacturer, left the town his personal collection of 500 fine books and manuscripts and more than 6,000 rare coins: The illuminated manuscripts date from the mid-13th century to the early 16th century.. Hart acquired Egyptian hieroglyphs, a single leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, rare books printed by William Caxton, early copies of Shakespeare plays and a copy of the Kelmscott Chauce.

(Strengths) 12. Welcoming and harmonious

• The Place Survey results in the Lancashire County Council area for 2008/09 reveal that 74% of Lancashire residents believe that people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area.

• Inward migrants to the county include both more elderly migrants attracted by Lancashire's attractions as a retirement destination and younger groups of working age seeking employment. People from other parts of the country, the European Union and beyond are each year choosing to live and/or work in Lancashire. Without such net inward migration, Lancashire's population Lancashire's population would fall considerably.

• Many foreign students come to the county to study at the local universities and other centres of higher education and will return home with a positive experience of their time in Lancashire. UCLan, for example attracts over 100 different nationalities onto its campus and is one of the leading UK universities for overseas education.

• National policy changes such as the introduction of civil partnerships exemplify a commitment to achieve a more tolerant society. The county council's website has details of how to arrange a civil partnership and possible venue locations.

• The Stonewall organisation is a lobbying group that represents people with a lesbian, gay or bisexual orientation. In 2011, the organisation published its latest annual workplace equality index that seeks to identify the UK's top 100 employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. The list is said to have a significant impact on how this sector of society choose where to work, study or to spend their disposable income. No organisation with its HQ in the county was in the top 100, but the Stonewall website also details the diversity champions programme. This is where employers can work with Stonewall, and each other, to promote diverse lifestyles in the workplace. In July 2011, the list had over 500 members. The list includes Blackburn College, Blackpool and the Fylde College, Blackpool Council, Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Lancashire Probation Trust and the University of Central Lancashire. The list also includes BAE Systems and the Land Registry that have major sites in Lancashire. Blackpool is said to have a notable gay community and social scene, and this may reflect the reason why two Blackpool organisations are on the list. Also the number of civil partnerships in the authority forms a significant proportion of the total for the broader Lancashire area. See also the web page that details the county council's policy on sexual orientation.

(Strengths) 13. Image of Lancashire

• A strong sense of the county's "place in history", of local community identity and of belonging. In perception surveys of Lancashire more than three-quarters of residents typically report that they are satisfied with their local area as a place to live and feel good about living in Lancashire.

• There are a number of local pioneers whose endeavours over the years have helped to shape the development of the Lancashire sub-region and its image to the outside world.

• The attractive landscapes of rural Lancashire appeal to many tourists and visitors. Their historic development and wealth of traditional features could be further exploited to counteract the 'industrial north' perception of the county.

(Weaknesses) 1. Prosperous Lancashire

• Gross value added per head, the most commonly used measure of economic well-being, stood at an estimated £16,170 in 2008 for the Lancashire 14 authority area. In relative terms, this level was seven percentage points lower than that of the wider North West region and only 79% of the United Kingdom average. In these terms, Lancashire ranked as a relatively modest lower middle ranking 26th out of the 37 European Union NUTS-2 regions. In comparison, the 1995 figure revealed that the Lancashire sub-region was 89% of the UK average. The dramatic growth of the financial services industry in London has had a major impact on the overall value of the UK economy. This is a significant reason why the pace of increase of the local economy has not been able to keep up with the national trend. The GVA by broad industry group results confirm that the two high value sectors of financial intermediation, and real estate, renting and business activities have a proportionately much smaller role in the Lancashire economy compared with the UK as a whole.

Gross value added by broad industry group (%), Lancashire (14-authority area) and the UK, 2008

Source: ONS - Local Gross Value Added. 1995-2008, published December 2010

• An alternative measure of local economic welfare is gross disposable household income (GDHI), which unlike GVA takes account of both pensioners' and commuters' incomes as well as social transfers and is effectively the amount of money that after taxes and social contributions, etc households have available for spending or savings. The GDHI per head in 2009 for the broader 14-authority Lancashire area stood at an estimated £13,314. In comparison with GVA, GDHI results in a leveling-out effect and a generally smaller range in the overall distribution of wealth, but in 2009, the result for the broader Lancashire area was only 86.5% of the UK average ranking the region as 29th out of the 37 NUTS level-2 areas. The latest position represents a relative deterioration since 1995 when the sub-region stood at 89.6% of the UK average.

• There is evidence to suggest that there are growing financial disparities between different parts of the county. Estimates of the gross mean household income results for 2011, derived from private sector consultancy group CACI, reveal that the disparities within the county continue to grow. Three of the four authorities with the highest mean earnings achieved the largest yearly percentage increases whilst the three with the lowest mean figures had the smallest increases.

Part of Weavers' Triangle, Burnley

See the Burnley Borough Council website for details of the Masterplan for the site.

• In a recent assessment of the competitiveness of localities across the UK by the Centre for International Competitiveness results for Lancashire were fairly mediocre. Fylde ranked 97th out of 397 local authorities in 2010. Ribble Valley and Preston were the only other Lancashire districts in the top half of the table. Of the remaining 11 Lancashire authorities, seven were ranked between 335th and 372nd lowest in the UK, with Blackpool recording the lowest ranking of the 14 Lancashire authorities.

• Continued restructuring and downsizing of key industries and companies which have formed the basis of much of the sub-region's post-war diversification away from the textiles and associated industries and some failure to replace these lost industrial jobs with jobs of equal or better quality in the expanding services sectors.

• The Department of Energy and Climate Change website contains details of gas production figures for both Morecambe North and South gas fields. The figures chart the large-scale decline in production levels at the two fields over the past few years.

• Few free-standing R&D centres of excellence and a paucity of representation in information technology and science-based industries and services in general. The financial/professional/technical services base in Lancashire is relatively under-represented and there has been a failure to share fully in the nationally expanding job opportunities in the services sector as a whole.

• Fylde and Preston districts are the only two authorities in the county where armed forces personnel are stationed. The total number is not excessive therefore the economic impact in the county is liable to be somewhat limited. In regional terms however the county has a large proportion of the rather modest North West total.

• In some locations a shortage of high quality serviced and readily available business development sites and advanced factory/office provision linked to the problems associated with under-used, derelict and abused land and buildings.

• Low industrial and commercial rental levels and rates of return act as a disincentive to new private sector speculative property development in many parts of the county. The average rateable value of industrial and commercial premises in Lancashire at £38 per sq. m, in 2008 (falling to well under £30 per sqm in parts of East Lancashire) is well below the England average of £66 per sqm.

• Low levels of both new inward (particularly "greenfield") and indigenous investments over recent decades exacerbated by structural characteristics, poor (but improving) perceptions of the region and limited availability and consistency of competitive grants and assistance in many areas.

• Pockets of severe social and economic deprivation, including a high proportion of "hidden" and long-term unemployed with low levels of basic skills. Six Lancashire authorities (Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Preston) are in the "top 50" most deprived in England according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 (IMD 2010 rank of average rank).

Index of multiple deprivation 2010, lower super output area level

Source: Department for Communities and Local Government

• An above-average representation of low skill and casual job opportunities (especially in the visitor economy) offering limited prospects and low rates of pay: average (median) gross weekly earnings by place of residence in the Lancashire County Council area are about 8% below the Great Britain average.

• Total personal income figures take in to account earnings, savings and income from benefits. The median figure for the Lancashire County Council area in 2007/08 of £17,400 was six percentage points lower than the UK average.

• Personal insolvency, bankruptcy and individual voluntary agreement rates per 10,000 population in 2009, were all very similar at the broader 14-authority Lancashire level to the England and Wales averages. Particularly high rates within Lancashire however were recorded in Blackpool and Chorley.

(Weaknesses) 2. Accessible Lancashire

• Inefficiencies arising from traffic congestion on parts of the motorway network and on other strategic routes, adding to the costs of industry and commerce and constraining access to employment opportunities. Traffic flows on major roads in the broader Lancashire area have increased by more than 23% between 1993 and 2008 however, there were small reductions in 2009 and 2010.

• An inadequate provision or absence of basic service infrastructure (permanent shop, post office, daily bus service, etc.) to serve local needs in many of the more remote rural areas. The situation has been exacerbated over recent years with the loss of many local post offices.

Former Halton railway station (see Lancaster-Crook O'Lune-Caton cycleway)

• Local public transport that often does not fully meet the needs of residents for work, leisure and shopping trips and does not provide an adequate alternative to car-based transportation. Local rail services, e.g. Colne-Preston, are unable to compete on speed and convenience against private cars using the M65 for local journeys. There is a need for more through-ticketing between bus and train operators, and between separate bus operators where routes or parts of routes coincide.

• The Department for Transport website contains light rail and tram statistics that confirm that passenger numbers for the Blackpool tram system slumped from 4.9 million in 2001/02 to just 1.6 million in 2010/11. Temporary closures as a result of track and equipment improvements have affected results, but there is a long-term trend of declining numbers. Bus journey numbers in the Lancashire area have also been on decline in the past few years after a period of sharp increases.

• The amount of commercial activity at the three Lancashire ports of Heysham, Fleetwood and Glasson Dock is small compared with the national picture. The Lancashire Ports can only effectively serve a limited market segment that encompasses Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Morecambe Bay Gas Fields. Real-time monitoring of ships over 300 tons as they traverse through British waters reveals how vessel movements around the Lancashire coastline are modest in comparison with a number of other parts of the country.

(Weaknesses) 3. Dynamic rural Lancashire

• Direct employment in agriculture continues to fall steadily. Both the number of farms in Lancashire and the people employed on them have declined steadily for decades. The swing from arable to less labour intensive grass in the local production pattern, increased mechanisation, improved production techniques, more efficient use of labour, the loss of holdings through urban developments and the availability of greater financial rewards to employees in jobs outside the industry all contributed to the long-term fall in agricultural employment.

(Weaknesses) 4. Greener Lancashire

• The Forestry Commission has a small presence in Lancashire in terms of the forests they own and manage, in comparison to the neighbouring county of Cumbria, but their policy, grants and regulations function is in no way diminished. The Forestry Commission website mentions Gisburn Forest, which covering 1,245 hectares is the largest forest in Lancashire. The Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity and the website lists over 25 sites in Lancashire.

• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publishes annual results that analyse farmed area by various categories. The results reveal a low percentage of woodland farmed area in the Lancashire County Counil area in comparison to the England average.

• Lancashire has over 2,400 hectares of derelict, under-used or neglected brownfield land. This dereliction, made up of former industrial sites, quarries, old railways, disused reservoirs and tips, can be very harmful to the environment. It can be a source of pollution, a hazard to people living nearby, make an area look run-down and neglected and also have an adverse economic impact, reducing property prices and making the area less attractive to visit and invest in.

• The bathing water quality results published in November 2011 reveal a very disappointing outturn for Lancashire. Six of the 10 beaches sampled in the county failed to meet the microbiological standards. Four met the basic pass standard whilst none achieved the more stringent guideline standard. Blackpool North beach was closed because of the major redevelopment work along the sea front in the town. Another source of bathing water results is provided by the Marine Conservation Society. The organisation publishes a Good Beach Guide that lists results for Lancashire beaches as part of its yearly survey of 1,200 UK beaches. Please also see the environment agency bathing water profiles for the North West that include profiles for the Lancashire beaches.

• The Homes and Communities Agency publishes figures for vacant land and buildings, derelict land, and for land currently in use and allocated for redevelopment in a local plan, or with a relevant outstanding planning permission. The results are made available via the National Land Use Database. In July 2011, the list included over 650 sites in the 14 authorities that form the broader Lancashire area.

• There were 32,373 cases of reporting fly-tipping in the broader Lancashire area during the year to March 2010. Recent years have seen a noticeable pattern of decline in reported incidents. Household waste represents a large proportion of reported fly tipping incidents. Most authorities have a policy whereby household waste left out for collection in a bin bag next to a wheelie bin is gathered separately and classified as fly tipping. In addition, local authorities have invested significantly in providing increased services to deal with fly-tipping and have campaigned to reduce the public's tolerance of such incidents.

• Keep Britain Tidy is responsible for the Blue Flag and Quality Coast Awards. Blue Flag is an international award scheme which acts as a guarantee to tourists that a beach or marina they are visiting is one of the best in the world. The Blue Flag compares beaches throughout the world that meet high standards of cleanliness and management, promote coastal environmental care, and have attained the higher guideline standard of water quality. It refers only to the busier 'resort' beaches. The 2010 results unfortunately reveal no beaches in the North West that have achieved the standard.

• The Quality Coast Award was introduced in 2007 with its main focus being on raising standards at the coast. The award is said to reflect the great achievements of England's beach managers and helps them in future planning for beach improvements and developments. In 2010, Blackpool South and St. Annes Pier beaches were deemed to have achieved the standard.

• Total energy consumption per person (per capita) results for 2007 highlight seven of the 14 Lancashire authorities as areas where the average per capita total was above the North West figure of 28,400 kilo watts per hour. The same seven Lancashire authorities had domestic energy consumption per household results that were in the highest 25% of authorities in Great Britain. Heavy industrial and commercial energy consumption totals were particularly apparent in Ribble Valley and Rossendale districts.

(Weaknesses) 5. Learning Lancashire

• The 2001 Census revealed that 16.5% of Lancashire residents (aged 16-74) were qualified to NVQ levels 4/5, the highest levels attainable. This compared unfavourably with the England and Wales average of 19.8%. The Annual Population Survey (APS) results for the year to December 2010 (less reliable than the census figures) revealed that for the same broader Lancashire area, the estimate of people of working age (smaller age-range than the 16-74 group) that were qualified to NVQ level 4/5 of 29.7%, was below the Great Britain average of 31.1%.

• There are concentrations within the County of residents with either low or no skills that act as a constraint on economic potential and hamper the progression of these individuals in the labour market.

(Weaknesses) 6. Every child matters

• Burnley was in the unfortunate position of recording one of the lowest pass rates for young people in England for attaining 5 or more GCSEs at grades A-C by place of residence. Low rates were also recorded in Blackpool and Pendle.

• Well over 100,000 Lancashire families claim child or working tax credit.

•The conception rates per 1,000 women aged 15-17 reveal that within England and Wales teenage pregnancies have fallen fairly steadily between 1996/98 and 2007/09. The figures for Lancashire County and the two unitaries are much more volatile being based on smaller numbers. For Lancashire county, the latest average rate for the three-year period from 2007/09 was 41.7 per 1,000, higher than the England and Wales average of 40.2, but below the North West figure of 45.6. In Blackpool over the same period the much higher teenage conception rate of 63.3 per thousand females was ranked the eleventh highest in England and Wales.

(Weaknesses) 7. Caring and healthy

• The Association of Public Health Observatories produces yearly health profiles down to the district authority level. The profiles measure progress against a range of the indicators and it is apparent that there are a number of problem issues in various parts of the county.

• The health protection agency has a role to provide support and advice to the NHS, local authorities and emergency services etc. The website contains five local health profiles that cover the 14-auithority Lancashire area, and which highlight a range of health concerns across the county.

• The North West Public Health Observatory website has a link to the local alcohol profiles for all authorities in England. By choosing the North West region, and changing the default area, it is possible to access the profiles for each of the 14 local authorities in the broader Lancashire area. Excessive alcohol consumption has impacts on health and community safety, and each profile indicates how the individual authority compares with the national average across a range of indicators.

• Life expectancy continues to improve across all parts of Lancashire but in some respects the sub-region exhibits patterns more usually associated with large inner cities than with "shire areas". The 2006-08 three-year rolling average revealed that only Ribble Valley and Fylde had male life expectancy at birth within the top 50% of authorities in England and Wales. In the most extreme instances, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen ranked as the worst and sixth worst respectively in England and Wales for male life expectancy and a further four local districts: Rossendale, Burnley, Hyndburn and Preston were in the bottom 10%. Female life expectancy rates from birth follow a similar pattern. Blackpool shared the poorest position for female life expectancy with three other authorities, whilst Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen, Preston and Hyndburn were also in the bottom 10%.

• In 2009 babies born weighing less than 2,500g accounted for about 7.5% of all live births in England and Wales. Eight of the 14 Lancashire local authorities recorded rates in excess of the England and Wales average. These included Preston, where the rate of 9.6% was well in excess of the national average.

• The infant mortality rate in the Lancashire County Council area, which is itself partly related to low birth weight, continues to fall, but at 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006/08 remains well above the national average of 4.8.

• The 2001 Census revealed that on average, a substantial 34% of the 21 million households in England and Wales contain at least one person with a limiting long-term illness. For Lancashire, the average was somewhat higher at 38.4%.

• Mental health indicator results reveal that in Lancashire, the distribution is heavily skewed towards areas that have a greater prevalence of persons with mental illness than might have been expected on the basis of the local demographic profiles. In total, 770 or more than 82% of the 940 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) that cover the Lancashire sub-region have values above their expected score given the age and gender profile of the area. Of particular note is an LSOA within the Rose Grove South and Weavers' Triangle area of Burnley, with an indicator score of 2.63 (i.e. nearly three times the expected value) not only ranks as the poorest in Lancashire but also as no less than the 15th poorest for mental health in the whole of England. In addition, Lancashire has 26 LSOAs (nearly 3% of all Lancashire LSOAs) that rank amongst the poorest 1% for mental health in England and no less than 138 LSOAs (or nearly15% of all Lancashire LSOAs) that rank within the poorest 5% in England.

• In many localities a perception of poor quality of life allied with low expectations and aspirations: high proportions of working age individuals are in receipt of welfare benefits.

• The chances of being in employment not surprisingly change dramatically if a person is disabled. In the 14-authority Lancashire area, 78.7% of non-disabled people were estimated to be in employment in 2010, whilst only 45.7% of disabled people were estimated to be in employment.

(Weaknesses) 8. Living in Lancashire

• The 2001 Census revealed that Lancashire, with a figure of 34% had one of the highest shares of terraced housing stock in England and Wales (national average is 26%). Percentages of more than 50% are recorded in many parts of East Lancashire resulting in pockets of limited diversity in housing supply and demand for more semi and detached property choices in the east of the county.

•Reflecting the high numbers of terraced properties and the poor condition of some of the housing stock, the 14-authority Lancashire area in 2011 had 40.3% of its dwellings classified within the lowest council tax band 'A', a figure well above the average of 24.3% for England and Wales. Just 1.8% of Lancashire's housing stock was within bands G and H compared with 4.1% nationally. High concentrations of band 'A' properties are to be found in most urban areas across the sub-region.

Housing renewal in East Lancashire

Elevate East Lancashire

• In 2006, 4.2% of dwellings in England were classified as unfit, but in many parts of Lancashire the rates were much higher. Blackburn with Darwen (17.2%), Pendle (16.6%) and Hyndburn (15.9%) recorded the worst rates of unfit dwellings in England, whilst Rossendale, Burnley and Blackpool were also ranked in the 50 local authorities with the highest rates.

• Average house prices across much of Lancashire lag those nationally, in some cases by a wide margin. However, affordability still remains an issue for many. In 2010, the ratio of median house price to median earnings in the Lancashire County Council area stood at 5.29, which although lower than the England average (7.01) is  well ahead of the rate of 3.01 in 1997. At the local authority level, the ratios in 2010 extended from a low of 3.49 in Burnley to 7.24 in Ribble Valley. The difference in the ratios between the two authorities emphasises the very wide house price variations that are found in various parts of the county.

• The 2008 fuel poverty results reveal that in England 15.6% of households were said to be in fuel poverty (spending 10% or more of their income on fuel), whilst the figure for the 14-authority Lancashire area was somewhat higher at 18.1%. Only South Ribble managed to record a percentage that was less than the England average. In contrast, Pendle, Lancaster and Blackburn with Darwen were the three Lancashire authorities with rates in excess of 20%.

• Population decline in particular areas of the county (especially some authorities in East Lancashire) is often the result of the net outward migration of younger and better-qualified people. This is most noticeable over recent times in Burnley where positive natural rates of change have been unable to fully counteract negative net migration. The authority has not recorded a yearly resident population increase since 1998.  Looking over the longer-term, results from 1961 onwards reveal that four Lancashire authorities, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley and Preston, actually had smaller population totals in 2010 compared to 50 years earlier.

(Weaknesses) 9. Safer Lancashire

• In Lancashire there is a very diverse pattern of recorded crime. The highest rates and above average rates are to be found in Lancashire's four largest urban districts of Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley and Preston.

• According to the Place Survey 2008, one person in five across the Lancashire County Council area is calculated to rate anti-social behaviour (ASB) as high locally (19%). This varies from one person in three in Burnley (32%), down to less than one in ten in Ribble Valley (8%). Most districts have seen significant falls in the combined measure of ASB. However, only a minority consider that local agencies are successfully dealing with anti-social behaviour (30%). Respondents are more likely to think that crime has increased locally in the last two years than decreased (31% and 18% respectively). This is despite the total number of recorded crimes between 2006/7 and 2008/9 actually falling by 15%.

(Weaknesses) 10. Older people's Lancashire

• Pension Credit is designed to ensure that help is directed to pensioners at the lower end of the income scale. There are a substantial number of pensioners claiming this benefit and at the small area level numbers are highest in some of the inner-urban wards of Blackpool, Blackburn, Morecambe and Burnley. This contrasts with concentrations of State Pension claimants that emphasise the popularity of less populated coastal and rural areas of the county for pensioners in general.

• Personal incomes data released by HM Revenue and Customs reveals that median pension income levels in a number of authorities in the broader Lancashire area are below the UK average. Table 4 in the personal incomes article also list the number of pensioners estimated to be liable for tax. A comparison with the number of state pension claimants is slightly distorted by the different time periods, but emphasises the fact that many retired individuals in Lancashire do not have an income high enough to incur a tax liability.

• The Income Deprivation affecting older people results from the 2010 Indices of Deprivation (please select the LSOA geography level) reveal that some of the worst Lancashire results were in urban areas of Preston, Blackburn and Burnley. Attendance Allowance provides financial help to people aged 65 or over who are physically or mentally disabled. A sustained pattern of yearly increases in the caseload in Lancashire, and at the national level, is now well established.

• Large increases in fuel prices have focused attention on fuel poverty which has now become a significant issue. There is a long-term association between fuel poverty and pensioners on fixed incomes however there have been government initiatives to specifically address this issue.

(Weaknesses) 11. Cultural Lancashire

• Visitor economy facilities and related businesses benefit from mutual support. Complementary attractions in close proximity, along with shops, pubs and restaurants, can together create a critical mass for a local visitor economy cluster. Some of the smaller specialist museums in Lancashire, especially in the urban centres away from the coast, lack the support of other nearby tourism-related activities. Yearly statistics on the number of visitors to tourist attractions in Lancashire only cover a relatively small number of attractions because of the problems involved with encouraging organisations to complete a voluntary survey. The results therefore provide only a limited insight towards the state of the overall visitor economy market. In addition, the published results may be affected by factors such as temporary closures for redevelopments, the weather, inaccurate estimates of visitors, and one-off major events etc., that can all distort yearly comparisons.

• The demands of new industries and services, coupled with the decline of traditional manufacturing within the county, have placed increasing pressure for change upon both the historic fabric of Lancashire's towns and the wider countryside. Whilst change itself has been and will continue to be a feature of life in Lancashire, it is important to ensure that the unique character of the county's towns and rural environment is preserved.

(Weaknesses) 12. Welcoming and harmonious

• The place survey is a postal survey that all local authorities in England are required to complete. One of the questions asked was "to what extent do you agree or disagree that this local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together"? The 2008 results for the Lancashire County area found that 74% of people agreed with this statement compared with an England average of 76%. At the district level, Burnley (56%), Hyndburn (58%), Pendle (52%) and Rossendale (61%) recorded scores significantly lower than the national average.

(Weaknesses) 13. Image of Lancashire

• Many of Lancashire's towns still have the unmistakable physical stamp of an earlier manufacturing era. This is particularly apparent in East Lancashire urban areas where the industrial landscape and the high levels of terraced property combine to present a negative impression to some visitors.

• A pioneering study of the prospects for the economic development of north east Lancashire published in July 1959 by the Economist Intelligence Unit stated that, "The area has not been well endowed by nature. The climate is damp and windy, with less than average sunshine and more than average rainfall. As is to be expected in a hilly district, the soil is not good enough for intensive farming, and the sloping ground makes large-scale cultivation impossible. The greyness of the moors is reflected in the towns themselves, but very attractive country can quickly be reached, particularly in the softer and more wooded regions of the Ribble". After 50 years, is this how people would still perceive the area or has the span of time, the regeneration of the area and changing attitudes towards the local environment affected what visitors think of the area? See Visit Burnley, Visit Rossendale, Pendle Tourism.

Morecambe

• According to the Place Survey 2008 there are large variations in the general satisfaction of residents with their local area. For England as a whole, 79.7% of people surveyed were satisfied with their area and the average for the Lancashire County Council area was slightly lower at 79.2%. Pendle (66.2%), Hyndburn (68.2%) and Burnley (68.6%) recorded quite low levels of satisfaction, whereas the 94.2% for Ribble Valley was the highest rate recorded out of 352 local authorities across England.

• Restructuring of the seaside resorts required to meet continued decline of traditional family holiday markets and the resorts' outdated physical infrastructure.

• Blackpool, for many people, has a low quality, cheap and cheerful image that is unattractive to higher spending market segments, overseas visitors and the important conference trade.

(Opportunities) 1. Prosperous Lancashire

• Current developments in London and the South East are of a size and importance that are on a wholly different level to anything happening in the major cities in the North of England let alone Lancashire. For example, the London 2012 Olympics; rail developments such as Thameslink and Crossrail; the Shard next to London Bridge station; and the rapid pace of change occurring in the docklands. The regional gross value added report dramatically exemplifies the economic dominance of London. The speed, capacity and reliability of transport links from Lancashire to the capital will dictate as to what extent the county can benefit from its direct access to this world-class centre of economic activity (see Transport and Accessibility).

• Uniquely containing two conurbations together with a large number of secondary urban centres, the North West as a whole carries considerable economic weight within the UK, has a large regional labour catchment area and a secular trend away from manufacturing and towards service industry sectors helping to expand the range of potential employment opportunities available to Lancashire residents.

• In an assessment of UK regional competitiveness undertaken by the Centre for International Competitiveness, the North West of England has shown the greatest improvement in terms of its competitiveness ranking, improving from 8th position to 4th position in 2010. Most of this progress has been achieved since 2006, perhaps reflecting the renaissance of Manchester and latterly the regeneration of Liverpool.

• The North West out of all regions and countries of the UK makes the third largest contribution to the UK economy and the highest contribution to the UK's manufacturing industry gross value added.

• Good access to metropolitan centres (Merseyside/Greater Manchester/West Yorkshire) and proximity to large regional urban markets: 8 million people live within 50km of the County. Manchester in particular has been transformed over the past 20 years to become a city of major European importance. The city has an impressive choice of cultural, leisure and shopping facilities and Lancashire is well placed to benefit from its enhanced status and role. Much has already been achieved in the centre and east of the city, whilst further housing, leisure and business developments are in the pipeline, including the transformation of an area around Manchester Victoria station. The neighbouring city of Salford has also experienced a fundamental transformation especially in the former docks area that contains the media city development. The proposed high speed rail link to London should dramatically improve travel times between Manchester and the capital.

• The Homes and Community Agency is the national housing and regeneration agency for England. The website lists a number of major developments in the North West region.

• BAE Systems has embarked on a major investment programme of additional manufacturing facilities and office accommodation at the Samlesbury site. The investment is supported by the North West Development Agency and will sustain current jobs and potentially create a significant number of new jobs. This will help secure the future of aerospace in Lancashire by safeguarding the skills, technology and knowledge the region possesses.

• Of the National Lottery funding that is allocated to projects in specific geographic areas, a total of £328 million had by July 2010, been given to over 6,100 projects in the Lancashire sub-region, equivalent to £227 per head. This compares with a North West average of £331 and a UK average of £374 per head. Containing 2.3% of the UK's total population, Lancashire receives only 1.4% of the National Lottery "Good Causes" funding. Raising Lancashire's "share" of lottery funding to the national average could potentially generate millions of pounds of additional income for the county per annum. Major projects can attract substantial amounts of lottery funding and the lack of such projects in the county is a significant reason behind the low per head figure.

• The commercial strengths of both Manchester and Liverpool result in employment opportunities for many Lancashire residents. The 2001 Census recorded a balance of net outward commuting of 21,400. Many parts of Lancashire earn a very decent living as desirable residential areas from where to commute to these centres. Parts of Rossendale, Ribble Valley, Wyre, West Lancashire and Chorley districts have household incomes amongst the highest in Lancashire.

• The net benefit to the county from cross-border commuting is emphasised by the fact that the 2010 Lancashire County Council area residence-based weekly median earning for all employees were £10.80 per week higher than the workplace figures.

• There is a constant interest in forecasting what how trends in social, economic and environmental issues are likely to develop in Lancashire over the coming years. Besides the population and household forecasts that are published by central government, there are some economic forecasts for the 12-district Lancashire County Council area and the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool.  New Economy is part of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. Although they have no responsibility for the Lancashire area, they do, as part of their normal forecasting, publish results for the Lancashire area.  The economic intelligence section of the new economy website includes a link to the Greater Manchester Forecasting Model.  The main outputs option includes a spreadsheet that lists projections of employment, gross value added by sector, business floorspace and carbon dioxide emissions for the 12-district Lancashire County Council area and the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, Forecasting is of course an inexact science, but each set of results gives the best available projection of expected changes over the coming years.

(Opportunities) 2. Accessible Lancashire

• Manchester International Airport is within 45 minutes travelling time of Preston by motorway and accessible by direct train services from Blackpool, Lancaster, Chorley and Preston. With two runways, it offers an extensive range of worldwide destinations and in 2010 was used by a total of 17.7 million passengers.

Current northern navigable limit of the Lancaster canal

• Good road connections to Liverpool John Lennon airport (5.0 million passengers in 2010). A number of the hourly Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street services have now been extended to Liverpool South Parkway where shuttle buses connect with the nearby airport.  The Port of Liverpool. Leeds/Bradford airport had 2.7 million passengers in 2010 and is easily accessible from north east Lancashire. All three neighbouring international airports are each around 25 miles by road from different parts of Lancashire's border.

• International rail travel from Lancashire to mainland Europe became easier in November 2007, when Eurostar services moved from London Waterloo to St Pancras International. Eurostar now offers through ticketing from a number of stations across the UK including Preston and Lancaster. Passengers can purchase a combined ticket through to Paris, Brussels, Disneyland Paris, or even further afield. Changing stations in London has been made easier since Euston is just one Tube stop or a short walk from St Pancras International.

• Lancashire benefits from 125 mph Pendolino train services to London Euston via the West Coast Mainline (WCML). From December 2008, the completion of major upgrade work resulted in services to the capital now taking on average only two hours and 15 minutes. In May 2008, the Department for Transport confirmed that agreement had been reached to provide 106 new carriages which will create four new eleven-car Pendolino trains and will also lengthen 31 of the existing trains from 9 to 11 cars, raising the number of standard-class seats from 320 to 470 per train. These will be in full service by December 2012 and the same year should also see the introduction of 20 new carriages to supplement the Trans-Pennine Express franchise that serves the county.

• The Lancashire and Cumbria Route Utilisation Strategy highlights a range of proposed improvements to Lancashire Rail Services. Line speed improvements, additional service provision between Blackburn and Clitheroe, a proposed hourly service on the Preston-Ormskirk line and reinstating Burscough Chord South to operate a Southport-Ormskirk service are amongst the recommendations in the strategy. The railway station usage figures detail the recent growth rates in rail passenger numbers in the county.

• In November 2010, the Department for Transport reaffirmed the intention to electrify three rail routes in the North West. The £200m programme includes the 25 mile route between Manchester and the intersection with the West Coast Mainline at Euxton. It also includes the 17 mile route between Blackpool North and Preston. The developments will allow a number of local services that pass through Lancashire to be operated by quicker and more reliable electric trains.

• In October 2011 the government announced an allocation of £8.8 million towards the restoration of the Todmorden Curve which will mean the introduction of a direct rail service between Burnley Manchester Road and Manchester Victoria. It will drastically reducing commuting times by avoiding the need to change trains at Hebden Bridge.

• The Highways Agency website lists road projects by region and includes information on developments in Lancashire within the search results for the North West.

• The northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal (southernmost point at Tewitfield) are currently derelict, but there are plans for a £50 million restoration scheme to reopen the 14-mile section to Kendal. The project is supported by the Lancaster Canal Trust.

(Opportunities) 3. Dynamic rural Lancashire

• Lancashire's designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are complemented by the close proximity to three National Parks: the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and the internationally renowned Lake District.

• Rural parts of the county are key assets of increasing value to residents as places both to live and to work. Internet broadband connections offer new business and lifestyle opportunities and there is strong demand for rural housing in, or close to, prosperous market towns and smaller dormitory villages.

(Opportunities) 4. Greener Lancashire

• The Natural England website includes a map that subdivides England into 159 national character areas. The full map provides a picture of the differences in landscape character at the national scale. The North West section of the map reveals that the broader Lancashire area is primarily covered by character area numbers 20, and 31 to 36.

• Over recent years significant funding was made available to reclaim a number of derelict, under-used and neglected sites in Lancashire for soft end (non-commercial) after use through the REMADE programme. The website highlights REMADE programme sites across Lancashire. These include a number of locations in East Lancashire where problems of social deprivation and a degraded environment are particularly acute. Peel Park, an 88 hectare site close to Accrington town centre is worth a mention with it being a particularly important project. The funding for 'Remade' which was from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) came to an end in March 2011.  Although the programme is now effectively closed there is ongoing aftercare for 15 years on a number of sites, to ensure they are maintained properly following their improvement.  

• The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside works to protect wildlife in town, countryside and in the rivers and seas throughout the region and has a number of reserves in the county and the wider North West area. A major development for the Trust is the 112 hectares Brockholes Quarry site next to junction 31 of the M6. Opened in April 2011, it forms the hub of a network of wetland sites in the North West and is a popular visitor attraction.

• The Breeding Bird Survey  is the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s common breeding birds.  The survey lists the number of 1km squares from which a particular species was recorded and the total number of individual birds counted in all squares (based on maximum counts). Results are available at the county level that lists the sightings of a wide range of birds in Lancashire over a number of years. 

• Mining and quarrying activities have left a legacy of abandoned workings, but as mentioned in the previous paragraph some old sites have been turned in to havens for wildlife and recreation. Other examples can be found on the Lancashire Countryside Service website that includes a site with a particular focus on recreation.

• The Natural Economy North West initiative aims to maximise the economic benefit from existing and new investment in the region's natural environment. It is a partnership led by Natural England, the North West Regional Development Agency and the SITA Trust. The intention is to assist natural environment projects that, with the right investment, will deliver economic, social and cultural benefits across the North West.

• Woodlands from Waste is an innovative partnership to develop woodlands for Lancashire. The long-term aim is to 1,000 hectares of new native woodland in Lancashire's diverse landscape.

(Opportunities) 5. Learning Lancashire

• The complete university guide ranks universities by using data sources in the public domain from organisation’s such as the Higher Education Standards Agency. Results published in May 2011, revealed that Lancaster University had an impressive overall ranking of 9th highest out of 116; the University of Central Lancashire was in 65th place whilst Edge Hill University in Ormskirk was in 98th position. As a new comparatively new university, Edge Hill started with a very low ranking and after some improvements has slipped back down the table. The University of Cumbria was in 86th place and has a large campus in central Lancaster.

• The college and university campus in Burnley opened in 2009, and incorporates a sixth form centre and a separate skills and adult centre. It brings a university directly into Burnley, with a centre of the University of Central Lancashire being the third key element of the campus. The investment brings new opportunities to study for degrees and foundation degrees in East Lancashire for people who want to learn close to home. In addition, the development helps to regenerate central Burnley by transforming a large 10-acre site close to the town centre.

• Blackburn and Blackpool Colleges are also examples of academic institutions where significant expansion schemes are making major contributions towards urban regeneration.

(Opportunities) 6. Every child matters

• Lancashire County Council's Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Service offers an integrated service of Children's Centres, Family Information Service, Toys and Equipment, and an Outreach Service.

(Opportunities) 7. Caring and healthy

Yarnspinners primary health care centre, Nelson

• The comprehensive Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (Health and Wellbeing) for the Lancashire County Council area has the aim to provide an assessment of needs for the whole population, including gaps and inequalities. The purpose is to ensure that those responsible for commissioning services to meet those needs can do so with accurate, up to date, focused intelligence to inform their commissioning activities. As part of this needs assessment initiative, the Health Inequalities across the Lancashire Sub-region report (published in November 2009) asserts that Lancashire performs relatively badly in terms of health outcomes compared to other areas of the country. The report calls for strategic and joined-up interventions to impact on the determinants of health and health outcomes. It contains a number of specific recommendations that include identifying barriers to employment in deprived areas; improve the skills base of the population; partner organisations to provide volunteering within their own organisations; focus support for health behaviour change on pregnant women and their families and those with small children; adopt a single sub-regional lifestyle survey; increase screening across the county with a particular focus on the most deprived areas, and conduct equity audits of health and social care services to ensure vulnerable groups have equitable access.

• Sport England is committed to improve sport participation rates and the organisation's website details the results from the Active People Surveys.

• The Trauma and Injury Intelligence Group (TIIG) was established to develop an injury surveillance system covering the North West. The publications section includes quarterly reports that summarise injury attendances at Lancashire emergency departments.

(Opportunities) 8. Living in Lancashire

• Significant improvements over recent years appear to have been made in tackling the problem of homelessness in the county and across the country as a whole.

Appley Bridge, West Lancashire

• The cost of houses in hot spots within the North West has made parts of Lancashire a more attractive option as a commuter base. The broader Lancashire area is expected to see the number of households increase by 17.5% between 2008 and 2033.

• The population of the broader Lancashire area is estimated to increase by 7.8% between 2008 and 2033 to reach a figure approaching 1.56 million. This is however slightly less than the estimated increases of 8.7% at the North West level, but well below the 18.0% increase predicted for England as a whole.

• The Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005 and enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship. The number of civil partnerships in the broader Lancashire area reached 221 in 2007, but inline with national trends the figure fell to 72 in 2010. The Lancashire County area has a number of approved locations for civil partnership ceremonies.

(Opportunities) 9. Safer Lancashire

• The long-term trend identified via the British Crime Survey shows that crime rose steadily from 1981 through to the early 1990s, peaking in 1995. Crime then fell, making 1995 a significant turning point.  A statistically significant reduction of 10% in 2007/08, led at the time to the lowest ever level since the first results in 1981. Crime has continued to fall since that date and the 2010/11 figures reveal a rate of below 40 crimes per 1,000 population for the broader Lancashire area.

(Opportunities) 10. Older people's Lancashire

• Household projection figures indicate a significant increase is expected in the number of single-person households in Lancashire. Life expectancy improvements and the pressures on the traditional family unit mean that a substantial proportion of these additional single-person households will be amongst the older age groups.

• Population projections by five-year age bands also emphasise the substantial growth in population projection in the older age-groups up to 2033.

• A large proportion of retired people have private pensions and other sources of funds that mean that they have comfortable lifestyles and spending patterns that help underpin the local economy. Parts of Lancashire, especially rural and coastal localities, are attractive residential areas for older people. A development of particular note is the Middleton Towers retirement village in Lancaster district. This 80-acre site is said to be the largest retirement village of its kind in the UK. Also of interest is the opening of the Oakbridge Retirement Village Oakbridge Retirement Village that is contained within the major Buckshaw Village housing and commercial development to the south of Chorley.

(Opportunities) 11. Cultural Lancashire

Yorkshire Dales Lead Mining Museum, Earby

Source www.yorkshiredalesminingmuseum.com

• An extensive built heritage, much of it based upon Lancashire's nationally significant industrial past, has considerable potential for economic re-use and tourism benefit with potential to enhance the area's image. The Heritage Trust for the North West is a registered Building Preservation Trust that is actively involved in a number of projects in Lancashire.

• The county council's Archaeology service promotes the history and archaeology of Lancashire through a summer programme of guided walks, lectures and talks. Their web presence attracts significant numbers of visitors from home and abroad, and it is acknowledged that this presence could be further enhanced.

• The former commercial port of Preston has over the years been transformed by new housing, retail and leisure facilities. It is Western Europe's largest inland dock basin (the waterspace is approximately three times the area of the Albert Dock in Liverpool) and offers berthing and support services for pleasure craft. Further significant developments are under consideration to maximise the potential for commercial and residential developments on the site and the surrounding area. The aim is for Riversway Docklands to provide the hub of tourism, entertainment and water based leisure and recreation activities in Preston.

(Opportunities) 12. Welcoming and harmonious

• Lancashire County Council's equality and diversity website covers issues in relation to age, disability, faith, gender, race and sexual orientation. Like many public organisations, the authority has a legal duty to produce equality schemes on disability, race and gender. The County Council is committed to make sure that all the communities it serves are satisfied with the standard of information and services provided, and to further develop arrangements for involving service users.

(Opportunities) 13. Image of Lancashire

• The way an area is portrayed on film or television can have a long-term impact on the locality. A popular or iconic film or TV programme can leave its mark on a place for many years. The filming of parts of Brief Encounter at Carnforth station shows how a film made in 1945 can still attract visitors to a site. The 2011 film the King's Speech used Queen Street Mill Textile Museum near Burnley as the location of the mill scenes and it is hoped that it will have a positive impact on attendance figures in the years to come. The BBC North site at Salford Quays may help to enhance the county's image and bring employment opportunities to Lancashire residents.

(Threats) 1. Prosperous Lancashire

• The Opportunities section stresses the enormous scale of some of the construction projects in London and highlights the need for the county to try and take advantage of these developments via improved links to the capital. On the other hand, major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and the 2012 Olympics will absorb significant infrastructure, public sector and in particular lottery funding resources that could have been used in the north of England.

• The North West of England as a whole remains amongst the less prosperous regions of the UK. In 2009, gross value added per head was just 86% of the UK average which meant that out of the 12 UK standard regions and countries the region was ranked seventh lowest.

• In 2008, the Lancashire 14-authority area had a gross value added per head figure equivalent to just 79% of the UK average. In comparison, the ratio in 1995 was 89%. Lancashire has been getting more prosperous, but it has been doing so at a much slower pace than the nation at large. The economic strength of the financial services sector has a significant impact on the overall UK GVA figure, and this is exemplified by the dramatic growth in the GVA per-head rate for the inner-London (295.4% of UK average in 2008). The concentration of so much wealth generating capacity in a relatively small area of central London (14% of the UK total) means that it has a significant impact on the national figure and makes it difficult for even prosperous areas of the country to match the national rate of increase. The financial services sector was severely hit by the economic slowdown that commenced in 2008 and Lancashire is less reliant on this sector than other parts of the country. The county may prove to be less affected by the recession than other areas, but in times of economic growth it is proving very difficult for Lancashire to match national growth rates.

Change in real gross value added, 1995 to 2008

Note: Headline gross value added data, deflated using UK GDP deflators at market prices, rebased to 2008 constant prices

Source Office for National Statistics, Local Gross Value Added 1995-2008, published December 2010 and ONS GDP (Expenditure) at market prices - year deflators, updated 24th November 2010

• The Index of Competitiveness results at the regional level reveal an improved ranking at the North West level, but at the local authority level a number of Lancashire areas reveal a relatively poor rank. These in particular include Blackpool and Hyndburn.

• Gross disposable household income is effectively the amount of money that after taxes and social contributions, etc households have available for spending or savings. The figures reveal a less pronounced pattern of relative long-term decline. In 2009, the per-head figure for the broader Lancashire area was 15.5% below the UK average. In 1995 the county result was 10.5% below the UK average.

• The key driver of the Lancashire economy is, and will continue to be, the private sector and the market itself, which as far as much industry and even some services are concerned, is increasingly becoming global in scope and sometimes beyond even the direct control of individual governments. Many key Lancashire companies operate in this global market and whilst they may be physically located in the sub-region, and regardless of any sense of affinity or loyalty they may have towards the county, when considering new investment, decisions are driven by costs and technology and not by location.

• A "job deficit" area suffering a daily net outflow of commuters to other parts of the UK (principally to work centres in Greater Manchester and Merseyside) in excess of 21,000.

• Long-term trends in unemployment levels confirm that the overall rate for the broader Lancashire area is inextricably linked to the changing fortunes of the national economy and all other factors are of limited importance. The essential message is that as the national rate rises and falls, the rate for the county follows a very similar pattern. Local initiatives to boost the economy, or major developments or redundancies all seem to have no more than perhaps a short-term impact. The broader Lancashire area has for many years benefited from having a lower unemployment rate than the national average however the difference has become less pronounced over recent years partly due to lower overall rates.

• Global competition, higher energy costs and potentially reduced use of local suppliers through increased use by many companies of off-shore out-sourcing" and "offsetting". Probability of further reductions in manufacturing employment opportunities. Economic gains from such processes will not necessarily accrue to Lancashire.

• The private research firm CACI ranks retail areas in Great Britain by their financial importance. For 2011, London's West End was in pole position with an estimated expenditure figure of £3,270 million. Manchester was ranked in fourth place (£2,340m) and Liverpool fifth (£1,790m), whilst the Trafford Centre was in 18th position (£960m). The summary results do show some noticeable yearly variations for smaller towns and cities so should be viewed with some caution. The latest results give values of £460m, for Preston, £370m for Blackpool and £310m for Lancaster. Preston was the fifth largest shopping area by value in the North West. Blackburn was not included in the list, but 2010 saw the opening of a major extension to its shopping mall in the town centre. The regional competitive pressure on medium-sized shopping centres in Lancashire is intense. Developments such as Liverpool One and the Trafford Centre provide some very stiff competition. The Middlebrook retail park is just outside the county, and has grown to become a well established shopping and leisure destination (2011 expenditure figure of £150m) whilst the retail centre of Bury (£250m) has recently been redeveloped and is easily accessible from Rossendale district. The continued growth of internet shopping will also impact on the retail landscape in the county.

• Compared with a previous era when Britain looked to the west and the Commonwealth, Lancashire now has a peripheral geographical location with respect to the European Union, potentially putting the area at an economic disadvantage. In terms of comparative rates of gross domestic product per head, the broader Lancashire area saw its rate drop below the 27 area European Union average in 2005, and by 2008 it had fallen to 10 percentage below the EU average.

• Average income levels can be noticeably higher than median results as a result of the influence of relatively small numbers of high earners, and can offer a somewhat distorted viewpoint of what would be a typical personal income. Global economic pressures may exacerbate wage-level differentials over years to come.

(Threats) 2. Accessible Lancashire

• Inadequate east-west road and rail links, including Trans-Pennine links to the Humber and North East ports, which have the important links to mainland Europe and beyond. These East Coast Ports generate a level of commercial activity that is far in excess of anything that can be achieved by the three Lancashire Ports with their limited range of services.

Heysham port

• Without additional intervention there is likely to be a significant increase in the costs of congestion for business and individuals both within urban areas and across the strategic network. Increased journey costs would impose a challenge to economic transformation, constrain the labour market, worsen public transport accessibility and mode shares, pose increased problems for lower income groups and potentially impact on willingness to travel.

• Improvements to transportation networks result in a two-way flow of people and goods that have positive and negative economic and environmental affects that are complex to accurately quantify. Lancashire firms could find their local markets open to new competition pressures, sometimes from larger external businesses that may find it becomes easier to service Lancashire markets from afar. Lancashire residents also have easy access to shopping and leisure facilities outside the County e.g., the Trafford Centre. Transportation improvements have identifiable advantages, but can also lead to leakages of wealth from the County that go unnoticed.

• Within the county, the M65 extension between the south of Preston and the west of Blackburn opened in 1997. There is some evidence that this process led to a modest improvement in economic growth in the Blackburn with Darwen area and perhaps in other parts of East Lancashire. The east of the county in particular has a long history of an over reliance on the manufacturing sector, and the area has had to work very hard to counteract the decline in manufacturing employment. The motorway extension improved access to East Lancashire but also made the core central Lancashire area around the intersection of the M6, 61 and 65 motorways more desirable as a business location to service a wider accessible catchment area.

(Threats) 3. Dynamic rural Lancashire

• Lancashire's important agricultural base and farm incomes are under pressure from changes in EU agricultural support policies, market circumstances, shifting consumer requirements and environmental concerns. There is a demand for an abundance of cheap food but at the same time farmers are expected to take account of the environment and look after rural landscapes, the welfare of farmyard animals and the health of consumers. Increasingly, farmers are supposed to respond to market forces, yet find themselves so insulated in some areas such as through European support policies and so marginalised in others that they can scarcely manoeuvre. Forecasts for the industry's future prospects are highly uncertain, largely because of the many unique imponderables it faces. In particular, underlying trends are heavily shaped by exchange rates and world commodity prices that are themselves highly uncertain to forecast. Moreover, ad hoc events such as weather conditions or disease outbreaks can push incomes well above or below underlying trends in individual years.

• National trails are long distance routes for walking, cycling and horse riding through some of the most dramatic landscapes in England and Wales. Of the 15 national trails, the Pennine Bridleway is the only one that passes through the county.

(Threats) 4. Greener Lancashire

• Increased personal mobility and advances in telecommunications technology have made all rural areas relatively accessible to people with their own transportation.. These trends, in combination with an enhanced perception of rural life, projected population increases and the pressure on farming incomes are placing increasing pressures upon the Lancashire countryside to accommodate built development.

(Threats) 5. Learning Lancashire

• The local employment market for highly qualified people appears limited. Better employment opportunities for skilled and highly qualified staff can often be found outside the County.

(Threats) 6. Every child matters

• Lone parent rates have been increasing for a number of years and this trend is likely to continue. The additional pressure placed on just one parent (in most cases the mother) in raising one or more children impacts on the need for child care, welfare payments, flexible working arrangements, youth facilities and the general quality of life of those concerned.

(Threats) 7. Caring and healthy

• Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) have been reconfigured in line with government policy. In the local area there is the NHS North Lancashire, NHS Central Lancashire and the East Lancashire PCT. This means that there are three PCTs that together form the same boundary as the Lancashire County Council area. The addition of the Blackburn with Darwen PCT and Blackpool PCT means that there are five PCTs to cover the broader Lancashire area. Joint working and the setting of shared objectives and targets with other public sector agencies is easier given the new PCT structures. Improvements may however have been maximised had a single PCT coterminous with county council boundaries been created rather than the present three. The county council is committed to engaging constructively with the PCTs to work towards common priorities for health and well-being and secure appropriate services for vulnerable people across the county. In some cases this involves working on a sub-regional basis with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen PCTs. The development of Multi-Area Agreements and a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment from 2008 has encouraged greater cooperation in the Lancashire County area.