Oxfordshire should look to form a new strategic authority with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire rather than Swindon, according to the leader of South Oxfordshire District Council.
The central government has announced plans to reform local government, which could see councils across a wider region, such as the Thames Valley, create a strategic authority to work together around key issues such as transport and economic development.
Councillor David Rouane, who is also a member of Oxfordshire County Council, said Oxfordshire “should work together in a strategic authority with those councils in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire who wish to join with us”.
He added: “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.”
Councillor Rouane’s comments come after the leader of Swindon Borough Council, Councillor Jim Robbins, indicated he might have a preference for Swindon to partner with Oxfordshire County Council and authorities in Berkshire to create a strategic authority for the Thames Valley/M4 corridor.
Councillor Rouane disagreed, saying Swindon does not 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”.
The leaders of Swindon Borough Council, including all its elected members, are considering the borough’s options when it comes to partnering with other councils to form a higher level strategic authority.
Wiltshire Council has already announced it wants to partner with Somerset Council, Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council to form the Heart of Wessex partnership. That group has already applied to Whitehall to form a strategic authority.
Wiltshire Council leader Councillor Richard Clewer has extended an open invitation to Swindon to join that grouping.
In a debate on the matter recently, the leader of the Conservative opposition group, Councillor Gary Sumner, suggested that partnering with Wiltshire in the Heart of Wessex would put the borough in a strong position as the economic engine of the north of the region.
But, Councillor Robbins said he was not convinced by that and suggested he thinks an authority made up of councils from the Thames Valley and M4 Corridor might make more economic sense.
