Councils should seek to influence Local Government Reorganisation for the benefit of communities

Published 10 January 2025

Councils in Oxfordshire should do everything they can to influence decisions on Local Government Reorganisation in the county the leader of South Oxfordshire District Council explained this week.

In an address to the Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet on Thursday, Cllr David Rouane explained that it’s clear the government intends to push through plans for changes to how local councils work and so the best way to influence that here is to work positively and quickly with the government.

The government published a white paper in December outlining plans for comprehensive reform of local government across England that would see the creation of large regional Strategic Authorities along with the creation of new unitary councils in areas like

Oxfordshire that currently have a two-tier council system.

The county council’s Cabinet met to discuss writing to the government requesting Oxfordshire be included in the fast track for Local Government Reorganisation. Cllr Rouane has now welcomed the Cabinet’s decision to send a letter to the government this week.

Speaking in his capacity as Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, Cllr Rouane said: “It is important that we focus on those areas of the proposals that we can influence rather than waste energy and resources on those that we cannot.

“What we can influence are the shape of these new authorities and the timing of their introduction.

“The most important thing for us to focus on is that we continue to deliver excellent services for our residents, both during this transition process and afterwards. That is why I would urge that, given that this transition is going to happen then it should happen quickly. The only way in which we can deliver high quality services is by recruiting and retaining high quality staff and to sustain that, certainty is essential”.