Oxford Mail Report.

Thu 3 Mar 2016, 18:13 (last edited on Thu 3 Mar 2016, 18:17)

There has just been an interview on Meridian News with Mr.Hudspeth (Oxford County Council) with regard to this subject for those interested who missed it. itv.news/meridian

Sat 27 Feb 2016, 07:28 (last edited on Sat 27 Feb 2016, 09:00)

Thank you for your explanation Richard, that truly sounds absolutely terrible if our district lost it's identity and had fewer councillors to support us.It was highlighted in 'local news' was the reason I posted it as I felt it must be important.

Fri 26 Feb 2016, 12:44

No-one appears to have asked Northamptonshire or Gloucestershire what they might think about losing one of their districts, either, and the leader of Northamptonshire County Council doesn't sound impressed...

Fri 26 Feb 2016, 12:26 (last edited on Fri 26 Feb 2016, 12:28)

This came as a complete surprise to me as a councillor. It was not raised at any recent Cabinet meeting, nor at the Council meeting last Wednesday. The last time the possibility of a unitary was raised in Council was when the County made a proposal to the district councils about a year ago, and at that time WODC rejected the idea, with Barry Norton being very vociferously against it. The view expressed by the ruling group was that the County wanted to get its hands on the reserves held by WODC and other councils and use the money to pay for the services that they are being forced to cut. So I presume that this is a deal struck by the district councils among themselves to prevent the County from taking them over and spending all their money, and a vote of no confidence in the County regime headed by Mr Hudspeth.

Fri 26 Feb 2016, 11:53

The districts' proposal is that Oxfordshire County Council be abolished and that four new unitary authorities be created: Oxford City, North Oxon/South Northants, South Oxon/Vale of White Horse, and West Oxon/(Gloucestershire) Cotswold.

Not everyone is a fan of unitary authorities, of course. One prominent local politician said: "There are other ways of achieving savings without the huge transitional costs of setting up new authorities and the disruption this would involve. Enhanced two-tier working would lower costs and build on the strengths and partnerships of the current structure... Local accountability and democracy is also at stake. The proposed unitary status... covers a huge geographical area. The identity of the district we know and love would disappear. There would inevitably be fewer councillors supporting more than 160 local town and parish councils. This, again, is not good news for our residents."

Who said that? Funnily enough, it was Barry Norton, the leader of WODC, in 2007. I don't know what's happened to make him change his mind, but the suspiciously swift backing from local MPs makes me think it's related to the recent Cameron/Hudspeth spat. I'm glad they're having fun...

Fri 26 Feb 2016, 11:39

Report in Oxford Mail yesterday with regard to biggest shake-up of government in Oxfordshire since 1974.with regard to Councils backed by Prime Minister and MP's.