Confusion as council changes in Thames Valley delayed

Planned changes to the way that Oxfordshire and west Berkshire are governed have been delayed.

The government had previously announced the area would be split into three new unitary authorities - one to the north, one to the south including west Berkshire, and a Greater Oxford authority for the city and its greenbelt.

But Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner has announced a pause until the decision is "reviewed".

Jeff Brooks, leader of West Berkshire Council, said the process had already cost the authority "tens and tens and tens of thousands of pounds" and has urged the government to "get over the issue" and "crack on with this good solution".

Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for local government reorganisation, Judith Edwards, has described the delays as "a complete mess of the government's own making" but sees the decision as a chance to reverse the plan for the county.

The idea was to scrap two-tier systems, where a county council looks after things like social care and potholes, and district and city councils are responsible for things like bin collections and leisure centres.

West Berkshire was already a small unitary authority, but backed plans to join South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Council, under one large Ridgeway Council.

West Oxfordshire was going to join Cherwell District Council to form a "Northern Oxfordshire Council", minus some of the areas on Oxford's greenbelt.

Oxford City Council was ready to join up with some surrounding villages and parishes to form a Greater Oxford Authority.

But these plans are now on hold.

Rayner said it was "only right that as a new Secretary of State I make sure that everything we do is working towards that plan to change Britain, without delay".

"The Prime Minister told the House last week, he was 'prepared to look at local government reorganisation' and he asked me as his Communities Secretary to 'do that'.

"...in light of legal advice, I want to satisfy myself firstly that the right process is in place, that it is robust, and of course complies with the law. And secondly, I want to fully test whether our proposals for local government reorganisation meet the priorities of a new administration and a new Prime Minister and any additional considerations."

The government announcement follows the withdrawal of reorganisation plans in Hampshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, after the government took legal advice.

Liberal Democrat councillor Judith Edwards is in charge of local government reorganisation for Oxfordshire County Council and described the delays as "a complete surprise".

"We've had tens of millions of pounds worth of taxpayers' money wasted... and we're left in a situation where we don't know what's happening.

"It's still a complicated picture but if it looks like there's an opportunity to have this decision looked at again then, even though it's enormously frustrating, then I welcome it," she added.

The Liberal Democrat leader of West Berkshire Council, Jeff Brooks, said he was disappointed.

"Between the councils in Oxfordshire and West Berkshire we've been employing people to focus on this and we're ready, we're ready to do that work," he said.

"We've worked phenomenally hard on this and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours' of time, officer's time, which is money, has been spent on it, so please urgently try and see what the issue is, get over the issue and let's crack on with this good solution."

Susan Brown, Labour leader of Oxford City Council, said the authority was still trying to understand what the announcement meant.

"We remain committed to the principles of local government reorganisation. We think the case for unitary councils is strong.

"We think the case for our proposals is strong... so we will be very happy to continue to put our case to government," she said.

Planned "shadow elections" to the three unitary authorities will now not go ahead in May next year, with district council elections taking place instead.