Oxfordshire prepares for legal battle over Ridgeway Council formation
County council not backing down despite the Government's plans
The formation of Ridgeway Council has taken another turn, with Oxfordshire lining up a legal challenge against it.
The UK Government has confirmed that from April 1, 2028, Oxfordshire’s current seven councils will be replaced by three new unitary authorities as part of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
This means every existing district and city council area in Oxfordshire will be merged into one of the new councils, with boundary changes.
One of those is Ridgeway, which joins West Berkshire Council with most of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.
West Berkshire’s council leader Jeff Brooks thinks another challenge will fail.
He said: “It is difficult for Oxford county councillors to accept that their organisation will be abolished in the three unitary council solution.
“I recall at Berkshire County Council we mounted a legal challenge against the six unitary council model.
“But, in my view, the new Ridgeway Council will simplify service delivery for the Vale of White Horse and South Oxford residents which will not, for instance, have to deal with two councils for their services – county for schools and adult social care and district for waste and planning, for instance.
“And we expect significant savings to be delivered as per the thoroughly tested business case put forward to Government.
”So, I am very optimistic that any challenge will not be successful, and we can look forward to a new Ridgeway Council that delivers very good services as well as economies and savings.”
Earlier this month, Oxfordshire County Council formally issued a legal letter to the Government ahead of a judicial review, seeking evidence regarding the Government’s LGR decision in July.
Regarding last week’s decision, Tim Bearder (Lib Dem), leader of Oxfordshire, said the authority is open to launching a new legal challenge.
“We’re considering it because as we understand it now this is a new decision, so it means that our pre-application letter previously is now no longer relevant and washes away, and so we’ll have to now take a view on the new decision before we potentially go down the judicial review avenue again.”