FAR from being a “vanity project”, the analyses of local government spending and structures that were commissioned by the Oxfordshire councils arose out of a bid for devolved powers and funding for Oxfordshire that was invited by government in May 2015.
In response to the devolution bid, which was agreed by all the councils, the LEP and the Clinical Commissioning Group, we were asked to consider stronger forms of governance with a particular focus on unitary authorities.
The Department of Communities and Local Government asked us to provide a lot of detail to support any proposals and recommended us to commission the study that has just been published.
It is also not true, as your editorial alleges, that the reports were going to be kept confidential; from the outset, they were destined for public consumption and have been published as planned.
Government policy has changed since the reports were commissioned towards a requirement for a consensus on any resulting proposals.
That has sadly not been possible, but the data in the reports provides a good basis for our further joint work on improving services across the county and that is what councils, LEP and the CCG will be doing this autumn.
Councillor Bob Price
Leader, Oxford City Counci
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