Oxford Civic Society thanked for delivering engaging conversation about the future of local government

Councillor Graham said, “I would like to thank the Oxford Civic Society for running the event” and then went onto say “This is a once in a generation opportunity to redesign local government to improve services, deliver infrastructure, housing and economic growth along with creating organisations that can deliver from vesting day and into the future.  

“It is important that as communities we carefully discuss and consider what these proposals will mean for us. The implications of the decision made by government will be significant and long reaching so having proper consideration to what this means for us all is so important. 

“As part of developing the two unitary proposal we made it clear our communities came first. This isn't about protecting the way current services are provided, it's about creating the best possible outcomes for local people, businesses and organisations. 

“I was proud to present the potential benefits of the two unitary proposal with a more effective, deliverable approach to delivering better services, a positive and balanced advocacy to delivering growth at pace, the opportunity to make significant savings and fundamentally having councils that are big enough to be efficient but small enough to care.  

“We have also recognised Oxford as crucial to the new Oxford and Shires Council and have included in our proposals a roadmap to making sure Oxford, along with the rural parts of the council, would have their own voice and influence. We see this as a balanced relationship where Oxford, the surrounding towns, and rural areas would all benefit from more jobs, better infrastructure and the right homes in the right places.” 

The Oxford Civic Society held their event titled ‘The future of Oxford and Oxfordshire: local government reorganisation and devolution’ at the Mathematical Institute in the morning of Saturday 1 November.  

Council leaders representing each of the three proposals for Oxfordshire and West Berkshire presented their proposals and then discussed topics raised by the audience.  

The two unitary proposal was published last week on 29 October ahead of formal decision making by councils over the coming weeks. The other two proposals were published on 31 October.  

All proposals will be submitted to government by the deadline of 28 November. The government is then expected to consult on the proposals with residents and stakeholders in early 2026.