The Executive - Individual Member Decisions meeting scheduled for Thursday 26 March 2026 was set to consider the council's response to a government consultation on local government reorganisation in Oxfordshire. The meeting was for consideration by Councillor Stephen Conway, the Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Housing, Partnerships and the Local Plan.

Response to Government Consultation on Oxfordshire Local Government Reorganisation

The primary item scheduled for discussion was the response to a consultation initiated by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This consultation sought views on proposals for local government reorganisation across Oxfordshire, with two of the options also including West Berkshire.

The report pack indicated that the council was invited to respond as a statutory consultee because of its neighbouring status. Three options were presented for consideration:

• Option 1: A single Oxfordshire-wide unitary council.
• Option 2: Two unitary councils, named Oxford and Shires, and Ridgeway (which would include West Berkshire).
• Option 3: Three unitary councils, named Greater Oxford, Northern Oxfordshire, and Ridgeway (which would also include West Berkshire).

The report pack stated that Wokingham Borough Council neither supported nor opposed the One Oxfordshire proposal (Option 1).

Regarding Options 2 and 3, the council noted concerns about the proposed removal of West Berkshire Council from Berkshire. The report pack highlighted that the Ridgeway concept had not been developed in consultation with Berkshire authorities, and the potential consequential impacts on neighbouring authorities like Wokingham Borough Council had not been determined.

The government's timetable suggested that any new unitary councils resulting from the consultation would be operational from April 2028, with transitional arrangements in place during 2027–28.

The recommendation to Councillor Stephen Conway was to agree the summary consultation response as outlined in the main body of the report. The report pack indicated that the financial implications of this recommendation were £Nil for the current and subsequent financial years, with sufficient funding available.

The report pack also noted that there were no equalities impacts as a result of this decision and that the Director – Resources and Assets, the Monitoring Officer, and the Leader of the Council had no specific comments on the matter.

The contact officer for this item was Luciane Bowker from Democratic & Electoral Services. Susan Parsonage, the Chief Executive, was listed as the key officer present.