Cherwell to continue as Banbury area's council as local government shake up is 'paused'

Cherwell District Council will be relieved that plans for a merger with West Oxfordshire, with a ‘Greater Oxford’ created, are to be reviewed.

In a statement in the House of Commons this afternoon (Monday), Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, said the move was made on ‘legal advice’ and reorganisations would be ‘considered afresh’.

She would not say whether the reorganisations had been completely abandoned or whether replacement plans would show different authority boundaries.

She said she did not think money spent on the process by government or councils had been wasted.

Local council elections will go ahead next year (May, 2027) based on the current boundaries.

Replying to a question by Banbury MP Sean Woodcock Mrs Rayner said she would meet him and MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds, to discuss how the decision will affect growth in the Banbury and Oxford areas.

“I am really disappointed by this,” Mr Woodcock said. “Councils have had months working on proposals, and resources and precious time have been spent on it – or I would say wasted on it.

"Growth is meant to be a priority for this government and Oxfordshire is a high-growth delivery area. Yet we have no devolution, no local government reorganization and no timescale for either.”

Mrs Rayner said: “We'll happily meet with the Honorable Member and the Minister as part of this programme. The new Prime Minister made it absolutely clear we want to see growth in every postcode.. it needs to be that every area feels that.”

MPs in the House pressed Mrs Rayner to refund councils the ‘titanic’ amounts of money they have spent preparing for the proposed reorganisations which will now not go ahead.

The reorganisations were confirmed in July, on the last day of Parliament before the summer recess – see report here. Labour-run Oxford City Council’s proposal to split Oxfordshire and West Berkshire councils into three unitary authorities was then chosen by the Government.

At the time, Cherwell District Council said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ and is expected to welcome today’s (Monday) announcement.

Banbury councillor Cllr Kieron Mallon said: “This has and will continue to cause confusion to voters, costs to councils who have had to do all the preliminary work and uncertainty to the tens of thousands of employees who work in Local Government across England.”

The Local Government Information Unit’s (LGIU) CEO Jonathan Carr-West said: “What began as the most ambitious change to local government in a generation now looks in danger of becoming a colossal white elephant - a huge drain on time, resources and goodwill.

“Those councils undergoing local government reorganisation have been trying to implement a massively complex project, under intense pressure and to very challenging timescales.

“Our overriding concern is that local government leaders, staff and councillors have strained every sinew to meet the deadlines set by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Today’s announcement - whatever the reasons behind it - rides roughshod over 1000s of hours of work.”

Statements from the councils involved are expected in the coming hours.