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/
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
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)