Oxfordshire has a two-tier system of local government. This means that your council services are provided by two different councils.
We (Oxford City Council) run services such as planning, leisure and waste collection, while Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for running services such as libraries, schools and social care.
We are a District Council and are the democratically-elected body for Oxford.
In Oxfordshire, there is one county council (Oxfordshire County Council) and five district councils (Oxford City Council, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire).
Visit the GOV.UK website for more about how councils work.
Visit the Find your council pages on GOV.UK and use your postcode to find your local council.
Service responsibilities
In partnership with others, we provide a wide range of services for approximately 162,000 residents, 118,000 people who work in Oxford and 7 million people who visit the city every year. For a general list of how services in Oxford are split between Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council, please see below:
Oxford City Council responsibilities
- Planning
- Council housing
- Homelessness
- Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing
- Housing options advice
- Council Tax collection
- Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit
- Business Rates (NNDR) collection
- Environmental health
- Licensing
- Recycling and waste collection
- Leisure centres and facilities
- Building control
- Minor road maintenance
- Street cleaning
- Parks
- Community grants
- Community Response Team and Park Rangers
- Markets
- Community safety
- Electoral registration
- Cemeteries
- Car parks
- Community centres
- Public toilets
Oxfordshire County Council responsibilities
- Schools
- Social services
- Concessionary bus passes
- Adult Learning
- Major road maintenance
- Libraries
- Children and young people
- Fire service
- Waste recycling centres and waste disposal
- Trading standards
- Registration of births, deaths and marriages
- Street lighting
- Carers' support
- Transport planning
- Residents' parking permits
- On-street parking
- Youth offending service
- Music service
