Split between council bosses could undermine Oxfordshire's bid for £1bn

Ian Hudspeth was accused of ‘messing about’ by his opposites, who said his calls for a shake-up of local government would make another bid for billions of pounds in funding look ‘incoherent’.

The county council leader (pictured) revealed his authority was poised to submit plans to the Government for a ‘single unitary council for Oxfordshire’.

This would save taxpayers £22m a year by replacing six existing councils with just one.

But the comments came less than 24 hours after Mr Hudspeth separately backed plans for the county to get an elected mayor and combined authority.

This is part of a devolution bid to secure Oxfordshire more than £1bn for transport and infrastructure schemes, which officials hope to submit to ministers in January.

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price (pictured) said the county council’s proposals could wreck progress towards a deal, but Mr Hudspeth insisted the two proposals were ‘not in competition with each other’.

Mr Hudspeth said: "One council for the whole of Oxfordshire is the best way to save money to protect public services and improve council decision making. We can’t afford to turn our back on a £100m saving.

"In parallel we are working with the districts on another devolution bid on the understanding we would continue to develop unitary proposals. We have kept the government fully informed about our plans, and they are welcoming of both a devolution bid and a unitary bid.

"There are therefore two distinct process. They are not in competition with each other. Devolution is not threatened. Meanwhile, the prospect of saving £100m by having a more simple system of local government remains firmly in play.

"What we are doing is therefore the total opposite of narrow self-interest. All councils would be abolished including the county council. I am doing this because it’s best for Oxfordshire.

"Let’s not forget that Cllr Price pulled out of Oxfordshire’s first devolution bid so he could pursue his own unitary ambitions. He continued with this fantasy of city unitary council up to the point that even his own consultants said it wouldn’t fly without expanding the city boundaries or a hefty subsidy from the districts.

"Now he wants to change the subject because he thinks council reorganisation might actually happen, and is trying to divert attention from the real reason the first devolution bid collapsed."

District councils oppose creating one ‘monolithic’ authority and instead favour having three; one for the city, and two for the north and south of the county.

But ministers say they will not approve any plans unless all parties agree. Mr Price said broad agreement on having an elected mayor made a devolution deal more achievable.

Mr Price added: “Given the Government has made clear it wants a high degree of agreement before proceeding with any reorganisation and there is no consensus, it would be best to stop wasting time and money, arguing internally and instead work together.

“It [devolution] is such an important set of proposals and it is important for the future of the county that we get this funding.

“For the county council to be messing around in this kind of narrow, self-interested way, seems to me to be very unfortunate and it could destroy the movement towards some kind of agreement.”

This was echoed by South Oxfordshire District Council leader John Cotton, who said: “What the county council is doing could make us look incoherent when we approach the Government.

“This is about the art of the possible. Ian Hudspeth should decide which plan he thinks is more likely to succeed and support just one.

“My view is devolution is more likely to succeed.”

The row erupted after a meeting of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) on Tuesday, when leaders backed proposals for an elected mayor and combined authority. The next day, an opinion piece by Mr Hudspeth for the Local Government Chronicle’s called for a unitary council.