Westmorland and Furness.
Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary. £284m net revenue. 33 wards across 4 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Liberal Democrats chamber, 2-party MP geography.
Westmorland and Furness is a unitary controlled by Liberal Democrats (36 of 65 seats). Net revenue is £284m for 2025-26. It covers 33 wards spanning 4 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Liberal Democrats 55% · last contested 5 May 2022
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Robinson | Ind | Alston Fellside | 2022 |
| Michael Timothy Hanley | Lab | Alston Fellside | 2022 |
| Andy Connell | LD | Appleby Brough | 2022 |
| Graham Simpkins | LD | Appleby Brough | 2022 |
| Steve Bavin | LD | Bowness Lyth | 2022 |
| Vicky Hughes | LD | Burton Holme | 2022 |
| Suzanne Mary Pender | LD | Coniston Hawkshead | 2022 |
| Ben Shirley | Con | Dalton North | 2022 |
| Daniel Edwards | Con | Dalton North | 2022 |
| Dave Taylor | Ind | Dalton South | 2022 |
| Tony Callister | Lab | Dalton South | 2022 |
| Neil Hughes | LD | Eamont Shap | 2022 |
Where revenue comes from.
Revenue mix is close to the unitary authorities median: 61% council tax, 30% central grants.
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,919 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £324 |
| Fire & rescue | £98 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £48 |
| Total Band-D | £2,389 |
Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish
Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.
How does Westmorland and Furness split its revenue across services, compared with peer unitary authoritie-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.
The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.
Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.
Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).
Top by total — last 180 days
| Supplier | Paid | Share | Pmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| CUMBERLAND COUNCIL | £12.05m | 14.0% | 193 |
| ADAM HTT | £3.43m | 4.0% | 6,353 |
| HEIDELBERG MATERIALS UK | £2.21m | 2.6% | 198 |
| STORY CONTRACTING LTD | £2.04m | 2.4% | 9 |
| HCL WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS LTD | £1.62m | 1.9% | 1,354 |
| TOP NOTCH CONTRACTORS LTD | £1.44m | 1.7% | 145 |
| ACORN CARE & EDUCATION LTD (SALES) | £1.25m | 1.4% | 56 |
| HARROGATE AND DISTRICT NHS FOUNDATION TR | £1.21m | 1.4% | 13 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA | £1.20m | 1.4% | 5 |
| THOMAS ARMSTRONG (CONSTRUCTION) LTD | £1.17m | 1.4% | 21 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Planning And Economic | CUMBERLAND COUNCIL | £5.07m |
| Corporate And Central | CUMBERLAND COUNCIL | £3.10m |
| Adult Social Care | ADAM HTT | £2.41m |
| Culture And Leisure | CUMBERLAND COUNCIL | £1.06m |
| Childrens Services | HCL WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS LTD | £0.53m |
| Education | ORIAN SOLUTIONS LTD | £0.33m |
Westmorland and Furness’s territory crosses 4 Westminster constituencies, with 2 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westmorland and Lonsdale | 17 | 52% | Tim Farron | LD |
| Barrow and Furness | 10 | 30% | Michelle Scrogham | Lab |
| Penrith and Solway | 4 | 12% | Markus Campbell-Savours | Lab |
| Morecambe and Lunesdale | 2 | 6% | Lizzi Collinge | Lab |
This council holds 3 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary — most weeks one MP is asking the council for something and another is praising it.
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 62 other unitary authorities
Police, Fire, Parish on top
27,042 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 31 Mar 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level