A fresh start for local government in Oxfordshire

Local government in Oxfordshire

Six councils – one county council, four district councils and one city council

Spending on council services (2015-16)

£719m

£20m£23m£16m£14m£11m

The proposal for change

• Replace all six councils with ONE new ‘unitary’ council for Oxfordshire delivering all services

• £20m saved each year - improve local services and keep council tax down

• Draft proposal – we’re listening to residents

Why change?• Councils are spending less but it’s getting

harder to save money without cutting services• Growing and aging population puts pressure

on services• Government funding reduced so councils have

to be self-sufficient

The population of people aged 90+ will double by 2030

Simpler

• One website, one phone number, one contact

• Joined-up planning for jobs, homes and transport so roads in the right place

• One council taking decisions in the best interests of Oxfordshire

Better services• Local environment services such

as street cleaning and road maintenance under local management

• Joining up social services, housing and benefits to support people who need help

• Improve health and wellbeing by joining up leisure, libraries, parks

• One local councillor for your community, accountable for all council services

• Parishes and town councils have more influence over decisions affecting their community

• Your councillor takes local decisions as a member of an ‘area board’ and unitary council

Lower cost • One council – one ‘back office’ (HR, finance, legal etc); fewer councillors and senior managers

• Saves £20m each year - improve services and protect them from future cuts

• Keeps council tax down

How is the £20m saving made?

• Fewer senior managers (£3.2m)• Fewer councillors (£1.5m)• Combining central services eg finance, ICT,

legal and HR (£6.8m)• Combining district services (£6.6m)• Reducing office space (£2.4m)

What would £20m buy?

300,000 potholes

filled

1 million hours of

home care

Child protecti

on

Care homes for o

lder people

1 unitary

saving

Housing su

pport

Librarie

s

Bin colle

ction

Road maintenance

Street c

leaning

Leisu

re£0

£10

£20

£30

£40

£50 £47m

£35m

£20m

£14m

£9m £9m £8m £7m

£2m

(Mill

ions

)

www.oneoxfordshire.org