About Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council is one of five district councils in Oxfordshire covering Oxford City – from Cutteslowe in the north to Littlemore and Blackbird Leys in the South, and from New Botley in the West to Barton and Sandhills in the East.
Directing the work of the Council are 48 City Councillors, with two Councillors elected for each of the 24 wards in the city. They are democratically accountable to the residents of the ward they represent.
Councillors are not paid a salary for their work, but they do receive allowances.
Council elections take place every two years, with half of the 48 seats in the City Council up for election on each occasion. The elections are held in even-numbered years e.g. 2020.
The Council’s normal opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 9.00 am to 5:00 pm, and Friday from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm. The offices are closed on weekends and during bank holidays.
What does the district council do?
Oxford City Council run services such as planning, leisure and waste collection, while Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for running services such as libraries, schools and social care.
In partnership with others, they provide a wide range of services for approximately 154,600 residents, 118,000 people who work in Oxford and 7 million people who visit the city every year. These include:
- Planning
- Council housing
- Homelessness
- Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing
- Council Tax collection
- Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit
- Business Rates (NNDR) collection
- Environmental health
- Licensing
- Recycling and waste collection
- Leisure centres and facilities
- Building control
- Minor road maintenance
- Street cleaning
- Parks
- Markets and fairs
- Anti-social Behaviour
- Electoral registration
- Cemeteries
- Car parks
- Community centres
- Public toilets
- Street furniture
Oxford City Council also manages three Park and Ride sites at Pear Tree, Redbridge, and Seacourt and recently took over operational management of Oxfordshire County Council’s Thornhill and Oxford Parkway (formerly Water Eaton) Park and Ride sites, through its trading arm Oxford Direct Services.
