Berkshire and Oxfordshire Eye Elected Mayor

Berkshire and Oxfordshire could be unified under a new elected mayor in the coming years.

Berkshire and Oxfordshire may soon have a new elected mayor as part of a local council reorganisation initiated by the Labour government, which aims to abolish county councils.

The government is pushing for councils to form regional units known as ‘strategic authorities’, similar to those in the West of England and the Cambridge and Peterborough combined authority.

Local councils in Berkshire are urged to collaborate with Oxfordshire to establish the Thames Valley Mayoral Strategic Authority, responsible for overseeing strategic planning, transport, and housing initiatives.

However, leaders in Berkshire have expressed their reluctance to adopt a mayoral system. Stephen Conway, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, stated, “There’s a very strong view in all of the councils that we do not want a mayoral route; we just have to wait and see how the government responds.”

At meetings of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, council leaders have voiced their concerns, yet a report from Paul Patterson, Berkshire’s devolution director, and Kim Sawyer from Oxfordshire, suggests the government will likely reject the Thames Valley Strategic Authority without an elected mayor.

Authorities without mayors, termed ‘Foundation Strategic Authorities’, are intended for smaller areas, and the government prefers large partnerships covering populations of at least 1.5 million.

The devolution directors have called for the Berkshire Prosperity Board and Oxfordshire Joint Leaders Committee to take note of the report and submit an expression of interest for the devolution programme by year-end. Leaders are expected to approve these recommendations on Monday, October 13.

Additionally, Swindon Borough Council may join the proposed Thames Valley mayoral strategic authority, though it is not currently listed as a required participant.

Patterson, appointed as Berkshire's devolution director this summer, is on a £130,000 one-year contract to aid in negotiations between councils and the government.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter