The State of Lancashire Report
Internal Strengths

Manufacturing Employee Jobs as a Proportion of All Employee Jobs by Ward

Click here or on the map to go to the Manufacturing Overview research monitor and see the map full-size.

• Lancashire has a £21bn per annum economy measured in terms of its production of goods and services. This contribution to national wealth creation (gross value added) amounts to 2.0% of the UK total and nearly a fifth 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 and West Yorkshire, and was roughly on a par with Northumberland and Tyne & Wear.

• Manufacturing industry remains a powerful 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 of nearly £16bn and still accounting for a quarter 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 2006, nearly 17% of all local employees were still engaged in manufacturing (rising to 24% or more than double the national average in the East Lancashire sub-region) compared with a share of less than 11% nationally.

• 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 are more than 41,000 VAT-registered businesses in Lancashire or in excess of 53,000 "units" or establishments where there is at least one employee. Additionally, there are about 80,000 self-employed people, some of whom may also run a VAT-registered business and some may have employees.

Eurofighter 2000 DA2 over Preston City Centre in the 1990s

Source Photo courtesy of BAE Systems

• The aerospace industry in Lancashire is very big business and has 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. Accounting for around a fifth of national aerospace production and employing directly and indirectly as many as 26,000 people in over 100 companies, Lancashire has the largest single concentration of aerospace activity in the UK. This is part of a wider regional cluster that is easily the equal of such centres as Toulouse or Seattle.

• About 40,000 people or nearly one in five (19%) of the industrial workforce is employed in "high technology" production, a share more than double the national average of 8.1%. In these terms Lancashire is the most important centre of high technology manufacturing jobs outside the south of England. The great majority of the high tech jobs are contained within the sub-region's aerospace sector.

• There has been a strong move towards higher value added production across much of Lancashire's manufacturing sector over recent years: gross value added per head (labour productivity) is at an all-time high and well above the UK manufacturing average.. This has provided the sub-region with some competitive advantage in terms of unit labour wage costs. Manufacturing employment costs as a percentage of gross value added have fallen steadily to under the UK average. Aerospace has been a key player in this trend but nearly all industrial sectors have contributed to the improvement to some degree.

Employee Jobs by Broad Sector of Industry

Click here or on the map to go to the Employment Structure research monitor and see the map full-size.

• Net capital expenditure in industry on plant and equipment in Lancashire relative to the UK has improved sharply over recent years, virtually closing an "investment gap" that had existed for decades. The improvement has been apparent across a wide swathe of industrial sectors, reflecting a shift in structure towards a more technology driven and capital-intensive manufacturing base.

• An expanding and adaptable workforce of about 610,000 employees with a wide range of skills and technical competencies. The employee workforce is divided almost equally between males and females and more than two-thirds work on a full-time basis. An above-average share of these employees work in the production and construction industries but the bulk (78%) are in service activities of one sort or another, of which the distributive trades, health and social work, other business activities, education and hotels and restaurants are the largest individual components.

• 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 Lancashire both within town centres and on new business estates and parks in more peripheral locations. The rate of growth in office floorspace has been double that experienced in England and the stock now stands at some 1.9m sq.m.

• New job creation in Lancashire over recent years has been remarkably benign in comparison with historical trends. Between 1998 and 2006 employee job numbers in the sub-region rose by an estimated 43,000 (or an average of about 5,400 per annum) to an all-time high of over 610,000 – a net increase of 7.6%, close to the national average. Key drivers in this growth included a remarkably buoyant construction sector, business services, education, and health and social work activities. Jobs growth has been especially strong in the Lancashire West area with a focus on the north-south axis along the M6 motorway, and particularly in the Central Lancashire area which has been responsible for the creation of more than a half of net new jobs in the Lancashire sub-region.

Change in Employee Jobs by District, 1998-2006

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• Both overall Lancashire unemployment levels and long term unemployment rates are below the UK and North West Region averages as they have been for many years. Despite issues relating to the wider concept of "worklessness" in some of the larger urban areas and the quality of some of the employment opportunities available, many parts of Lancashire enjoy conditions of virtually "full employment", particularly in the more rural districts.

• 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 114 Queen's Awards for Enterprise: 91 for outstanding international trade achievement and 23 for outstanding performance in all forms of innovation. 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. There are two Morecambe Bay Gas Fields in the Irish Sea, and total gas reserves have been estimated at 179 billion cubic metres. 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 provides the policy framework for all these activities.

• A sound infrastructure of business support and development organisations, including the North West Regional Development Agency, Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Business Link, the Lancashire Economic Partnership 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 No Limits scheme is part of the Pennine Lancashire LEGI programme. The main focus is to increase entrepreneurial activity amongst the local population in deprived areas in four East Lancashire authorities.

• Access over large parts of the sub-region to European Funding and Regional Selective Assistance. For the period from 2007 to 2013, the North West of England has received approval for European Assistance totalling £455m for European Regional Development Fund projects and £325m to cover European Social Fund initiatives. Excluding Merseyside, the total is £466m.

• The Regional Economic Strategy for the North West is a rolling 20-year strategy to shape the future economic direction of the Northwest. The present edition has a particular focus on the time period 2006 to 2009. The strategy sets the context for business support in Lancashire and the wider North West region.

• The Lancashire Economic Partnership (LEP) has, with the backing of the Northwest Regional Development Agency, prepared a sub-regional Economic Strategy and Action Plan for the 3 year period 2006/7 to 2008/9. The Partnership has received indicative allocations of funding amounting to £189m for sub-regionally specific infrastructure projects and a further £60m for thematic priorities. The Strategy has six strategic headline priorities for the region: Blackpool World Class Resort Destination, Preston City Vision, Pennine Lancashire Transformational Agenda, Aerospace and other Advanced Manufacturing, Skills, and Tourism and Rural Development.

• The Make It Lancashire website promotes the county as a prime business investment location. The site includes directories of accessible funding, business support and also a comprehensive database of available commercial land and properties, which is regularly updated.

• Recent NWDA/LEP investments in Lancashire include a £20m deal to kick-start the development of Chorley's 100-acre Strategic Regional Site at Buckshaw Village, designed to attract high quality businesses that could generate over 2,000 jobs. LEX Auto Logistics have put £20 million into the development to acquire the site that will be used to build its new warehouse and offices. The site is located on part of the derelict former Royal Ordnance Factory that has been put into productive use following comprehensive remediation. The remainder of the Strategic Regional Site is owned by BAE Systems and identified by the NWDA as having development characteristics fundamental to the economic growth of the North West.

• 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.

• English Partnerships is a public sector regeneration agency that aims to support high quality sustainable growth in England. The organisation is involved in a number of important schemes in Lancashire including Luneside East, close to central Lancaster, the former Whittingham Hospital site to the north east of Preston, Skelmersdale town centre and the West End area of Morecambe.

• The 2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, reveals median average wage rates by place of residence in the Lancashire County Council area of £365.40. The figure is only marginally below the GB average of £376.50. Five Lancashire district authorities recorded median average wage rates by place of residence that were in excess of the national average.

• The profile of County Court Judgements for personal consumer debt across the Lancashire sub-region in 2004 was slightly lower than the England and Wales average. Over the course of the year nearly 14,400 CCJs were made in Lancashire for personal debt for sums amounting to nearly £29m. These were equivalent to 10.05 CCJs per thousand population, in comparison to the England and Wales average of 10.42 per thousand population.

M61

• 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 172km 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.

• 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. 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 new trains (153 carriages) underpin the First TransPennine Express network services. These 100mph diesel trains are used on semi-fast services that call at Chorley, Lancaster, Preston, and stations to Blackpool North. The beginning of 2008 saw the lengthening from two to three coach formations of trains operating on the hourly Blackpool–York service. This capacity increase is particularly useful for many people in East Lancashire that use Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley Manchester Road stations.

• The latest railway usage figures for 2006/07 identify yearly passenger growth at most Lancashire stations. Improvements to the methodology have lead to more journeys being included in the figures so yearly change results are somewhat misleading. Of the 61 stations in the broader Lancashire area, Preston was not surprisingly the busiest station followed by Blackpool North and Lancaster.

• Sea transport adds an additional thread to Lancashire's transportation offer. The port of Heysham is owned by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company which itself forms part of the Peel Group. Passenger services to the Isle of Man are operated by the Steam Packet Company whilst Norfolkline Ferries operates freight services from Heysham to both Dublin and Belfast. Seatruck Ferries specialises in the carriage of freight, and operates between Heysham and Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland.

• The port of Fleetwood is important for ro-ro traffic and the Fleetwood-Larne Ferry Service is operated by Stena Line Ferries.

• The small port of Glasson Dock to the south of Lancaster provides facilities for cargos to Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Blackpool Airport Terminal

• Blackpool Airport has over the past few years seen a step change in the number of routes offered and the amount of people using the airport. It now has flights to over 25 European destinations and the Civil Aviation Authority reported a figure of 558,278 passengers during 2007. In 2008 Blackpool airport was bought by Regional and City Airports, the investment and development arm of Balfour Beatty.

• Low-cost airline Jet2.com operates scheduled flights from Blackpool Airport to a range of European destinations. Other airlines operating scheduled flights from Blackpool include Ryanair and Manx2.com.

• 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, and the latest development is the new Nelson Bus Station (opens 27th October 2008) that has 10 bus stands, a direct link to the railway station and a travel information centre. For further details of proposed developments, see the Local Transport Plan for Lancashire.

• A total of 62.3 million bus passenger journeys in 2006/07 originated in the Lancashire County Council area. This represented an increase of 9.6% since 2004/05. Over the same period, numbers in the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool were up by 17.8% to 8.10 million, and by 4.0% to 12.6 million respectively. People aged 60 and over and disabled people are entitled to free off-peak bus travel on local services.

Tram to Starr Gate at the start of its journey in Fleetwood

• There are a number of community transport schemes in Lancashire that provide door-to-door facilities for people who find it difficult or impossible to use steps or are wheelchair users. In addition, Community Cars are offered primarily in rural areas and provide an alternative for anyone in the area who is unable to reasonably use conventional services regardless of disability.

• 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. Substantial improvements to the route in the near future will include refurbishment of the track and tram stops out to Fleetwood, and the introduction of 16 new fully accessible trams.

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 2005, Lancaster District was designated as one of the six original Cycle England Demonstration Towns. In June 2008, the Department for Transport announced that Blackpool was one of a further 11 towns given the designation.

• 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.

Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• 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. A number of farming businesses have successfully diversified in to running profitable farm shops.

• 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.

• 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 77,000 hectares or a quarter of the County's total land area (13% for England as a whole).

• 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.

• In 2005, 58,372.6 hectares in Lancashire County (NUTS-3) area were designated as belonging to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Of this total area, 73% was found to be in favourable condition. The equivalent figures for the neighbouring areas of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool were 49.2 hectares (50%) and 39.2 hectares (100%) respectively. In January 2008, the English Nature website listed 69 SSSIs in the broader Lancashire NUTS-2 Area that includes Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool Unitary Authorities.

• In total, 95% of the Lancashire coastline is designated as internationally important for its nature conservation, and the County contains two National Nature Reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves in addition to the two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Sunderland Point

• The seafront at Cleveleys has received a major facelift, which started in November 2005. The £20 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, whilst the same web link details the Morecambe Coastal Protection work that is nearing completion.

• The RSPB is to create one of the largest areas of semi-natural habitat on the UK coastline. The programme has approved £498,000 of funding for an exciting new restoration project to enhance the Ribble Estuary Regional Park by creating a 30 sq.km haven on the Ribble Estuary, the UK's most important estuary for birds. As well as being a significant enhancement to the natural environment, it is intended that the area will become an important new visitor attraction. The project will also link to other existing or planned visitor attractions such as the Tarleton and Hesketh Bank Linear Park, Lytham Hall and Martin Mere. In September 2006, the RSPB and the Environment Agency announced the purchase of nearly 170 hectares of land on the south bank of the Ribble, between Preston and Southport, as the first step in this project.

• In recent years there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the North West Region's bathing waters and waterways, although the 2006 results did record some setbacks. Four of the 14 Lancashire authorities had only good or fair quality waterways in 2006, whilst South Ribble district was the only authority to have any waterways in the bad quality section with a percentage of just 4.7%. The 2007 bathing water results reveal that the very wet summer of 2007 led to some short-term setbacks. Two Lancashire beaches failed the mandatory standard, five achieved the mandatory standard and one attained the more stringent guideline standard. The remaining three beaches are closed for sea wall repair works. See the Environment Agency. Another source of bathing water results is provided by the Marine Conservation Society. The organisation publishes a Good Beach Guide that lists results for the 11 Lancashire beaches as part of its yearly survey of 1,200 UK beaches.

• 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 by district authority.

• The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales and is a key component of the Government's commitment to create cleaner, safer, green communities. In 2008, a record number of 743 awards were approved. The broader Lancashire area was well represented amongst the winners with over 30 going to parks and green spaces in the area.

• Total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the Lancashire sub-region were an estimated 12.2 million tonnes in 2006, some 2.3% of the national total. Per head of resident population this was equivalent to 8.4 tonnes, marginally lower than the UK average of 8.8 tonnes and encompassed a range from just 5.7 tonnes per head in Blackpool to 10.1 tonnes in West Lancashire and an exceptional 20.9 tonnes in Ribble Valley. Relative to the UK, Lancashire has slightly lower shares of its CO₂ emissions from both industrial and commercial and road transport sources but fractionally more from the domestic sector. Local domestic CO₂ emissions alone are responsible for 30% of the Lancashire total and at 2.5 tonnes per head, are the equivalent of each person in the county emitting CO₂ of 33 times his or her own body weight each year and this does not include emissions due to personal travel). Over the course of the year 2005-2006 CO₂ emissions in Lancashire fell by an estimated 446,000 tonnes or by -3.5% or on a per capita basis, by 0.4 tonnes or -3.7%. Across the UK total emissions over the period remained broadly the same.

Heysham 1 Power Station

Source www.british-energy.com

• The Lancashire Locals Climate Change Fund supports community projects on climate change. The projects can either be aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or helping communities to cope with the impacts of climate change. Grants normally range between £500 and £15,000, and are available across the 12-district Lancashire County Council area.

• 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.

• Total energy consumption in the Lancashire NUTS-2 area in 2005 is estimated at 40,257 GWh (or 3,462 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent). This was a lower level of energy intensity (measured as KWh per head) than the North West regional average and was also lower than the Great Britain average by more than five percentage points. In Lancashire there is some bias towards the use of natural gas (representing nearly 45% of the area's demand) in comparison with the national average (39%). More than three-quarters of the domestic sector's energy consumption derives from natural gas. Lancashire is home to four wind farms, including Scout Moor in Rossendale, the largest onshore project in England with 26 turbines capable of generating 65 megawatts of electricity.

Household Waste Recycling Centre, Rufford

• An expanding centre of environmental technology and industry. The county council is an international leader in the development, implementation and encouragement of environmentally sustainable initiatives and through the Lancashire Waste Partnership is playing a leading national role in the field of sustainable waste management.

• 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 39.5% by March 2007. In comparison, the rate for the North West was 28.9% and for England as a whole was 30.9%. In addition, the percentage of household waste arisings in Lancashire that have been landfilled fell from 64% in 2005/06 to 60.8% for the 2006/07 financial year. As the new network of waste technology parks and transfer stations in Lancashire comes into operation in the future, recycling rates will improve even further.

• Global Renewables, in partnership with Bovis Lend Lease Ltd, 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 the two Lancashire unitary authorities, is worth more than £2 billion over the full term and will drastically reduce the amount of 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 will invest more than £320 million in the design, construction and operation of two proposed modern waste management facilities at Leyland and Thornton, to handle some 600,000 tonnes of household waste per annum.

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

• The Lancashire Young People's Service works with various agencies to deliver a wide range of opportunities to help young people aged 11-25 identify and pursue their aspirations, achieve their goals and generally live better lives. CXL looks to help adults and young people with learning and work opportunities that are based on sound commercial sense. The organisation often works with the most vulnerable in the workplace, such as offenders, ex-offenders, young people and lone parents.

Stonyhurst College

• 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 in Blackburn, Westholme School in Blackburn, Kirkham Grammar School, King Edward VII and Queen Mary School in Lytham St. Annes and Rossall School in Fleetwood.

• Information on 'Learners': those eligible for funding by the Learning and Skills Council aged 16-18 years collected from 549 further education providers covering general further education colleges, school sixth forms, external institutions and other types of learning establishments shows that for the year to July 2004, South Ribble District recorded the highest percentage success rate (84%) of all the 354 local authorities in England. Chorley, with 81%, was ranked in seventh place whilst Pendle was ranked in 18th position.

• 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 Coolege.

Lancaster University

• Lancaster is a "Level One" research University with its 6* rated Management School and Entrepreneurship Unit) and the Lancaster Environment Centre, which brings together researchers of international repute from the University and the National Environment Research Council's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. The University also has a 5* rating in computer science, with Infolab 21, a major new IT research facility recently opened. Lancaster is consistently rated as one of the top 10 UK universities and was recently ranked as the top university in the North West of England. 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 32,000 students and a dynamic course portfolio of over 500 undergraduate programmes and 180 postgraduate courses. Major new developments at the UCLan include a £15m "media factory" supporting work and business creation in art, design and performing arts and a £5.5m investment in a new School of Dentistry.

• Edge Hill is a former college of higher education. The main campus is in Ormskirk with outreach centres in Liverpool, Cheshire and Manchester, across which over 14,000 students are now enrolled. 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.

• GCSE and equivalent results for pupils in maintained schools aged 15 for the 2006-07 year reveal that Ribble Valley district recorded the second highest pass rate (77.1%) for grades A*-C (by place of residence) out of all 352 local authorities in England. In total, nine of the 14 Lancashire authorities achieved rates that were higher then the England of 60.1%.

• Child benefit is claimed by claimed by over 180,000 families in the broader Lancashire area.

• 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 Youth and Community 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.

• New Deal for Young People is aimed at those aged 18-24 who have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance continuously for 6 months. Those joining the New Deal first enter a Gateway period lasting for 4 months, during which Jobcentre Plus advisers work with them to improve their employability. Anyone who does not find a job moves on to one of four options: a period of subsidised employment for 6 months, full-time education/training, a job with an Environment Task Force or a a job in the Voluntary Sector.

• Figures for Life Expectancy at Birth by local authority reveal that some areas of Lancashire have rates above the England and Wales averages. Fylde, Ribble Valley and South Ribble districts each have rates in excess of the national averages for both males and females. Life expectancy rates are improving across all Lancashire districts 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.

Clitheroe Market Town

Source www.clitheroethefuture.co.uk

• 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 population of the broader Lancashire area grew by 34,200 or by 2.4% between 2001 and 2007 to 1.45 million (England and Wales = +3.3%). About 95% of the sub-region's population growth over this period was attributed to net inward migration and only 1,700 resulted from natural change (the net balance between birth and deaths). The highest growth rates were in Ribble Valley (+7.8%), Lancaster (+7.1%), Wyre (+4.8%), Fylde (+4.2%) and Chorley (+3.8%). Aside from Chorley, which had a small net gain from natural change contributing to its overall growth, all the other districts mentioned above had net population loss from natural change but significant gains from net inward migration (rising to 10,600 people in the case of Lancaster). 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 2006, 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 is 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 2006, 90% 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 88,000 people or 6% of Lancashire's residents. Over recent years the greatest increases have derived from "Other White"; (i.e. mainly immigrants from other European countries) and those groups that had some of the smallest starting populations, most notably Black or Black British, Chinese or Other Ethnic Group and Mixed Ethnic Group.

• According to police recorded crime records, there were about 123,700 criminal offences in Lancashire in 2007/08. This was equivalent to a rate of 85 offences per 1,000 resident population, a position that was much lower than rates in both Greater Manchester (117 per 1,000 population) and Merseyside (94). The Lancashire rate was slightly below that for England & Wales (91 per thousand population) and much lower than that of the wider North West Region (97 per thousand population). The majority of Lancashire districts have criminal offence rates below the national average; that in Ribble Valley is the third lowest in England & Wales. See Lancashire MADE Public.

Lancashire Police Headquarters, Hutton

Source www.lancashire.police.uk

• Overall, total recorded crime within the Lancashire sub-region fell by about 9% between 2006/07 and 2007/08 on a par with the reduction in England & Wales and there were decreases across most key offence groups. The latest year was the third in a row that overall crime in Lancashire has reduced and it is down by 19% compared to 2004/2005. Large swathes of the sub-region outside the larger urban districts have criminal offence rates across all key categories of crime that are below, and often significantly below the national average.

• Lancashire has six HM Prisons (all male) with a combined certified normal accommodation capacity for approximately 3,500 prisoners.

• There were over 9,000 fires recorded in Lancashire in 2006 of which 4,500 were in buildings and outdoors and 4,600 were secondary fires (heathland, derelict vehicles, etc) with a small residue of chimney fires. The number of such fires has fallen by more than a third between 2001 and 2006. Deliberate primary fires in 2006 amounted to nearly 1,900 though this number was down by nearly 1,000 or -33.6% since 2001.

• The Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service covers the 14-authority Lancashire NUTS-2 area. Their website lists a number of documents that measure their performance and also provide details of the challenges facing the service, e.g. independent audit reports and district profiles etc. The progress report for 2006/07 mentions that the organisation has successfully met or achieved a number of its targets in areas such as fire injuries, limiting the number of deliberate secondary fires, malicious false alarms and exceeding the expected number of home fire safety checks.

• 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.

• The authorities have been proactive in seeking to tackle anti-social behaviour in Lancashire with a steady increase in the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) made. In 2005 146 ASBOs were issued, equivalent to 10.1 per 100,000 people, compared with 7.6 in England. The highest ASBO rates were in Burnley, Preston and Lancaster.

• 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. In 2007 there were an estimated 175,000 state pension claimants in Lancashire. 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.

• 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

Source www.hoghtontower.co.uk

• 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.

• 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. Tourism in Lancashire is estimated to support more than 56,000 employee jobs (9.4% of all local jobs) as well as others who are self-employed or family/casual workers who escape official statistics.

• It was estimated that in 2006 there were around 58 million visits to the broader Lancashire area. The visits generated over £2.5 billion pounds of revenue spent on shopping, accommodation, and food and drink etc.

• The canal system in the county is a very important tourism asset and waterside locations are also a catalyst for housing and other regeneration activities. British Waterways Marinas Ltd operates three marinas in Lancashire. The Barton Grange Group has a substantial marina and associated development bordering the Lancaster canal, whilst the new Tewitfield Marina is at the northern navigable limit of the Lancaster canal. The Leeds and Liverpool canal is home to St Mary's Marina at Rufford, and Reedley Marina next to the Barden Mill retail development. Other developments at Preston Marina and Fleetwood Marina together emphasise how leisure cruising along the Lancashire coast and the inland waterways is growing in importance.

• 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.

National Football Museum, Deepdale, Preston

Source www.nationalfootballmuseum.com

• 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. Ground facilities have improved enormously over recent years. Preston completed their stadium redevelopment before the start of the 2007/08 season and further enhancements are planned for the near future. Matches are important sources of income for local pubs, food outlets etc. They 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 clubs are involved in community schemes that look to generate new supporters, but which are also of benefit to disadvanged groups and other sectors of the local community. The clubs instil local pride and raise the profile of places in Lancashire to a level that might not be achived by any other means. The worldwide interest in football means that through their teams, Lancashire towns are known to an enormous worldwide audience.

• The National Football Museum is one of the largest football museums in the world. Located underneath two stands at Preston North End's Deepdale Stadium, the Museum is the current home of several major collections including the FIFA Museum Collection, the FA, Football League and Wembley collections.

• 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

Source www.harrismuseum.org.uk

• 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.

• Lancashire is a major recipient of inward migrants that significantly exceed the numbers leaving the sub-region (by more than 30,000 between 2001 and 2006). These 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.

• The Asian Business Federation based in Blackburn is said to be the UK's largest Asian trade organisation representing, supporting and connecting thousands of members from across the UK.

• 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.