Ribble Valley

Governance

Ribble Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. The whole borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a Conservative minority administration.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Ribble Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1999 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance and by-elections up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:

Two of the independent councillors (both former Liberal Democrats) sit with the Greens as the 'Green and Progressive Liberal Group'. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 40 councillors representing 26 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council is based at the Council Offices on Church Walk in Clitheroe, which was purpose-built for the council in 1980. The council chamber is in an adjoining building at 13 Church Street, which had been offices of the old Clitheroe Borough Council prior to the 1974 reforms.

Education

State-funded schools

Primary

See List of schools in Lancashire § Ribble Valley

Secondary

• Bowland High School, Grindleton
• Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
• Longridge High School
• Ribblesdale High School, Clitheroe
• St Augustine's RC High School, Billington
• St Cecilia's RC High School, Longridge

Specialist

• Hillside Specialist School, Longridge

Independent schools

• Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall, Hurst Green (preparatory)
• Moorland School, Clitheroe
• Oakhill School, Whalley
• Stonyhurst College, Hurst Green

Adult education

• Alston Hall, Longridge

Sport

• Clitheroe FC

Longridge Town FC

Local radio

Community radio

Ribble Valley Radio was a community radio station based in Clitheroe, part of the new, third sector of local radio licensed by OFCOM. The project was launched in September 2004. The radio station helped six local residents into paid work within the radio sector in just three years and trained more than 100 volunteers to present and produce their own radio shows. The project was not supported by the Borough Council, which caused controversy in the area, and local newspaper theClitheroe Advertiser and Times' held a poll which returned the result that 94% agreed that the Ribble Valley Borough Council were wrong not to fund the project and assist its long-term success. Many letters appeared in support of the project and damning the "short sighted" decision of the council. The whole episode brought excellent publicity and boosted the radio station's listening figures by 400%.

MP Nigel Evans was a staunch supporter and tabled an Early Day Motion at Parliament EDM 979 calling for "better resources and funding" for Ribble Valley Radio and the new and emerging sector. None of this was sufficient to save the station and on 14 October 2007 Ribble Valley Radio closed, because it was unable to gain sufficient funding to apply for a licence.

A new group, known as Ribble FM, was formed in 2011 with the aim of applying for a community radio licence in the third round of licensing by Ofcom. Ribble FM was set up by The Bee founder Roy Martin and includes local directors and trustees.

Settlements

Civil parishes

The whole borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Clitheroe and Longridge have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".

1. Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
2. Balderstone
3. Bashall Eaves
4. Billington and Langho
5. Bolton-by-Bowland
6. Bowland Forest High
7. Bowland Forest Low
8. Bowland-with-Leagram
9. Chatburn
10. Chipping
11. Clayton-le-Dale
12. Clitheroe
13. Dinckley
14. Downham
15. Dutton
16. Easington
17. Gisburn
18. Gisburn Forest
19. Great Mitton
20. Grindleton
21. Horton
22. Hothersall
23. Little Mitton
24. Longridge
25. Mearley
26. Mellor
27. Middop
28. Newsholme
29. Newton
30. Osbaldeston
31. Paythorne
32. Pendleton
33. Ramsgreave
34. Read
35. Ribchester
36. Rimington
37. Sabden
38. Salesbury
39. Sawley
40. Simonstone
41. Slaidburn
42. Thornley-with-Wheatley
43. Twiston
44. Waddington
45. West Bradford
46. Whalley
47. Wilpshire
48. Wiswell
49. Worston

Economy

Although Ribble Valley is the largest area of Lancashire, it also has the smallest population. The economy of Ribble Valley is mainly rural in nature, with a high proportion of jobs being in the private sector, due to BAE there is a bigger sway towards manufacturing jobs and less of a service economy when compared to the rest of Lancashire presumably due to the size of the authority and the dispersed nature of settlements. The authority also has the highest proportion of remote workers in Lancashire.

Notable businesses

• BAE Systems and Spirit AeroSystems at Samlesbury Aerodrome

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Ribble Valley.

Military Units

• The 14th/20th King's Hussars: 24 August 1992.
• The King's Royal Hussars: 2 December 1992.
• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 10 March 2011.