Reorganising Oxfordshire’s councils provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the housing crisis, generate £170bn for the economy and give residents a stronger voice on the national stage.
The government has asked councils across England to put forward proposals to simplify local government structures in their regions.
Oxford City Council is proposing to abolish Oxfordshire’s six existing councils, along with West Berkshire Council, and replace them with three new unitary councils:
- Greater Oxford Council – covering Oxford and its Green Belt
- Northern Oxfordshire Council – covering most of the existing Cherwell and West Oxfordshire districts
- Ridgeway Council – covering most of the existing South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse districts combined with West Berkshire Unitary Council
Each of the new unitary councils would be responsible for all council services in their area, including those currently provided by district/city councils (e.g., housing, leisure and bin collections) and county councils (e.g., social care, transport and education).
Following extensive engagement with residents and stakeholders over the summer, Oxford City Council has now completed the final draft of its proposals for reorganising local government.
The full proposals can be viewed on the Council’s website.
Three councils for Oxfordshire and West Berkshire
The three-council proposal is built around six pillars, showing it is the best option in terms of homes, prosperity, quality of life, identity, voice, and future-fit services.
Building homes
Oxford is one of the least affordable places to live in the country. Average house prices are now £570,000 – 13.6 times the average household income of £42,000 a year.
By expanding the city’s boundaries, the three-unitary proposal would enable 40,000 homes – including 16,000 social and affordable homes – to be built within Greater Oxford by 2040.
These homes would be built at appropriate densities close to existing jobs, transport links, and communities.
Our study shows that this much-needed scale of house building would be achieved by using 2.6% of Oxford’s 35,000-hectare Green Belt up to 2040.
This approach would also enable Oxford to meet its own housing demand, meaning homes for the city would no longer have to be built in villages and towns in Northern Oxfordshire or Ridgeway.
Creating prosperity
Oxford has one of the fastest growing and most successful local economies in the UK.
The three-unitary proposal would focus on growth within Greater Oxford, creating a globally significant concentration of AI, computing, and life science and health innovation firms.
New research from Volterra, an economic consultancy, has found that this concentration would create 218,000 jobs and generate £168.8bn for the UK economy by 2050.
Volterra found that, if businesses wanting to come to Oxford because of the concentration of expertise in specialist fields cannot be accommodated close to the city, they will not go elsewhere in Oxfordshire or the UK – they will go to Boston or Silicon Valley in the US.
As a result, creating a single council for all of Oxfordshire would create 65,000 fewer jobs and generate £43.1bn less for the UK’s economy over the next 25 years.
Improving quality of life
Oxford City Council held an online survey about local government reorganisation in July and August. In total, 1,580 people from across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire took part.
Eighty percent of respondents agreed that urban and rural areas require different approaches to housing, social care, transport, education, skills, and other key council services.
The three-council model would be better able to respond to this by creating a council for the urban city and its immediate surroundings, and separate councils that could better reflect the more rural areas of Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
These councils would better understand the needs of local residents and would be able to tailor services to meet those needs.
Protecting local identity
The histories of Banbury, Witney and Oxford are proud and unique.
Moreover, Oxford’s population is significantly different – younger, more diverse and more deprived – to more rural parts of Oxfordshire.
The three-council model is the only proposal for reorganising local government that would provide separate councils for Greater Oxford and Northern Oxfordshire.
During the online survey, almost 70% of respondents agreed that councils are most effective when they are smaller and closer to the people they serve.
Providing a stronger voice
Alongside reorganising local government, the government is looking to create directly elected mayors across all regions of England.
These mayors would receive devolved powers and funding to coordinate strategic issues – such as housing, transport and economic growth – across their regions.
Oxford and Oxfordshire are likely to be within a Mayoral Strategic Authority covering the Thames Valley region.
The three-unitary model would give Greater Oxford, Northern Oxfordshire and Ridgeway separate seats on the Strategic Authority, alongside Reading, Slough, Swindon and others. It is the only model that would give Oxford its own voice on this authority.
Delivering future-fit services
Abolishing Oxfordshire and West Berkshire’s seven existing councils and replacing them with three will generate significant savings.
By year five of the transition, the three-council model is expected to save £47m every year across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
The creation of separate councils for urban and rural areas would also enable services to be tailored to local needs and focus on prevention.
This would reduce the need for long-term intervention, which would reduce costs.
Population changes
By 2040, the three new unitary councils would have populations of approximately:
- 340,000 in Greater Oxford
- 345,000 in Northern Oxfordshire
- 545,000 in Ridgeway
Each would be larger than 23 of London’s 33 boroughs (including the City of London).
Next steps
There are two other proposals for local government reorganisation in Oxfordshire and West Berkshire:
- Two unitary councils:
- Oxford and Shires Council – created from the existing city/district councils of Cherwell, Oxford and West Oxfordshire
- Ridgeway Council – created from the existing district councils of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, and the unitary council of West Berkshire
- A single unitary council for Oxfordshire
The government is expected to consult with residents and stakeholders on all three proposals in early 2026, before deciding on the model in the summer.
The new councils are expected to be created in 2028.
The last time local government was reorganised in Oxfordshire was in 1974.
Comment
“Our model provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the county’s housing crisis and create tens of thousands of new jobs for residents.
“It will also protect the character of Oxfordshire’s market towns, give rural and urban areas their own voice, tailor services to local needs, and make long-term savings through a focus on prevention.
“Three councils will empower people, grow prosperity and build communities across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.”
Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council
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