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06/02/2026 in CouncilNoticeboard

District Council Restructuring Survey UPDATED 6 FEB 2026

Government Survey

The Government are conducting a public survey of the three submission they have received about District Reorganisation. It is quite a complex survey and can be accessed from the link below.
https://consult.communities.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation/oxfordshire/ 

Follow the link above and then got the bottom of the page you see and click on Share Your Views.
 
Details
 

Once in a generation decision – your chance to have a say on the future of local services
The Government launched its formal public consultation today on options for the shape of councils across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. The last time a change of this scale happened was over 50 years ago so this decision will have a significant impact to everyone in the district for many years.

What is changing?
The Government is scrapping the current district and county councils and replacing them with new ‘unitary’ councils. Unitary councils deliver all council services under one roof.

What are the proposals?
The Government asked the existing councils to develop proposals for them to consider. There were three proposals submitted to government:

  • A single county unitary that covers all of Oxfordshire.  
  • Two unitary councils that cover Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. One covering the existing council areas of Cherwell, Oxford City and West Oxfordshire. One covering the existing council areas of South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Berkshire.
  • Three unitary councils that cover Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. One covering the existing Oxford City council area but with expanded boundaries. One covering the remaining existing council areas of Cherwell and West Oxfordshire. One covering the remaining existing council areas of South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Berkshire.

What do the current councils think is the best option?
Vale of White Horse, alongside South Oxfordshire, Cherwell, West Berkshire and West Oxfordshire overwhelmingly support the two unitary option. 142 out of 158 councillors in attendance at councils last year voted to support submitting the two unitary proposal including councillors from all political parties.

Oxfordshire County Council support their single unitary proposal and Oxford City Council support their three unitary proposal.

Background

COMPLETE SURVEY

Latest survey results 

Survey Results-260116-WebDownload

 

The Government wants to simplify local government in England and Wales. So that we can quickly gauge the views of people who live in the affected Parishes a short SURVEY has been created which we would ask you to complete.  It should take no more than a few minutes.

At the moment, some areas have three levels of local government:

  • County Council
  • District Council
  • Parish Councils.

The Government’s aim is to move to two levels of local government, removing the County Councils where they still exist. For example, West Berkshire already has this two-level system.

So far we are aware of two proposals.

To find out more have a look at the following final submissions (Warning – they are very large files)

Reading Final Local Government Review Proposal (12Mb)

Oxfordshire & West Berkshire Final Local Goverment Review Proposal (7Mb)

10/09/2025 in CouncilNoticeboard

New Timetables for Bin Collections

From the 22nd September West Berkshire are changing the arrangements for bin collection.  They have published a timetable which gives week starting dates (Mondays) from which you can work out your bin collection dates.

Purley on Thames has in bins emptied on a Thursday and the Parish Council has produced its own timetable which shows Thursday dates which we thought might be an easier reference.  Purley on Thames is split into two areas with one area having its green bins collected while the other area has its black bin collected.

If your green bin is emptied on the 11th September and your black bin on the 18th September you fall in Week 4.

If your black bin is emptied on the 11th September and your green bin on the 18th September you fall in Week 3.

To access directly the West Berkshire collection timetables follow this link and enter your postcode and then select you address www.westberks.gov.uk/binday

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