Local Government reorganisation and Council Tax

Thu 26 Jun, 21:11 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 22:14)

I’ve now realised that OCC and WODC are each pushing different options for how this reorganisation would work. Which is strange for us, as our two Councillors are on both WODC and OCC and indeed leading one each!! So my comments that follow are about the WODC option. (I wish I’d never started trying to understand all this!)

Some services like waste collection and housing will be combined over a larger area, so in theory could make savings (except they are all probably on different digital platforms etc so it might be costly to merge them). But services delivered at county level, like social services, education and roads, will be broken up into smaller areas, so they could potentially be less efficient as there could be more duplication. 

The PWC report is interesting but a bit mind boggling. I think its showing that Oxford City uses lots of services and pays in less, whereas South Oxfordshire uses least services and pays in most. So if we are in a unitary with Oxford City but not South Oxfordshire we will be worse off, as we will have to pay for all the Oxford City services but we wont have South Oxfordshire subsidising us. I might be wrong though as I havent read the whole thing. Perhaps ChatGPT can read it and tell us the best option! 

http://democratic.southoxon.gov.uk/documents/s9998/Appendix%201%20-%20PwC%20Review%20of%20proposed%20Unitary%20Authority.pdf

Thu 26 Jun, 19:48 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 19:48)

And to add that the consultation for the single Oxfordshire proposal can be found here:   https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation 

Thu 26 Jun, 19:44 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 19:56)

No one knows what the "balancing" of council tax might look like yet.  Decisions on council tax will be made by the new shadow authority due to be elected in 2027. But in any case it will relate to a very small percentage of the overall council tax bill, which includes money paid to the police as well as to councils.  The single unitary proposal is estimated to save £27 million a year  (source PWC) therefore the rise might be minimal depending on which of the three proposals the government decides we will be going with

Thu 26 Jun, 16:43 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 16:44)

Oxford City has 4 parishes, Blackbird Leys, Littlemore, Old Marston and Risinghurst & Sandhills.   It adds the parish cost that it incurs to the remaining unparished areas.  So you are right Christine, it is less than clear and I understand that any re-organisation won't affect the parish/town councils.  That charge will continue.  

I find it worrying that Claire is thinking it will increase costs for us.  I thought the goal was to decrease overheads in order to increase outputs for the same charge.   I also heard this morning on the radio that it is the intention of the Government to direct more grant at the most deprived areas.   This should benefit Banbury.  It certainly needs a bit of help.  I definitely agree that the goals of re-organisation should be clearly stated.  

Thu 26 Jun, 16:07 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 16:11)

I think the BBC article uses figures designed to make up for the fact that most of Oxford City is unparished, whereas in the rest of Oxfordshire there is both a District Council Charge, plus also a Parish or Town Council charge, so that the Oxford City Council rate can't be directly compared with the WODC or Cherwell rates.

But it's certainly the case that the article is less than clear. 

Thu 26 Jun, 16:03

Alice my back of an envelope estimate is that our Band D will go up by £100 - yes that’s only 5 per cent, but thats before any increase for inflation. I’m not convinced there will be cost savings, but my complaint really is that the impact on Council Tax isnt even mentioned. 

Thu 26 Jun, 13:15 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 13:23)

Don't forget to remind folk reading this site that the WODC amount represents only 5.3% of the total Council Tax bill, so cost sharing will more than likely be offset by cost savings elsewhere.  

I'm afraid the BBC have got it wrong again.  It's £129 like Claire says.  

Thu 26 Jun, 13:03 (last edited on Thu 26 Jun, 13:06)

The BBC report on this (26 March 2025) is here, plus some rather different figures: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpq2gqyglz5o.

It says OCC rates for a Band D property are some of the highest in the country (Band D at  £1,911.40 per year for 2025/26). It also says "Oxfordshire residents also pay council tax to their district council. Those additional levies stand at £362 a year in Oxford, £279 in South Oxfordshire, £269 in Cherwell, £262 in Vale of White Horse and £249 in West Oxfordshire". 

Council Tax is not the only issue, of course. We also need Government funding to flow into the area, and we also need not to lose what makes each individual areas distinctive. There is also the question of ongoing Council debts and how that would be taken into account. 

Cherwell is one of the most indebted councils in England relative to its size, with £188 million in borrowing (which includes £92 million specifically associated with the Castle Quay development in Banbury). Neither Oxford City or WODC  are mentioned in the context of high debt levels.

Under the Two Authorities solution we would be put together with Oxford City and also Cherwell. On the 3 Authority scheme we would be put together with Cherwell. But I don't know how the ongoing debts from Cherwell might affect us. Perhaps somebody else knows about this? WODC has said it prefers the 2 Authorities/Councils option. 

The Two Councils website and survey is here: https://twocouncils.org/Why-two-councils

Thu 26 Jun, 11:25

If youve looked at the info on the proposed new unitary authorities (thanks to the TC for sharing) you might have noticed it says nothing about the impact on our Council Tax.

WODC has low tax compared to most areas - £129 for Band D (thats just for the district, it doesnt include county, fire etc). In Oxford City Band D is £357, ie nearly three times higher. 

If we are merged with Oxford City the costs will be shared over the whole area, so our tax will go up - and for people in the city it will potentially go down.  It would be good for transparency to know before we respond what the actual impact on our Council Tax will be?