
Oxfordshire should be working with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire
Published 24 January 2025
Shared identities and vibrant economies mean that Oxfordshire should look to work with its partners in the South-East in a new Strategic Authority rather than looking west towards Swindon – that’s the view of the Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council.
In a written update to Members of the district council, Cllr David Rouane explained his view that Oxfordshire should “work together in a Strategic Authority with those councils in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire who wish to join with us.
“This is because these areas all have vibrant economies that will contribute to the sustainable growth the government is looking for; we have a record of working together in the police and health authorities; we have a shared identity as part of the South-East Region; and we have historical connections in that much of South Oxfordshire was in Berkshire prior to the previous local government reorganisation.”
The Leader of Swindon Borough Council, Cllr Jim Robbins, has expressed a preference for the Wiltshire town to “look east” towards Oxfordshire for a possible Strategic Authority, Cllr Rouane has explained that, having listened to the arguments, he does not support this idea.
In his message to his district council colleagues, Cllr Rouane said that Swindon doesn’t meet the relevant conditions for joining with parts of Oxfordshire as “they are in different health and police geographies, their long-term identity is one of being the ‘Gateway to the West Country’ not part of the South East, we have no historical ties, and they are at a very different stage in the economic cycle.”
Cllr Rouane has also asked the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council to set out her position on a preferred geography for a Strategic Authority as soon as possible, ahead of a meeting between councils on 31 January.