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Leader’s statement – 14 May 2026  

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, delivered her Leader’s statement to Council at the meeting on 14 May 2026. 

Image of Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers

Local Government Review (LRG) and Devolution  

Since the consultation period on the three proposals ended, officers across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire have been working collaboratively on activity appropriate to this pre-decision phase.  That has mainly focused on: 

  • Baselining activity advised by Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), gathering data across the system in a number of workstreams such as Finance, HR, Property, Contracts, Customer and IT.  This will be an important dataset as we move to the next phase of work following a decision from central government. 
  • Work has also been undertaken to establish the system programme management framework to progress local government reorganisation (LGR).  
  • Following decisions in other areas, officers have been analysing the processes MHCLG have required from those councils including the development of draft Structural Change Orders and what that might mean for us.  
  • Within South, officers are working hard to develop resourcing plans, a programme structure and work packages to deliver this work, alongside devolution/spatial development strategies (SDS) requirements. 

It will take some time for these arrangements to bed in, but it will stand us in great stead to deliver on the ambitions of our council.  

Since we last met, devolution meetings have continued to take place. However, the inclusion of Swindon has continued to be a thorny issue. It is safe to say that it is unlikely that the Thames Valley would reach the unanimity required by the now ex minister of devolution. I am of the view that in order to power ahead with a strategic authority, by far the easiest thing would be for Oxfordshire and Berkshire to go it alone for the time being. 

Planning  

Our draft Joint Local Plan at examination is progressing well, with a third inspector recently appointed and further public hearings expected early July. All being well, we hope to be in a position to adopt the Joint Local Plan by early next year. At the same time, Council is required to give Notice of Commencement to start on the next Local Plan, under the new 30-month process, by the end of June. 

It is important for our communities to influence and shape development in their areas, and I am pleased to report that the number of made Neighbourhood Plans or those in progress across the district are at a record 61. 

We are also delivering under our Garden Communities, with infrastructure upgrades at our leisure centres, public art, and supporting thriving community networks in Didcot and Berinsfield. 

In terms of Development Management, the new IT system is now in place. There have been some limited teething problems as you might expect from a new platform. However, officers are working through those, so do let them know if you are experiencing problems. I am told we have adequate customer service capacity to help.  

Our new head of planning (Adrian’s Replacement) starts at the start of July. Her name is Jeni Jackson, and I trust we will all make her feel very welcome and very busy.  

Waste  

On Waste, the news is that we now have a signed contract with Biffa. I am sure that there has been a fair amount of anxiety about getting this over the line in time for the start in July, so huge thanks to officers for getting us there. There has been some comms on this which suggested that the contact is for 16 years, but in fact it is for a minimum of 8 years with a break clause at the 4-year mark, but for a maximum of 16 should the successor authority wish to consider an extension. The contract is designed to be as flexible as possible.  

In other news, we are currently running the annual waste and street cleaning survey which I would like to encourage you to complete and share widely with residents and parishes. When we did our engagement with parishes, it was clear that people had some ideas for improvement, so I hope they will take the opportunity to complete it. It closes on the 4 June.  

Economic Development  

Our economic development team and Cllr Rawlins have been working with Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and District counterparts on a future economic strategy for Oxfordshire which will aim to set out our economic priorities. Following a lot of discussion and iteration, Enterprise Oxfordshire and OCC are now bringing forward an emerging White Paper to consider the best way forwards. There is real evidence of new and better thinking! 

The White Paper acknowledges the substantial infrastructure constraints within Oxford and Oxfordshire, as well as:  

  • That our Growth Plan should be focussed on productivity and gross value added (GVA) not on crude growth of jobs, population and housing. 
  • That Oxford City is overwhelmed and lacks transport and other infrastructure. Instead, we need to recognise the polycentric nature of the Oxfordshire economy. 
  • That different types of businesses have different kinds of locational needs. 
  • That productivity requires a smart skills development programme. 

This narrower focus on productivity alongside recognition of infrastructure constraints is welcome, and much more likely to see us contributing to some actual delivery. If you would like to know more, or feed into this work, do get in touch with Cllr Rawlins.   

Housing 

Quick word on Housing,  

  • We are progressing well with purchases.  
  • We were also successful with a top up to the latest round of the local authority housing fund (LAHF). 
  • Hot of the press, we have secured the Homes England funding of £1,072,805. This means we can progress the Broadway project without further delay. 
  • Our latest homelessness prevention rate continues to be enviable, and it stands at being 82%.  

The Renters Rights Act came into effect earlier this month. Credit where credit is due, I believe it to be a largely positive piece of legislation that will go some way to provide some much-needed security to renters.  

On Grants  

Recent grant schemes have shown a lot of interest, so clearly we are all making sure news of opportunities are trickling down to local communities. Our grants programme stands at just under £2m a year, if your account for revenue and location specific schemes in Berinsfield. We don’t know what will happen to these come the successor authority, so please do continue to share opportunities with them so that organisations can build capacity whilst we still have them.  

Review of Champion roles and Representatives on External Bodies and Partnerships  

Government reform is very acutely felt across most public institutions, not just local government. Health and Police reform are notable, and it has prompted me to ask for a review in terms of how our reps on Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) and The Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel (PCP) can ensure that you all are supported and equipped to have these important discussions with your residents. I will come back to you with what has been decided. Watch this space.  

It is fair to say that we have dropped the ball on some of our Champion roles, so we are going to be reviewing those as well to see how we can make them work better and utilise the time and skills of volunteer councillors.   

Our motions

Two motions were considered and all were passed.  

The first motion, proposed by Cllr Keats-Rohan, raised the issue to oppose the Government decision to abolish Healthwatch. The motion raised the concern that, while district councils do not have statutory responsibility for commissioning or delivery of health and adult social care service, we still have a vital leadership role and a statutory duty to promote the wellbeing of our residents. We will seek to express our concern regarding the Government’s decision and share our hope that we will maintain an independent patient voice at local and national levels.   

Cllr Gregory proposed the second motion for us to adopt the Socio-Economic Duty. While Oxfordshire is quite low in the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, there are still pockets of rural deprivation in our area. The motion aimed for us to adopt the duty and apply clear guidelines to support our strategic decisions to make sure we maintain fairness for all our residents.