The battle for control of local services in the early 1990s soured relations between councils in Oxfordshire for many years. It is only in recent times that our district councils and the county council have begun to work together.
In the last year, there has been a willingness to work together with a common purpose. The county council and the district councils agreed a set of joint targets that, if met, would see more cash coming Oxfordshire's way from Whitehall.
Sadly, all that good work is likely to go out of the window again as battle lines are drawn up over who should run local services in the county.
Oxford City Council started the ball rolling with its pre-emptive bid for unitary status. Predictably, Oxfordshire County Council felt it could not stand by and watch while Oxford made a bid to take schools, social services and transport away from it.
While it says it favours an enhanced two-tier system, it is also drawing up an argument for a single Oxfordshire authority to replace the districts and the county and which would run all local services. On Monday, South Oxfordshire District Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council are expected to announce that they will be arguing for a unitary authority in the south of the county stretching from Faringdon to Henley and Thame. Ministers have said they want local authorities to agree among themselves the best way forward. Sadly, all they have done in Oxfordshire is stir up a hornet's nest.
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