THE number of councillors across Oxfordshire could be cut in a bid to save tens of thousands of pounds a year.

Vale of White Horse District Council leader Tony de Vere will tonight call for the authority to do away with a third of its members, to save £65,000 a year.

Mr de Vere said the authority had more councillors than it needed. He wants to cut the number from 51 to 34.

He said efficiency savings had reduced the involvement of many councillors in day-to-day business.

Last year, South Oxfordshire District Council voted to reduce its membership from 48 to 30 councillors. At a meeting in November, councillors agreed to ask the Local Government Boundary Commission to consider the idea.

Vale councillors will tonight vote on whether to ask the commission for England to review its structure.

Mr de Vere said: “As with most other councils, it is crucial we find new ways to save money. We cannot ignore the fact that we now have more councillors than we need and we cannot ignore the opportunity to save over £65,000 a year, particularly when this will help us safeguard important public services.”

A councillor’s allowance is currently £3,829 a year, so reducing the number by 17 would save more than £260,000 over four years.

Matthew Barber, leader of the Conservative opposition, said: “It seems sensible to me. There are various things that have changed since we started with 51 councillors – decisions are made by a small number of people.”

Currently, each Vale councillor represents an average of 1,843 people. Under the peoposal, they would each represetn 2,764 voters from 2015.

But Samantha Bowring, Liberal Democrat member for Abingdon Ock Meadow, said: “I see why they’re doing it, to save taxpayers’ money.

“But my concern is the more people we’re trying to represent, the harder it becomes to do it, especially when you’re trying to juggle this with families and jobs.”

The council will debate the proposal at its meeting at the Guildhall, in Abingdon, at 7pm.

Oxfordshire County Council wants to cut some of its 74 councillors and the commission is looking into the idea.

A County Hall spokesman said: “At the first stage of an electoral review by the commission, the county council recommended a reduction in the number of councillors from 74 to 63 or 64.

“The commission is minded to accept this and is, therefore, consulting on how this could be achieved.”

A spokesman for Oxford City Council said a motion to look at cutting councillor numbers was defeated at a meeting on Monday.

Spokesmen for West Oxfordshire and Cherwell District councils said there were no plans to reduce councillor numbers at present.

The Government is considering cutting the number of MPs from 650 to 600.