Sir – Bob Price’s territorial ambitions, predicated on Labour’s winning the General Election and adopting an as yet unpublished report into a review of local government structures, are astonishing.

He appears to want to swallow up the area surrounding the city into a city region, taking on all the powers of both the city and county councils. Having control of all local government responsibilities might be attractive, but it is not an easy or cheap process. Savings would only come from an amalgamation of a large area, bigger than even Cllr Price suggests, and reorganisation of any kind is expensive in itself.

And what about the people who currently live in the areas eyed by Cllr Price and Labour? Should they not be consulted on whether they want to change authorities as he suggests? And what about those left outside — what sort of authorities would they have? The shortage of housing in and around Oxford is the current challenge — it is here that Labour should be concentrating, not on changing structures.

The City Deal bid requires cooperation between the city, county and the four districts — which is hardly likely to be helped by what looks like empire-building by the city. Central Oxfordshire needs housing, well-sited for good transport links into the city and able to accommodate both those currently on waiting lists but also those coming to fill the new jobs offered by the City Deal.

All the authorities involved need to work together to address this, not distracted by Labour’s posturing.

Jean Fooks

Leader, Liberal Democrat Group, Oxford City Council