The proposed area is too small - both in terms of tax base and population. A future Oxford unitary authority needs to include Botley, Abingdon, Wheatley, Kidlington, Garsington and Kennington within the proposed boundaries of a future unitary authority, if it is to be viable.
At the moment there is a much stronger case for Oxfordshire County Council being made into a unitary authority than Oxford with its present proposals.
Even if the county was made unitary, there are problems - the current county ward or division boundaries are drawn in such a way that it makes it significantly easier to be elected as a Tory councilor than from any other party.
The current situation means that there is a conservative majority in seats at county hall (43 seats with 34% of the vote) while all the other parties combined only won 31 seats with 66% of the vote.
So in terms of administrative efficiency then having a single unitary authority for whole county is the best bet.
But in terms of voter accountability, the best model is a unitary authority for Oxford that includes its immediate neighbours.
Otherwise the best solution is to reform the voting system used to elect our county councilors.
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