Most people will now be aware that a decision has been made on the future structure of local government across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. The proposal put forward by Oxford City Council has been accepted by central government. The proposal put forward by Oxfordshire County Council, and the other proposal put forward by the district councils have been rejected.

The area will be served by three new unitary councils (from 2028):
* Greater Oxford Council – covering Oxford and its immediate surroundings
* Northern Oxfordshire Council – covering most of the existing Cherwell and West Oxfordshire districts
* Ridgeway Council – covering most of the existing South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse districts, together with West Berkshire

For Abingdon, the change represents one of the most significant shifts in its local government identity since 1974. It creates a new relationship with surrounding towns and villages while reconnecting with parts of old Berkshire.

One of the biggest changes is that Abingdon will no longer be part of the same principal authority as Oxford. Instead, it will become part of the new Ridgeway Council, alongside communities including Didcot, Wantage, Grove, Wallingford, Henley-on-Thames and towns across West Berkshire.

The new arrangements creates an interesting historical contrast. Before the local government reorganisation of 1974, Abingdon was close to the northern edge of Berkshire, with Oxford across the county boundary. Under the new structure, the town will once again find itself near the north edge of the Ridgeway and looking as it is about to be eaten by Greater Oxford.

Abingdon and Radley will be like a bulge of Ridgeway Council within Greater Oxford. Culham to the south will be part of Greater Oxford, while several neighbouring communities with historical links with Abingdon, such as Cumnor, Wootton, Sunningwell, Boars Hill and Kennington will be in the new Greater Oxford area.

These communities were part of North Berkshire before the 1974 changes, when they became part of the newly created Vale of White Horse district within Oxfordshire. The new boundaries therefore create a situation where some places that have long shared local authority government with Abingdon will now be governed separately.

The main aims of creating unitary councils is to simplify local government. Instead of responsibilities being divided between county and district councils, a single authority will be responsible for most local services, making it clearer for residents who to contact.

However, the largest services previously provided across the whole of Oxfordshire by the county council — including adult social care, children’s services, highways and transport — will now be provided separately by the three new unitary authorities rather than by one Oxfordshire-wide organisation. That seems to multiply rather than unify departments.

There is more information on https://3councils.org/.

This evening at St Helen’s Church, Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council elected a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Cllr Andrew Skinner, became the new Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames. Cllr Skinner represents Caldecott ward and spoke warmly about his chosen charity, the Abingdon Music Centre, praising the positive impact music can have on people’s lives.

The new Deputy Mayor is Victoria Walker, who represents the Fitzharris Wildmoor ward. She is a vaccine researcher at University of Oxford.

Cllr Rawda Jehanli completed her year as Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames. She said it had been “the greatest honour” to be Mayor.

As outgoing Mayor, Cllr Jehanli presented a number of awards. In a change from the usual practice, two local businesses were recognised for their help and support during the year —  The Crown and Thistle Hotel and The Hilton Garden Hotel.

Awards were also presented to Philip Bingham of Abingdon Food Bank, Martin Richards of the Scouts, and Holly Freeland of The Abingdon Bridge. The outgoing Mayor also thanked her cadets and chaplains for their support throughout the year.

Cllr Jehanli announced that over £6,000 had been raised for her chosen charity, Occtopus – Oxford Colon Cancer Trust.

Yesterday there was a by-election in Abingdon for two seats:  Abbey Northcourt District Council and Abbey Town Council.

During the campaign, the Liberal Democrats predicted a two-horse race, suggesting that a vote for Labour or the Greens would help Reform or the Conservatives to win.

To people in the street, it looked like a two-horse race between the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. The Lib Dems were winning on staked banners. The Greens were winning on posters in people’s windows.

Yesterday was polling day.

The result in the Abbey ward was a close two horse race between the Lib Dems and Greens. Congratulations to Carol, from the Lib Dems, who has already done a lot for the town through her work as a Girl Guide leader.

The result in the Abbey Northcourt ward was clearer. Congratulations to Caleb. The Greens again came a strong second.

At the moment, Abingdon is within Vale of White Horse District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. That means different services are currently provided by two levels of local government.

The national government is asking people for their views on three different options to reorganise local government in Oxfordshire. All three would replace the current system of county and district councils with new unitary councils – single authorities responsible for all the principle services.

Town and parish councils, including Abingdon Town Council, would continue as they are with minor changes.

The diagram above shows how responsibilities would move from the current two-level system to unitary councils. The consultation on the three options runs until 26 March 2026.

Two of the three proposals include West Berkshire, even though it is not in Oxfordshire. This is because the government expects new unitary councils to serve around 500,000 people or more, and South Oxfordshire and the Vale together do not add up to that much.

Option 1 — One unitary council for all Oxfordshire – based on the current Oxfordshire County Council boundaries – proposed by Oxfordshire County Council.

This would replace all the district councils with a single council covering the whole of Oxfordshire. The single council would serve around 780,000 people.

Option 2 — Two unitary councils – Proposed by the four district councils and West Berkshire unitary council – combines existing district and city councils

This would create two new authorities:

• Oxford and Shires Council (Cherwell, Oxford City, West Oxfordshire)
• Ridgeway Council (South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, and West Berkshire)

Each would have just under the 500,000 population the government is looking for.

This would be smaller and presumably more local than Option 1. It would also renew Abingdon’s ancient Berkshire link. The northern part of Berkshire was moved into Oxfordshire in 1974, with Faringdon, Wantage and Abingdon and their villages becoming the Vale of White Horse district. Didcot and Wallingford were added to South Oxfordshire (1).
Option 3 — Three unitary councils – is about creating a Greater Oxford as proposed by Oxford City Council

It would create:

• Greater Oxford Council (Oxford City plus surrounding land)
• Northern Oxfordshire Council (Most of Cherwell and West Oxfordshire)
• Ridgeway Council (South Oxfordshire, most of the Vale of White Horse, and West Berkshire)

These councils would be smaller than the government’s 500,000 population guideline, which could make this option less viable.

There are a lot of documents to read and you can respond to the consultation at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/local-government-reorganisation-in-oxfordshire/proposals-for-local-government-reorganisation-in-oxfordshire

Unfortunately there will be no referendum. The final decision will be taken by central government.

Ref 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire