Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council in discussions to end formal partnership

Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council are in discussions to bring their formal partnership arrangements to an end.

The ending of the partnership would mean that joint chief executive Yvonne Rees will return to her substantive post as CEO for Cherwell District Council from the date of both full council decisions. Recruitment will take place for the post of chief executive for Oxfordshire County Council.

The intention is that joint services would remain in place while new arrangements are finalised.

Leader of Cherwell District Council Cllr Barry Wood said: “The partnership has served the councils and our residents very well for the past three years and enabled us to deliver high-quality cost-effective services. But it is now time for us to explore other opportunities. Our focus will remain on delivering high-standard services for all our residents and communities and we will continue to work closely with all our local authority partners in Oxfordshire to do so.”

Leader of Oxfordshire County Council Cllr Liz Leffman said: “During the pandemic, we have worked very closely with all our local authority partners to support our most vulnerable residents and deliver much-needed services. What we want to do now is to capitalise on this and focus on the opportunities that broader partnership working gives us so that we can best serve the residents of Oxfordshire.”