Cllr Ben Ward - Ingol and Cottam

06/06/2026

If you're in NW Preston and you're considering your secondary school options for your daughter, why not come along to one of our open days to see our school on a typical day.

Due to the ridiculous school place chaos in Cottam / Bartle, we've had increasing interest from the area in recent years. So much so, that were currently planning on putting on an additional bus, which will depart from Bartle, and travel through Cottam and Ashton en route to Penwortham.

Please find our event details below for our Open Days.

31/05/2026

A quick summary of recent activities across the ward.

🌱 Children’s Residential Homes
This week I continued my work campaigning for a fairer, more responsible approach to Children’s Residential Homes. I’ve written to Ofsted requesting a freeze on new registrations in Preston and Lancashire to ensure young people are cared for within their own communities - not placed miles away simply to generate profit for private providers while straining local services. This issue is gaining national attention, and my work was featured in the Financial Times earlier in the week.

🌳 Ancient Oak – Parish Council Liaison
I’ve been working with Lea & Cottam Parish Council to clarify the ownership of the land on which our much‑loved ancient oak stands, as well as discussing its health and long‑term maintenance. This tree is a landmark of our local heritage, and I’m committed to ensuring it receives the care and protection it deserves.

🗑️ Overflowing Blue Bins – Roseberry & Valentine’s Meadow
I’ve been in contact with Preston’s public bin team about the repeatedly overflowing blue bins near Roseberry Play Area / the entrance to Valentine’s Meadow. These have been reported several times but remain unemptied and are increasingly posing a health risk. I’ve asked for clarity on whether they are due to be removed, and if so, for this to happen quickly to prevent further waste build‑up.

🐀 Rat Activity – Haydock Lane
I’ve also reached out to both Parks and Public Health teams regarding reports of increased rat activity around Haydock Lane, Greenside Park and Community Centre. While some residents have suggested overgrown grass may be the cause, the more likely driver is increased food supply. During one afternoon litter pick in the immediate area, I filled half a bag with half‑eaten sandwiches, crisps and chocolate bars. I’ve asked the Parish Council to add more signage around the ponds reminding visitors not to leave surplus bread after feeding the ducks. If you see evidence of rats inside your property, please report it immediately — the council offers a fast and effective service: https://www.preston.gov.uk/rats.

🏭 Springfield Stakeholder Group
I’m pleased to share that I’ve now been appointed to one of Preston City Council's seats on the Springfield Stakeholder Group. It was important to me that one of the councillors representing the Lea Town had a seat at the table. I’m looking forward to meeting the team and supporting one of our area’s most significant employers and apprenticeship providers, while also championing local community interests and environmental concerns.

🧑‍🌾 Ingol & Tanterton Scarecrow Festival
I’ve been working with colleagues on the Ingol & Tanterton Neighbourhood Council to get this year’s Scarecrow Festival off to a flying start. Last year’s first attempt was a huge success with 20+ scarecrows, and we’re hoping to match, if not beat, that this year. We’re also introducing a new public‑voting system and a related quiz to make those scarecrow tours more interactive.

✂️🌿 Tree & Hedge Work
I’ve also spent some time this week helping a number of elderly residents with tree pruning and hedge cutting. It’s a little beyond the usual remit of a councillor, but with our Parks and Tree Teams stretched — especially due to the huge impact of Ash Dieback — sometimes it’s simply quicker and kinder to roll up your sleeves and get the job done.

🥚🧀🍺 Supporting Local Producers
Finally, I’ve also been making an extra effort this week to support our brilliant local producers — picking up cheese, eggs and milk from local farmers. We’re incredibly lucky to have such fantastic food and drink on our doorstep. The highlight of the week had to be sampling a few beers at the legendary Farm Yard Brewing Co in Pilling, including the near‑legendary Chaff.

As always, if you spot an issue or want to get involved, please feel free to get in touch.

26/05/2026

This is great news. The Park Hotel is one of Preston’s standout buildings, and its prominent position has made its slow decline in recent years a symbol of the city’s stuttering progress. With this extra funding from central government, redevelopment should finally accelerate — bringing jobs, investment, and a renewed confidence to Preston’s historic skyline.

I’ve never been a fan of the surrounding new‑build blocks, but I supported the development both times it came to Planning Committee. Without those additional units, it’s unlikely any developer would have taken on the Park Hotel itself, leaving it to decay even further.

I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing real progress on site and, ultimately, the reopening of this landmark Preston asset. Now we need some good news on the Post Office development!

We can exclusively reveal a bid to have Homes England support the redevelopment of the former hotel and apartment complex has been successful

26/05/2026

The comments on this post say a lot about why creating a Preston we can genuinely feel proud of is still such a challenge.

Litter is one of the issues that really grinds me down. It’s everywhere — along our roadsides, across the city centre, and scattered through our green spaces. You can’t walk far without seeing it.

Many people replying absolutely get that disposing of waste properly is a personal and social responsibility. But a sizeable number jump straight to blaming the council for every overflowing bin.

Not enough bins. Bins too small. Bins in the wrong place. Bins not emptied often enough. “What do they do with our council tax?” and so on. Yes — the council can and should make improvements so that using a bin is the easiest option.

But this misses the central point: litter belongs to the person who drops it, and dumping it anywhere other than a bin is a crime. Connor’s point is spot on — if a bin is full, take your rubbish to one with space, or take it home. It’s not complicated.

Personally, I'd rather my tax went towards maintaining the city's fantastic parks, the attractions which drew in so many people, rather than being used to pick up litter left by people who failed to take it home.

If we want a city we can be proud of, we have to start by treating it with respect. Litter isn’t someone else’s job to deal with. It’s a choice we each make, every day. Let’s choose better — and make litter a thing of the past.

🗑️ TAKE YOUR RUBBISH HOME 🗑️

I’ve seen multiple complaints about overflowing bins on Avenham and Miller Parks. I went round the parks today to take a look for myself and I’ve put in a report to our Neighbourhood Services team to urgently clear up the bins this week.

I’ve seen a lot of people point blame or issue with the Council. Let’s be fair and remember it’s a bank holiday, it’s been unseasonably warm, and as such our parks have been far busier than usual.

The key people to blame are those who don’t take their litter home - if you see a bin is full, carry your waste to the next one that isn’t (there’s plenty by the way), or take it with you. It’s that simple.

If you love our parks, act like it 🌳💚

25/05/2026

Reform's over time policy is a tax avoiders dream!

Reform UK’s plan to scrap income tax on overtime is being sold as a simple boost for workers, but the numbers behind it fall apart instantly. Their £5 billion estimate depends on the fantasy that employers and employees will behave exactly as they do now. That is not how tax incentives work.

The experience of countries like Ireland and Italy, which tried similar schemes in the 2010s, saw employers reclassify normal hours as “overtime” to cut tax. Contracted hours fell, “overtime” rose, and governments lost far more revenue than expected. Both countries abandoned their schemes because they delivered no increase in genuine overtime and created huge holes in public finances. Even Trump (probably the source of Reform's idea) - whose presidential campaign prioritised an overtime cut - significantly downscaled his original plans in office, making them temporary, capped and far more controlled.

And then there is the bonus issue. Under their proposal, large discretionary bonuses could be effortlessly rebadged as overtime. A trader’s six‑figure bonus could be broken into “overtime hours” and paid out tax‑free. A senior banker could restructure their entire annual package so that only a token salary is taxed, with the rest flowing through overtime. For the wealthiest, the savings would run into the millions. For the vast majority of ordinary workers, the gains would be non-existent or marginal.

This is why independent analysis puts the real cost at around £14 billion, not Reform’s £5 billion. Either the party is naïvely ignoring the evidence, or it is knowingly proposing a tax shelter dressed up as a workers’ policy. In either case, the country deserves better than fantasy economics.

https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/05/25/reform-uk-overtime-tax-cut/

Reform UK wants to scrap income tax on overtime. We estimate it could cost £14bn, not the £5bn Reform claims. We identify ten better tax cuts.

24/05/2026

Preston at the Epicentre of a Broken Children’s Care Market

Over the past few months, I’ve been liaising with Jennifer Williams, the Northern England Correspondent at the Financial Times, as she investigates the rapid saturation of private children’s care homes in Lancashire. Her work exposes a system where the care of our most vulnerable young people has become a lucrative opportunity for profit‑driven operators — costing the public billions while failing to provide the stable, nurturing homes these children deserve.

The FT’s reporting shows that the price councils are charged has spiralled as private investors flood the sector. The average cost of a placement now stands at £384,020 per child per year, with the market costing government over £3 billion annually. Lancashire - and Preston in particular - has become the epicentre of this boom, with 17 times more children’s home places than are needed for local children.

Why here? Cheaper housing limited regulatory controls, and a readily available workforce have made Preston the most cost‑effective — and therefore most profitable — location. In 2020, just five applications were made to convert family homes into children’s homes. By 2025, that had surged to three every month, attracting “entrepreneurs” with little or no background in children’s care.

Lancashire County Council’s own Market Position Statement now acknowledges the county is significantly oversaturated and says it will no longer support further applications. This follows the Competition and Markets Authority’s finding that providers were making “materially higher profits and charging materially higher prices”.

This is not a sustainable system. It is not a child‑centred system. And it is certainly not a system Lancashire can continue to absorb without serious consequences for our services, communities and — most importantly — our young people.

Booming sector is attracting plumbers, hairdressers and Airbnb landlords with no experience in care

21/05/2026

Well, that was a strange meeting!

Greens, Independents and Reform teamed up with Labour to make a Tory the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny — the committee created to ensure the actions of the ruling party are properly scrutinised. It’s a role that has always gone to the official opposition, in line with long‑established best practice across local government. Yet today, the three‑member Conservative group now holds the most important scrutiny position on Preston City Council, thanks to Green and Reform supporting Labour's choice.

Councillors elected from both sides of the political spectrum — some on promises of shaking up the system, others on pledges to challenge Labour — instead allied to keep the ailing Labour administration in power and tighten its grip on Preston council.

The same unlikely coalition then came together to remove another Liberal Democrat from the Deputy Chair role. Cllr Brown even claimed Labour removed Cllr Duke because of the disability motion she recently put forward, an attempt to secure more funding for some of Preston's most vulnerable families!!!!

Clearly the much‑promised new era of open and transparent politics - so loudly championed by breakthrough parties on election day - fell at the first hurdle. Instead of openness, we saw backroom deals. Instead of change, we saw parties elected on a mandate of doing politics differently choosing to reinforce the old guard. And instead of strengthening scrutiny, they worked together to break with established best practice and hand Labour even tighter control over the council.

21/05/2026

Preston at Breaking Point: The Children’s Home Crisis LCC can't ignore.

Lancashire County Council’s 2026 Market Position Statement confirms that the situation facing our children is continuing to deteriorate. Last year’s report showed Lancashire already had four times more children’s home provision than it needed. This year, that figure has grown to five times the level required. The number of agency‑run homes has risen from 330 in 2025 to 406 in 2026, yet the number of Lancashire children actually living in these homes has barely changed. Despite 76 new homes opening in the past year, only 10 additional Lancashire children are now placed locally.

The imbalance is stark. Only 14% of beds in Lancashire’s agency homes are used by Lancashire children, and 74% of homes do not care for a single child from Lancashire at all. Meanwhile, the pressure on our schools, PRUs, CAMHS and A&E continues to grow as children from across the country are placed here in huge numbers.

Preston is at the centre of this crisis. The new statement confirms our city now has 57 Ofsted‑registered children’s homes, one of the highest concentrations in the county. In some parts of Lancashire, the density reaches 20 homes within a single mile, and Preston is firmly part of this oversaturation. Yet despite this extraordinary concentration, Lancashire’s own children are still being sent out of county because suitable placements cannot be found.

LCC now says it will “no longer support any further planning applications” for new agency homes. That is welcome, but words alone will not fix this. We need to know what this means in practice and how Lancashire intends to tackle the issue of illegal and unregistered homes, which the BBC recently exposed as causing real harm to vulnerable children.

I will be contacting Lancashire County Council to ask what concrete actions they intend to take and to offer my support. I am also writing again to national government for an update on the Children’s Social Care (Implementation) Bill, which includes measures such as profit caps on children’s homes and is currently progressing through Parliament. Our children deserve better than another year of worsening statistics.

In 2020, a BBC investigation found vulnerable children were being placed in caravans, narrowboats and holiday homes. Six years later, things have got worse.

21/05/2026

Always a pleasant start to the political year as a new Mayor is officially sworn in.

Today the business gets going in earnest with the chamber voting on a range of positions, including the leader - which after May's elections, and Labour's loss of control of the council, could potentially lead to some significant changes.

Looking forward to getting stuck in for another year, helping to ensure a strong liberal voice on the council while making sure the needs of Ingol and Cottam residents are represented in council decisions.

It was a real pleasure to attend the Mayor Making ceremony at Town Hall today. Congratulations to new Mayor Nweeda Khan and a big thank you to outgoing Mayor Sue Whittam for all of the incredible work she has done this past year.

17/05/2026

The £5million Question - Is Farage fit for office!?!

Nigel Farage’s £5million gift scandal is the latest chapter in a long, troubling story about a man who treats financial transparency as optional. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating whether Farage broke the rules by failing to declare the payment from crypto‑billionaire Christopher Harborne, received within the 12months before he became an MP.

This is the same Farage who has already been found guilty of breaking the MPs’ Code of Conduct seventeen times for failing to declare hundreds of thousands of pounds in outside earnings. Seventeen breaches would end most political careers. For Farage, they were brushed aside as clerical slip‑ups.

His financial record has long raised eyebrows. He worked for Russia Today long after its role as a Kremlin propaganda outlet was obvious. He has taken money from gold dealers and crypto‑linked firms while using his media platforms to promote the very sectors paying him. And in the same period he received the £5million gift, he bought a £1.4 million house — in cash. He insists the timing is coincidental. Voters can judge that for themselves.

Farage’s defence of the £5million gift has been a moving target: first security, then Brexit, then a personal gesture, then nobody’s business. What we do know is that Reform’s crypto policy neatly mirrors the deregulation wishes of his donating friend.

It leaves the unavoidable question — is Nigel Farage fit to be an MP, let alone a potential Prime Minister?

The probe will examine whether the Reform UK leader should have declared the gift from crypto billionaire.