Our Head of Public Affairs comments on collapse of Oxfordshire County Council’s Fair Trade Alliance

It’s certainly been a turbulent weekend for Oxfordshire County Council, with the Fair Deal Alliance that governed the County Council, collapsing following the Labour Party leaving the coalition.

Following a damning Ofsted report over Special Educational Needs (SEND), with bitter accusations and recriminations from all sides, its abundantly clear that there was no harmonious way forward for the coalition. Whilst the SEND report seems to have tipped the balance, there have been a number of political differences on show between the parties over recent months. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the desire to work together to keep the Tories out of control has waned.

The question is what happens now? The Liberal Democrat/Green Alliance are technically still in control of the Council, but in reality, they only hold 24 seats out of the 63 – not enough to command a majority or get important items such as the budget through Full Council. No doubt all eyes will be on Oxfordshire County Council over the coming days as it attempts to grapple with this conundrum and DevComms will follow with interest.

If you have any queries about what these changed may mean for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

By Pavitar K Mann