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Report of the Leader of the Council – Annual Council Meeting – 15 May 2025

Cllr David Rouane, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, delivered his latest Report to Council at the annual meeting on 15 May 2025:

Changes in the administration

You will have seen in my appointments to cabinet, and possibly in the press today, that the Liberal Democrat Group has chosen to end our formal partnership with the Green Group in forming the administration.

The partnership was formed out of necessity in 2019, as no party had a majority on the council, and continued through choice after the election in 2023. We are proud of what we have achieved together: we have championed sustainability, improved local services, turned around the council’s finances, and pioneered a more open and collaborative way of working.

I would like to thank Robin Bennett and Sam Casey-Rerhaye, along with Andrea Powell who served previously, for their service in the cabinet.

However, we are now half way through what will be the last administration of this council before Local Government Reorganisation and it is time for us to re-focus on our priorities which will be: to get our Joint Local Plan approved and adopted, to deliver more council owned social housing and to champion sustainable local businesses.

I would like to welcome Leigh Rawlins and Tony Worgan who will be joining the cabinet.

Welcome new councillors

I would also like to welcome Ben Higgins and Peter Ramsdale who were elected to the council in by-elections this month, both of whom will be valuable additions to the Liberal Democrat Group.

Local Government Reorganisation

At our last meeting we discussed the options for Local Government Reorganisation and with your permission Chair, I would like to take the next three hours to update you on the work that I and senior officers have been doing since.

Alternatively, members could listen to the interview I gave yesterday on Kennet Radio where I outlined our principles in going forward with the government’s scheme.

Firstly, as a Liberal Democrat I believe that services should be responsive to local need and decisions should be taken as locally as possible. What is right for Oxford or Banbury may not be right for Thame or Wallingford, let alone Chalgrove or Brightwell cum Sotwell. We support devolution, but I think that there is a danger that what is being proposed will move powers upwards not down. Decisions currently being made in South Oxfordshire could be moved away to Oxford, those currently made in County Hall  could be taken away to a Mayor somewhere in the Thames Valley. That makes me uncomfortable.

And secondly, it is easy to forget in all this fascination with maps and politics that what matters is being able to deliver high quality services to our residents. In South Oxfordshire many of our services are very high in the national league tables and our resident satisfaction levels are high because we know our area and we deliver what people want. What we don’t want is for that to be lost in some grand design that looks good on paper but doesn’t work for local people, which is why cabinet supported the submission of our interim proposal for a two unitary solution.

Business as usual

With that in mind, it was wonderful to spend time this morning with local councillors and volunteers from the Wallingford Accessible Boat Club for the opening of our accessible mooring to allow wheelchair users and others to access the river; a great example of a local council delivering facilities to meet local need.