Report by Chief Executive

Further to Minute 15 of the meeting of Policy Committee held on 21 July 2025, the Chief Executive submitted a report setting out the work undertaken to inform a proposed modification of the boundary between Reading and West Berkshire and seeking approval for a formal request for the modification to be submitted to the Secretary of State.  The following documents were attached to the report:

·         Appendix 1: Proposed modification to the ‘Ridgeway’ Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposal for Oxfordshire and West Berkshire submission

·         Appendix 2: Equality Impact Assessment

·         Appendix 3: Full LGR criteria and guidance

·         Appendix 4: Full options appraisal for original Ridgeway proposal and the amended version

The report explained that significant work had been undertaken to evidence and develop the proposal, including a wide-ranging engagement programme, service modelling, budget modelling, and wider research.  A comprehensive data request had been sent to West Berkshire Council to inform the modelling but their response had largely pointed to publicly available data which did not provide sufficient granularity.  Subsequent FOI requests did provide some data for demand led services, but officers still had questions outstanding. Consequently, the margin for error, particularly in relation to financial costs was greater than desired.

The report noted that the initial proposal submitted to Policy Committee had covered five West Berkshire wards:  Pangbourne; Theale; Tilehurst Birch Copse; Tilehurst & Purley; and Tilehurst South & Holybrook. The data demonstrated a good case for including Pangbourne and Theale in the modification, however the strongest case was for the three Tilehurst Wards, and that was therefore the recommended final proposal.

The report further noted that Reading, like the other Berkshire local authorities, had not been invited to submit proposals and was therefore limited to proposing an amendment to proposals from Oxfordshire.  This made it difficult to demonstrate the benefits of a comprehensive Greater Reading area.

The following Motion was moved by Councillor Terry and seconded by Councillor Leng and CARRIED:

Resolved –

(1)       That the report, the significant activity undertaken to inform the boundary modification request, and the data which underpins the case presented be noted;

(2)       That the challenges in obtaining the data required to fully inform the service and financial modelling and the inherent risks associated with that be noted;

(3)       That to protect Reading’s future interests, it be agreed to submit to the Secretary of State, a modification to the Oxfordshire Local Government Reorganisation ‘Ridgeway’ proposal, such that the following Wards: Tilehurst Birch Copse, Tilehurst & Purley and Tilehurst South and Holybrook be transferred to Reading Borough Council, as set out in Appendix 1;

(4)       That, subject to the Secretary of State’s decision, the Chief Executive be authorised to establish the necessary project team and resources to implement the proposal;

(5)       That Council reserve its right to make subsequent representations to the Secretary of State regarding the Borough boundary or Local Government Reorganisation in the future.