Westmorland and Furness Council

What Westmorland and Furness Council does

Westmorland and Furness Council is a unitary local authority in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England, that became operational on 1 April 2023 following local government reorganisation. It consolidated the former Barrow Borough, Eden District, and South Lakeland District Councils and assumed county-level service responsibilities from Cumbria County Council in its area. The council provides statutory local government services across a geographically diverse region covering Furness, Eden, and South Lakeland, serving residents, local businesses, schools, faith communities, and vulnerable adults and children.

Its core service portfolio encompasses benefits administration (Housing Benefit, Universal Credit support, Council Tax reduction), highways maintenance across 2,600 miles of adopted roads, waste collection and street cleaning, housing (including homelessness support and affordable housing), planning and building control, libraries with digital lending via BorrowBox, health and social care (adult and children's services), school transport, and community safety. The council operates digital platforms including a Netcall Liberty Create-powered customer services portal, a Citizen Space consultation hub, and a Modern.Gov-backed website session management layer, alongside physical offices in Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal (registered office), and Penrith, and a network of libraries across the area.

Revenue is generated through council tax (calculated on property bands A through H), retained business rates, and central government grants, with no commercial revenue model or pricing discretion. Major capital programmes include the £23.31 million Department for Transport-funded A595 Grizebeck improvement scheme delivered with Story Contracting, a £37.7 million highways improvement programme, and the development of the council's first Local Plan targeting 26,000 new homes by 2045. Strategic partnerships include Team Barrow (with Government and BAE Systems), the Faith Covenant with local faith communities, a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Partnership Network of 24+ member organisations, and a multi-agency Community Safety Partnership spanning police, fire, NHS, and probation services.

Name

Westmorland and Furness Council

Legal name

Westmorland and Furness Council

Website

https://westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Westmorland and Furness Council is a unitary local authority in Cumbria, England, delivering statutory local government services including highways, housing, social care, planning, waste management, and libraries to residents and businesses across the Furness, Eden, and South Lakeland areas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Government Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925), Other General Government Support (92119), Other Community Housing Services (624229), Facilities Support Services (56121)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552), Services-Management Services (8741), Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services (BPAIACAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Housing & Neighborhood Services (Local Housing Programs) (BPAIACAJ), Public Libraries & Information Services (BPAIACAO), Public Works / In-House Municipal Collection Operations (EUAIAAAF), Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Local government services
• Council tax administration
• Highways maintenance
• Waste management
• Social care services

Headquarters

HQ city

Kendal

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Council Tax: Local taxation collected from residents and businesses based on property valuations to fund council services including benefits and financial help, bins and recycling, housing, libraries, parking and transport, planning, parks and culture, schools and education, health and social care, and council operations.
2. Government Grants and Housing Targets: Central government funding including housing development targets. Government has mandated approximately 26,000 new homes by 2045 (75% increase on previous targets) requiring local plan development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Westmorland and Furness Council is a unitary local authority delivering statutory public services to residents and businesses across Cumbria including council tax administration, benefits and financial help, waste and recycling collection, highways maintenance across 2,600 miles of roads, planning and building control, housing, libraries, adult and children's social care, school transport, and community safety. Services are delivered through a 24/7 online portal, telephone contact centre, three physical offices (Barrow, Kendal, Penrith) and a network of libraries.

Product overview

Westmorland and Furness Council operates as a unitary local authority providing comprehensive public services to residents across Cumbria. The council's service portfolio encompasses digital platforms including the main website, a Netcall-powered digital customer services portal, and a Citizen Space consultation hub. Core service offerings include benefits administration, waste management, highways maintenance, library services, planning services, housing, health and social care, school transport, and community safety. The council also manages major infrastructure projects such as the A595 Grizebeck improvement scheme and delivers community initiatives including the Summer Reading Challenge and 20mph speed limit programme.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Benefits and Financial Help

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% of pupils secured first-preference primary school places
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Faith Covenant PartnershipflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2026The Faith Covenant was signed on 1 July 2026 at Kendal Town Hall, marking a significant step in partnership working with local faith communities. The covenant sets out principles for collaboration, supporting inclusive services, and building stronger relationships. Faith communities contribute an estimated £1.67 million in financial value to the area through youth work, climate action, and community cohesion activities. The partnership has been co-developed since early 2025 through the Faith Covenant Partnership, bringing together local faith communities and public/voluntary sector partners.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partnership NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollective group of third sector and community organisations working to advance equity, celebrate diversity, and promote inclusion. The partnership includes 24+ member organisations such as Access 4 U, ACT - Action with Communities in Cumbria, Active Cumbria, Age Friendly South Lakeland Partnership, Anti Racist Cumbria, Brathay Trust, Churches Together in Cumbria, Cumbria Constabulary, Cumbria CVS, Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, University of Cumbria, and others. Aims to reduce inequality based on protected characteristics including age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.
• Westmorland and Furness Community Safety PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-agency partnership established to protect communities from crime and help people feel safer. Includes Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, Cumbria Constabulary, NHS Integrated Care Board, and Probation Service, plus voluntary and third sector representatives. Chaired by Steph Cordon, Director of Thriving Communities. Local Focus Hubs for Barrow, Eden, and South Lakeland address area-specific needs with a prevention and early intervention approach.
• Team Barrow PartnershipflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Government, Westmorland and Furness Council, and BAE Systems focused on transforming transport infrastructure alongside education, skills, and housing to sustain future employment growth at BAE Systems and strengthen Barrow's role as home of UK submarine-building capability. Contributed £10.5 million to the A595 Grizebeck improvement scheme. Aims to create timely, safe, reliable, and resilient movement of goods and people to support Barrow's development plans.
• Story ContractingcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLead contractor for the £23.31 million A595 Grizebeck improvement scheme, constructing 1.4 kilometre single carriageway between Chapels and Grizebeck. Story Contracting is delivering bridge construction, earthworks including 72,000 tonnes of material excavated at Penn Hill, drainage systems, and road surfacing. The company has also committed up to 100 hours of volunteer labour and machinery use to support local community projects as part of the scheme's social value commitment.
• Reading AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational charity organizing the Summer Reading Challenge, delivered locally by Westmorland and Furness Libraries. The challenge encourages children aged 4-12 to read four library books over summer holidays. 2026 theme is 'Read To The Beat' powered by Universal Music Group UK, inspiring children to explore the connection between books and music.
• Universal Music Group UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner powering the 2026 Summer Reading Challenge theme 'Read To The Beat', inspiring children to explore the connection between books and music. Provides content and support for the challenge that aims to prevent summer learning loss and encourage reading for pleasure.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cumberland Council: Cumberland Council is the sister unitary authority created on 1 April 2023 from the same Cumbr
• Dorset Council: Dorset Council was formed in 2019 by merging five predecessor councils into a single unitary, making it the closest analogue for post-reorganisation integration, service harmonisation, and governance reform challenges facing Westmorland and Furness.
• Wiltshire Council: Wiltshire Council is a unitary authority covering a large predominantly rural area in southern England, providing a directly comparable service portfolio (highways, libraries, planning, waste, social care) and facing similar geographic dispersion and per-capita cost pressures as Westmorland and Furness.
• Rutland County Council: Rutland County Council is England's smallest unitary authority, exercising the same full statutory functions as Westmorland and Furness but at a more compact scale, providing a useful structural parallel for a small unitary delivering every local service line.
• Northumberland County Council: Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England delivering the same statutory portfolio (adult social care, children's services, planning, highways, libraries, waste) across a mix of rural, coastal and market-town communities similar to Westmorland and Furness.
• Herefordshire Council: Herefordshire Council is one of England's smallest unitary authorities serving a primarily rural population. Comparable to Westmorland and Furness in providing the full scope of local authority functions at modest scale and with similar per-capita funding pressures.
• Durham County Council: Durham County Council is a North East England unitary authority delivering the same full set of local government functions — adult social care, children's services, planning, waste, highways, libraries — making it a directly comparable operational peer in scale and statutory remit.
• Shropshire Council: Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in the West Midlands serving a primarily rural population. It is closely comparable to Westmorland and Furness on scale, rural service-delivery profile, and the challenge of maintaining dispersed infrastructure with constrained budgets.
• Cornwall Council: Cornwall Council is a large unitary authority serving a predominantly rural coastal geography with dispersed settlements — directly comparable to Westmorland and Furness on service-delivery-over-distance, highways maintenance burden, and seasonal population dynamics.

Regional players

• Lancashire County Council: Lancashire County Council is a two-tier county council serving adjacent North West geography. It delivers overlapping upper-tier services (highways, social care, schools) but lacks district-level functions, making it a partial / regional analogue rather than a direct substitute for Westmorland and Furness's unitary remit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wandfcouncil
• Facebookfacebook.com/westmorlandfurnesscouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westmorland-and-furness-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/wandfcouncil

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westmorland and Furness Council