Bid launched for Oxfordshire super council that 'could save £400,000 a week'

Bob Price, leader of Oxford City Council, said the bid put forward today was the 'wrong proposal at the wrong time'.

He warned that the proposed authority - covering all of Oxfordshire - would be 'highly disruptive and take years to create', adding that savings of £20m a year would represent just 2.4 per cent of the new authority's total budget.

Mr Price also claimed it would lead to new homes being built in some areas against the wishes of local communities, big tax increases for households and a loss of democratic accountability. 

His comments came after Oxfordshire County Council said replacing the six biggest local authorities with a single organisation would save £400,000 a week and make services better.

But Mr Price, pictured below, said: "For the people of Oxford, a unitary council would be a disaster.

"Harmonisation of services across the county would rip up the city’s approach to key services like housing and homelessness, climate change, advice services, recycling and recreation and the arts.  

"The needs of a multi-ethnic and socially mixed urban community are very different to the more rural parts of the county. 

"The city is also a focus for the economic vitality of the county, the region and the UK as a whole and there is a delicate balance between its economic, social, cultural and academic sectors that needs careful management. These proposals  fails to address these needs.

"The people of Oxford need control of their community so as to reflect their needs, not those of other parts of a very diverse county area."

He urged the county council to instead focus on devolution proposals for an elected mayor and combined authority, which 'could be created very quickly'.

The county council published its detailed plans for the super council for the first time today. It is asking people for their views before it submits a case to the Government.

Bosses claim money being 'wasted' on having six councils could pay for 5,700 potholes to be filled a week, or almost 20,000 hours of home care.

And they said the new council would have the option of reversing controversial cuts made to services like children's centres and daytime centres.

But it would mean abolishing the county council, Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Cherwell District Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council – and up to 180 councillors and 400 staff losing their jobs.

• Picture: Andrew Walmsley

Announcing the proposal yesterday, county council Conservative leader Ian Hudspeth, pictured above centre, said: "We should be spending our money on improving services, not running councils.

"This is a once in a generation chance to improve local government in Oxfordshire and deliver better services for residents.

"What we have here are draft proposals and we want to work with all our partners – that is residents, businesses and councils – to find out their views."

The new council would take over responsibilities for services currently split between district and county level, including rubbish collection, roads, council housing, planning, leisure centres and social care.

It would have between 100 and 125 councillors representing people across the county – down from 282 across all the authorities now – and those from the city and four rural districts would be grouped into 'area boards'.

The proposals published today say the boards would have powers to raise their own local precept on top of council tax, as well as control over most planning applications – with the exception of developments of 200 homes or more.

Cost savings would come from the lower number of councillors, reducing office space, cutting senior management posts, and combining back-office systems and district services.

Mr Hudspeth said the merger would help protect services from further government funding cuts.

And he added: "Ending the inefficiency of running six councils would save £100m over the first five years.

"The new council would clearly therefore have the option of revisiting areas where savings have previously been made."

He was backed by the leaders of rival county council political groups Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who said a single council would be able to run services in a more 'joined-up' way.

• At the moment, different services are run by different councils

Labour group leader Liz Brighouse added: "We need to tackle the real crisis in affordable housing in Oxfordshire, which our two-tier system is failing to do."

And Richard Webber, Lid Dem group boss, said: "People want more influence over decisions affecting their local area, while ensuring that bigger decisions in the interests of the whole of Oxfordshire are not ducked."

According to the county council, the super-council bid is "separate" to plans for an elected mayor and devolution deal in Oxfordshire.

But it argues a mayor could lead the new council if the post was a key condition for major funding from the Government.

The bid for a single, unitary authority comes after two separate reports commissioned by Oxfordshire's councils – costing taxpayers £200,000 in total – found the change could save tens of millions of pounds.

A similar bid has also been submitted in Buckinghamshire and senior officials are watching closely, with some seeing it as a test case.

But the plans for Oxfordshire are likely to face strong opposition from district councils, who have previously argued a larger, 'monolithic' authority would not be able to balance the needs of Oxford with its rural neighbours.

The council has asked for people to give their views before a meeting on March 14. To comment, visit: oneoxfordshire.org or visit your local library.

Reacting today, both Vale of White Horse District Council leader Matthew Barber and his South Oxfordshire counterpart John Cotton said they would be considering the proposals in detail before responding fully.

Mr Cotton added: "We need to be certain that any proposals for change are actually that - change - and not just an excuse to kick difficult decisions into the long grass."

But James Mills, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council said the super council bid was 'an unnecessary distraction'.

He added: "A devolution deal should be our main focus as this would bring in additional funding for infrastructure which would help sort existing problems such as the A40."

And Barry Wood, leader of Cherwell District Council, added: "The proposals put forward by Oxfordshire County Council are based upon sweeping and inaccurate information which already demonstrates the dangers of trying to apply one basic model across a varied demographic area.

"The county council makes reference to reducing services in order to make savings; at Cherwell we have protected all of our frontline services by adopting joint working and identifying opportunities for income generation through commercialisation.

"Unlike the county council, we have not increased our share of council tax for seven years and still no services have been cut here."