Overview
- Mid‑July’s decision by the Communities Secretary will abolish Oxfordshire’s county, city and district councils and set up three unitary authorities—Ridgeway, Greater Oxford and North Oxfordshire—to begin operating in April 2028.
- Ridgeway will combine West Berkshire with most of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse, while Reading’s bid to transfer Tilehurst, Calcot and Purley into a Greater Reading area was rejected.
- Local leaders have warned that West Berkshire’s repeated emergency support from government, including loans reported in 2025–26 and an agreement in principle for further sums in February 2026, could create financial risks for the new councils and their residents.
- Councillors also say the boundary choices will shift parish representation—South Oxfordshire will lose about 25 parishes and the Vale of White Horse about nine to Greater Oxford—and they fear higher complexity, duplicated costs and threats to greenbelt protection.
- Major ongoing projects such as the Bicester asylum accommodation centre are expected to continue but responsibility for negotiating, planning and managing their impacts will transfer to the incoming unitary authorities and could change local oversight.