How the new councils will work with local communities
Oxford & Shires and Ridgeway will be designed as brand-new unitary councils, designed for their communities from day one. They will be small enough to remain responsive and have good local representation while still being big enough to take advantage of efficiencies.
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The councils will adopt an approach to locality working and community empowerment so they can manage the risk including being too remote from their communities.
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Scroll down to find out more about how the new councils would work with local communities.
Good levels of elected representation
National guidance states no council should have more than 100 councillors. Two unitaries provides 90-100 councillors per council. This would mean local people, community groups and parish councils get good representation.
Services built around community need
The new councils would transform their services to be designed on community need. This would provide better outcomes for local people and reduce duplication.
Working in partnership with other organisations
The councils would break down barriers with partners such as the NHS, the Police and voluntary and community sectors. The councils would be a valued and proactive partner that works across the area to tackle key issues to benefit all organisations and those we serve.
Introducing Local Neighbourhood Areas
Each new council would be split into neighbourhood areas with each area getting a focus and providing them with a voice. Oxford & Shires and Ridgeway Council are a manageable size to make sure local neighbourhood areas can have meaningful impact and be well resourced. This would give parish councils and wider communities the ability to shape their areas and feed into wider council work, making sure the councils stay close to their communities