Oxfordshire Local Government Restructure Research

Ipsos has recently undertaken research in Oxfordshire about possible local government reorganisation.

The survey was commissioned to gain a representative opinion of residents in Oxfordshire as to their view on the level at which local services should be managed and delivered, as well as their awareness and understanding of the ‘One Oxfordshire’ proposal (which proposes to abolish existing councils and create a unitary county council. The following provides a headline summary of the key findings from the survey:

• Public opinion is in favour of the status quo when it comes to the management and delivery of services. This means that the public generally want services delivered at a district/city council level to remain being delivered at that level.
• The majority of residents (7 in 10) have heard of the One Oxfordshire proposal – just over four-fifths (82%) know ‘a little’ or ‘nothing’ about it.
• Over two-thirds (68%) of Oxfordshire residents felt that they did not have sufficient information about what the One Oxfordshire proposal means for them and their household.
• The majority of Oxfordshire residents did not feel that they have sufficient information about what the One Oxfordshire proposal means for their city/district – only one in five (21%) agreed that they do.
• The majority of residents in Oxfordshire (73%) want to be informed of all of the proposed options under consideration so they can have a say on the future structure of local government in the county.
• The vast majority of residents (84%) want to understand how the One Oxfordshire proposal impacts on their Council Tax.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,950 adults aged 18+ across Oxfordshire. Interviews were conducted by telephone between 20th February and 12th March 2017. Data is weighted to the profile of the population.