Shake-up around the corner? (From Witney Gazette)

Shake-up around the corner?

2:51pm Friday 3rd March 2006 in Witney By Giles Sheldrick

THE Government minister in charge of reorganising local authorities has dropped the biggest hint yet that Oxford City Council could be given unitary status in a Town Hall shake-up planned for later this year.

David Miliband described the current two-tier set-up in Oxford, which sees services delivered by both the county and city council, as 'confusing and expensive'.

The city council is putting together a 'case for change', which it will submit to the Government in time for a White Paper published in the summer. If the city is granted unitary status, the Town Hall would be free to run the city's schools, social services, and education all provided by Oxfordshire County Council possibly as early as 2008.

Mr Miliband said: "The case against the two-tier system is it is confusing and expensive.

"It strikes me that in Oxford now is the right time to be debating whether the system is right for the 21st century.

"The Government has said it is not going to declare its hand until the summer, but if the residents of Oxford are thinking hard about how they want to be governed, that's a good thing. If they are thinking hard about where power should lie, that's a good thing, and if they are thinking about the relationship between the city and neighbouring authorities, that's a good thing.

"If it ain't bust, don't fix it'."

Keith Mitchell

"There is a case to answer whether or not the two tier structure is delivering."

Oxford City Council has united behind the push for unitary status, but Oxfordshire County Council is largely against the idea, with leader Keith Mitchell saying 'it if ain't bust, don't fix it'.

Mr Miliband added: "I am always sceptical of that phrase because it limits expectations we should be asking ourselves is 'if it's not excellent, how do we make it so'? The question for district councils to ask themselves in places like Oxford is whether or not the current structure is delivering the clarity necessary for local democracy to work well."

There are four options for Oxfordshire: * A unitary for Oxford city, and one for the north and south of Oxfordshire *A unitary for Oxford city, and a two-tier system in the rest of the county *A unitary authority for Oxfordshire * No change to the present two-tier system.