The Government has confirmed it intends to press ahead with the abolition of Oxfordshire’s councils despite a leader’s plea to the new Prime Minister.

The county, city and district authorities, which have been governing Oxfordshire since the 70s, are set to be replaced by three new unitary councils in April 2028 under a national policy of local government reorganisation.

The announcement was made by the then Secretary of State Steve Reed on Thursday, July 16 – the final day of parliament sitting before its summer recess.

Since then, Mr Reed lost his position in Cabinet, with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham replacing him with Angela Rayner.

Oxfordshire County Council leader, Cllr Tim Bearder wrote to Mr Burnham asking him to “review the previous prime minister’s decision to split up the county in a way that makes no sense at all”.

placeholder image — Oxfordshire County Council leader, Cllr Tim Bearder wrote to Mr Burnham asking him to “review the previous prime minister’s decision to split up the county in a way that makes no sense at all”.

Following this, county council leader Tim Bearder wrote to Mr Burnham asking him to “review the previous prime minister’s decision to split up the county in a way that makes no sense at all” and “reverse” the choice.

A spokesperson for the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government has now confirmed the Government is focused on implementation and is bringing forward structural changes orders, legal documents, to enable the new arrangements.

It is not reviewing the reorganisation decision about Oxfordshire’s councils or any others.

The county had put forward a ‘One Oxfordshire’ plan for the reorganisation, which would have seen all the existing council powers allocated to one unitary authority.

The Government has decided not to proceed with that but, instead, with the three-council proposal put forward by the Labour-run city council.

It will see three authorities created, each holding county and district-level powers such as planning, transport and social care.

These are a Greater Oxford Council, North Oxfordshire Council, and Ridgeway Council, which also includes West Berkshire.

A Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Local government reorganisation will put one council in charge of decisions in their area, speeding up the construction of new homes and infrastructure, improving public services and boosting regional growth to put more money in peoples’ pockets.”

Leader of Oxford City Council, Susan Brown, described a close to £50 million saving which the three-council proposal had outlined, as well as anticipated economic growth from Greater Oxford.

She said: “One mega council across Oxfordshire would have been the second largest council in England after Birmingham and it would have stripped areas of local decision making.

“When judging the various options, the government was clear that councils needed to be big enough to be financially stable, which the three councils are, but also that they needed to be able to reflect their local places and represent them.”