About local government reorganisation and devolution
One Oxfordshire, our proposal for a single unitary council for Oxfordshire, was submitted to government on 27 November 2025.
One Oxfordshire is one of three proposals for Oxfordshire, developed in response to the government’s invitation to councils to submit proposals for local government reorganisation.
With One Oxfordshire, all council services would come together into a single council, meaning:
- Protection of critical services like adult and children's social care
- One front door, meaning easier access to support for residents and businesses
- A stronger community voice, central to decision making
- £63 million saved each year, money that can be reinvested in frontline services
- Protection of our beautiful county - helping us build the right homes in the right places
- A stronger council when working with government and investors
The government’s vision is to make local government simpler, clearer and more efficient. Read more about this below.
Our belief is One Oxfordshire delivers on this vision and is the best future for Oxfordshire. Read more about what happens next below.
The three options for Oxfordshire
With all three proposals, all the same services will be provided, but by a newly formed unitary authority, or authorities, rather than the six councils that have operated in the county since 1974.
Currently, six councils provide services in Oxfordshire:
- Oxfordshire County Council
- Cherwell District Council
- Oxford City Council
- South Oxfordshire District Council
- Vale of White Horse District Council
- West Oxfordshire District Council
Interim proposals were submitted to government in March 2025. These have now been worked up to form three final proposals for Oxfordshire:
- A single unitary council for Oxfordshire - Oxfordshire Council. This is our preferred option.
- Two unitary councils
- Oxford and Shires Council created from the existing district councils of Cherwell, Oxford City and West Oxfordshire.
- Ridgeway Council created from the existing district councils of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse and the unitary council of West Berkshire.
- Three unitary councils
- Greater Oxford Council – covering Oxford and its green belt
- Northern Oxfordshire Council – covering most of the existing Cherwell and West Oxfordshire districts.
- Ridgeway Council
During November, scrutiny committees, cabinets, councils and executives across all Oxfordshire councils were asked to debate and approve the proposals. All three had to be submitted to government by 28 November 2025.
The government's vision
On 16 December 2024, the government published a white paper on a national programme of devolution and reform to local government.
In February 2025, they invited councils in Oxfordshire to submit an interim proposal(s) for local government reorganisation. Three interim proposals were submitted in March 2025.
The government’s long-term vision is for simpler structures, which make it much clearer for residents who they should look to on local issues.
The government aims to:
- reorganise and simplify the structures of councils in England by replacing county and district councils with unitary authorities – this is known as local government reorganisation (LGR)
- devolve more powers and funding from national to local government – this is known as devolution.
Read more about devolution
What happens next for local government reorganisation?
Timings will be confirmed by government
- A statutory consultation will likely take place in early 2026, giving residents, businesses and stakeholders the opportunity to share their views on all the proposals for Oxfordshire before any decisions are made.
- The government is expected to announce its decision in early summer 2026.
- We expect that, in May 2027, elections will take place for a shadow authority (or authorities) – a temporary governing body established during the transition period to a new council.
- A new council(s) will potentially come into effect on 1 April 2028.