Key messages - 3 July 2026
Cabinet – 2 July
Our Cabinet met at County Hall, Preston, on Thursday 2 July 2026. Reports considered included:
Quarter 4 2025/26 Corporate Performance Report, including 2026/27 key performance indicators and targets:
o The report shows strong performance across most Council Plan priorities, including education, adult independence, economic growth and community engagement.
o Most indicators improved between Quarter 1 and Quarter 4.
o Thank you to everyone for helping us achieve this.
o Cabinet also agreed new indicators and targets for 2026/27, supporting our Moving the Dial delivery plan.
The County Council’s Financial Position – 2025/26 Outturn report:
o Cabinet considered the final 2025/26 financial position across revenue, capital and schools budgets.
o The year ended with a revenue overspend of £2.992 million, 0.24% of our net revenue budget and better than earlier forecasts.
o The 2025/26 capital programme was £306.005 million, with £193.229 million spent. This was mainly due to delayed schemes, procurement and contract issues, and late grant funding.
o The Dedicated Schools Grant overspent by £79 million, increasing the cumulative deficit to £102 million due to national pressures around special educational needs.
o The report also highlighted that 98% of 2025/26 savings were delivered or mitigated, supporting our financial stability.
o Overall, our 2025/26 financial position improved on earlier forecasts.
Other reports included our Cultural Services Strategies and the Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Service Plan 2026/27.
You can read more on our meetings, agenda and minutes pages.
Prevent training action
We must all act now to ensure our mandatory Prevent counter-terrorism training is up to date:
o Check your training record. If it has expired, complete the e-learning as soon as possible.
o Download your Home Office certificate, save it in Oracle and send a copy to your line manager.
o Record the training date, 12-digit certificate reference and expiry date in Oracle.
Managers should identify frontline team members who need extra face-to-face training because they work more closely with the public or 'at risk' groups and send details to prevent@lancashire.gov.uk.
If you make a Prevent referral, you must:
o copy in prevent@lancashire.gov.uk
o update prevent@lancashire.gov.uk with the outcome.
Prevent training helps us all play our part in preventing terrorism in Lancashire.
For more information, read our Prevent Duty and Referrals page
Youth Justice Inspection
HM Inspectorate of Probation will inspect Lancashire's Child and Youth Justice Service from 13 to 24 July 2026.
The inspection will focus on leadership, governance, casework quality, victim work and partnership effectiveness.
Inspectors will review casework, meet staff and partners, and gather feedback from children, young people, parents and carers.
This is a chance to showcase Lancashire's high-quality, child-centred practice and strong multi-agency working.
Staff and partners should keep delivering excellent services, maintaining clear records and showing the impact of their work.
Lancashire was previously rated 'Good', with inspectors recognising committed staff and strong partnership support.
We want colleagues to feel confident, proud of the service and ready to describe the difference they make every day.
Lancashire Service Finder launches
Lancashire Service Finder, our new online community directory, is now live.
Developed by the county council, it helps employees, partners and local people to find the right support quickly.
Search using keywords or choose one of the services on the main page.
You'll find information on food banks, nursing homes, charities providing energy-saving advice and much more.
Use Lancashire Service Finder to connect people with support at the heart of their community.
If you know a service that should be listed, please encourage them to complete the registration form.
The more we use Lancashire Service Finder, the more useful it will be, so please spread the word.