Proposal for new unitary council

Published: 18 March 2025

An initial proposal for a new unitary authority to cover West Berkshire, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse is to be discussed by the councils this week, ahead of the deadline for Oxfordshire councils to submit proposals to the government by Friday 21 March.

The proposal is in response to the government announcement in December 2024 that two-tier authorities (county and district), as seen in Oxfordshire, will end and new unitary councils will be created.

As part of the reorganisation, each unitary authority will need to serve a population of around 500,000 people. West Berkshire Council (WBC) is a unitary authority but covers only around 170,000 residents, so it will need to merge with neighbouring authorities.

With strong demographic and economic similarities and significant historic ties between West Berkshire, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, the three councils began discussions to explore the possibility of coming together as one single council. A cross-party group of councillors – the Member Devolution Advisory Group – was set up and had its first meeting in early March.

Good progress has been made, and the councils believe the proposal would be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design a new model of local government which delivers high-quality services, improves financial resilience and value-for-money, and ensures it’s able to maintain truly local representation.

The initial proposal is being progressed under the title ‘Ridgeway Council’ – named after the 5,000-year-old footpath that travels through the heart of the three council areas.

If approved an initial proposal will be submitted later this month and a final submission due no later than 28 November 2025. If approved by the respective committees next week, further development work would take place on the proposals along with a programme of communication and engagement to ensure local voices and community needs are reflected in the proposal.

If the final proposal is accepted the government’s indicative timeline sets out that the new council could go live in 2028.