Three unitary councils
Oxfordshire and West Berkshire councils submitted three different proposals to government in November 2025.
Following public consultation and assessment of the options, the government decided to proceed with the three-council model for Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
The three new councils
- Greater Oxford Council – covering Oxford and its immediate surroundings
- Northern Oxfordshire Council – covering most of the existing Cherwell and West Oxfordshire districts
- Ridgeway Council – covering most of the existing South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse districts combined with West Berkshire
Each council will be responsible for all council services in their area, including:
- Social care
- Housing
- Planning
- Transport
- Education
- Licensing
- Bin collections
- Street cleaning
- Community centres
- Leisure centres
- Libraries
- Parks
Map of 3Councils
Watch – understanding the three-council model
Why 3Councils?
Local decision making
Oxford city, rural Oxfordshire and West Berkshire have different demographics, economies and service needs.
The three-councils model was developed on the basis that councils serving different areas would be able to focus on the priorities and needs of their local communities.
Under the new arrangements:
Greater Oxford Council will serve Oxford and neighbouring communities
Ridgeway Council will serve communities across southern Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
Northern Oxfordshire Council will take decisions affecting Banbury, Witney and surrounding communities
Local economies and growth
The proposal recognised that Oxford has a highly specialised local economy, with strengths including medical research, education, and health, while other parts of Oxfordshire and West Berkshire have significant strengths in areas such as manufacturing, motorsport, hospitality and agriculture.
The proposal estimated that enabling additional economic growth across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire could contribute up to £170 billion to the UK economy by 2050.
Housing
The proposal identified housing affordability as a major challenge across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
A central element of the approved three-councils model is concentrating housing growth around Oxford, rather than expanding towns and villages across Oxfordshire.
The proposal estimated that around 40,000 new homes, including approximately 16,000 social and affordable homes, could be delivered within the Greater Oxford Council area by 2040.
The new homes could be accommodated while using a relatively small proportion (just 2.6%) of Oxford’s 35,000-hectare Green Belt.
This approach would mean Northern Oxfordshire and Ridgeway would no longer need to help meet Oxford’s unmet housing need. Greater Oxford would be able to meets all its housing needs within its expanded boundaries.
Further detail is available in the full proposal document.
Financial sustainability
The proposal estimated that, by year five, the three-councils model would deliver recurring annual savings of around £48.6m across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
The three councils would be financially sustainable, efficient and capable of delivering services at scale while responding to local priorities.
Informed by local views
The three-council model was informed by engagement from residents, businesses, partners, community organisations and stakeholders across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.
Each existing council carried out engagement and the insights developed through this work helped to shape the proposals for local government reorganisation.
This provided insight into the issues that matter most to communities, including responsive local services, strong democratic accountability, financial sustainability, housing affordability, economic growth and the different needs of urban and rural areas. The government also carried out a public consultation on all proposals during February and March 2026, and will release their consultation findings shortly.
The government made its decision to proceed with the proposal for three unitary councils in July 2026.