Oxfordshire homeless charity welcomes council shake-up but seeks funding guarantees
Homeless Oxfordshire says a simpler council system could benefit residents but there must be a smooth transition
Homeless Oxfordshire has welcomed the government's decision to replace Oxfordshire's current council structure with three new unitary authorities, but says protecting funding for homelessness services must be a priority as the changes are introduced.
The charity, which works with councils across Oxfordshire to support people experiencing homelessness, says clarity over the future structure is a positive step.
Chief Executive Simon Hewett-Avison said the organisation is ready to speak with local authorities on the move to three new unitary councils.
"We welcome a decision. There's nothing worse than uncertainty. So at least now we have a decision and we can work with all those involved in making the plans go ahead," he said.
Homeless Oxfordshire currently delivers many of its services through partnerships with Oxfordshire County Council and the county's district councils, working alongside housing, health, adult social care and welfare teams.
While there has been political disagreement over the government's preferred three-unitary model, Mr Hewett-Avison believes a simpler council structure could ultimately benefit residents.
"We've got a very complex system at the moment. It's not always clear who you need to go to for different things and different services," he said.
"Joining up some of those services that are currently split out across district and county councils will inevitably make things easier for our residents to navigate."
However, he said the transition period would be crucial, calling for plans to continue alongside guarantees over funding and statutory services.
"We've worked very hard over the last few years to create a county-wide plan for housing and homelessness and we really want to see that continue, alongside some guarantees around some of the funding that delivers the valuable services across the county," he said.
"We've been in a housing crisis for a long, long time. This has been 25 or 30 years of selling off, demolishing and not rebuilding our social housing stock. It's going to take a long time for us to build our way out of that."
Mr Hewett-Avison said he was encouraged by what he described as a stronger focus from the government on housing, but warned that the restructure alone would not be enough.
"Redrawing the boundaries alone is not going to solve the housing crisis. It needs to be followed up with policy, both from central government and from local government as well, so that we can encourage and incentivise our big house builders to build homes that are genuinely affordable in Oxford."
He said he was optimistic that the new structure could make it easier to deliver more affordable housing.
"I am hopeful that under a unitary system, we've got more chance of getting those planning applications through and the sort of political will to build more homes that are truly affordable."
Looking ahead to the planned changes in 2028, Homeless Oxfordshire says it will begin working with local authority commissioners now to ensure services continue throughout the transition and to secure longer-term funding settlements.
Mr Hewett-Avison said the charity would also continue to advocate for people with lived experience of homelessness to be involved in future decision-making.
He acknowledged concerns about the changes but said it was important to focus on making the transition work.
"There are some genuine risks. I think there will be some winners and losers in this thing, as there often is when change occurs," he said.
"We need to keep that hope in our minds that actually this is the right thing to do in terms of simplification and work with our local authority partners as early as we possibly can."