The government has asked councils across England to put forward proposals to simplify local government structures in their regions.
Three-council proposal
We are 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
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).
Other proposals
There are two other proposals for local government reorganisation across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
They propose abolishing the existing councils in the region and replacing them with:
- Two councils:
- Oxford and Shires Council - covering all of the existing district areas of Cherwell, Oxford City and West Oxfordshire
- Ridgeway Council - covering all of the existing district areas of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse, and the whole of West Berkshire Council’s area
- One council: covering Oxfordshire County Council’s current boundaries (and not including West Berkshire)
