Who Are Burnley's Current County Councillors, What Do They Do And How Much Do They Get Paid?

What Do County Councillors Do?

County Councillors are responsible for setting policies and making decisions for the whole of Lancashire, for everything Lancashire County Council presides over.

They decide matters relating to:

• Education (schools, special educational needs etc.)
• Transport (e.g. roads, potholes, major projects)
• Social care (e.g. services for children, the elderly and the vulnerable)
• Libraries and cultural services (e.g. whether your local library stays open)
• Public health (e.g. sexual health services)
• Waste disposal (e.g. where rubbish from tips goes and who moves it)
• Strategic planning (e.g. major infrastructure projects)

They have meetings at County Hall, in Preston, where such things are decided at both Full Council meetings and on different Committees.

So it’s a County Councillor’s job to represent their local area and its people in meetings at County Hall, as well as helping people in the area to access the Council’s services, such as reporting potholes in need of repair, and help them with issues. 

How Much Spending Do They Control?

For 2025/26, LCC’s projected spend is over £1.2 billion. It’s likely that over the four-year term the next County Councillors will serve, they’ll be making decisions on spending over £5 billion.

How Much Do County Councillors Get Paid?

For the 2025/26 financial year, County Councillors receive a basic allowance of over £14,000.

They can also claim expenses (for things like travel & an IT allowance).

If they take on extra responsibilities, such as certain roles on committees, or their party’s leader at County Hall, they can get paid more, going up to over £42,000.

Who Are Burnley’s Current County Councillors And What Do They Do?

The table below shows the County Councillors name, party, attendance since last elected, whether they attended the LCC 2025/26 budget meeting, what committees they’re on (if any) and whether they claimed expenses.

Breakdown

• Only one County Councillor managed full attendance (Scott Cunliffe)
• Only one other Councillor managed over 80% attendance (Cosima Towneley)
• The highest paid Councillor was Cosima Towneley (£39,539)
• The worst attending Councillor had 44% attendance (Alan Hosker)
• Only one Councillor didn’t attend the 2025/26 LCC budget meeting (Alan Hosker)
• Every Conservative Councillor claimed expenses
• Every Labour (at present) Councillor claimed expenses
• Two thirds of Labour Councillors left the party during their term
• Burnley as a whole is only represented on 3 Committees, despite having 6 Councillors
• Every Councillor claimed expenses

What I’ll Do

To remedy the obvious issues, I will:

• Accountability – I’ll publish an article and provide a link on social media about every meeting, giving an overview, all the Burnley Councillor’s attendance and what input they had… so you know what’s going on and who’s doing what at County Hall

• Committees – Reform UK’s Burnley Councillors want a say on every Committee we can get on… so the things that matter to you, the people of Burnley, are heard

• Leaving the party – if I was to leave Reform UK, for any reason, I’ll stand down and trigger a by-election… so that it’s up to you if you then want to re-elect me, if I was standing as an independent or for another party, or re-elect a Reform UK or other candidate

Sources

Various parts of the https://lancashire.gov.uk/ website.