Four district councils have teamed up to commission their own study into the future of local government as the debate over a unitary authority in the county rolls on.

Chiltern, South Bucks, Wycombe and Aylesbury Vale district councils rejected Bucks County Council’s offer to join them in preparing a business case for a single unitary authority and have instead decided to carry out their own independent review.

The debate over the future of the two-tier council was reignited by former Bucks County Council chief executive, Chris Williams, who called for a “wholesale shake-up” of the “pre-historic” system in March.

BCC approached the districts earlier in June to ask them to join them in looking at the case for a unitary authority – which would mean scrapping the current system and replacing it with one council, or a ‘north’ and a ‘south’ council - but they declined after “careful consideration.”

The districts’ own independent study will involve key local organisations and a consultation with the public and will look at the best option for the future of the county’s government structure.

They hope that by working together on the study and sharing the costs, each council will “ensure they are offering value for money to local tax payers.”

Cllr Ralph Bagge, leader of South Bucks District Council, said it was “clear” that BCC is pressing on with a case for a unitary authority because of their “difficult financial position.”

He said: “It is also clear to us that the creation of a single unitary will not itself resolve the funding deficit faced by the County Council.”

Cllr Katrina Wood, Wycombe District Council leader, added: “Our concerns that the work already initiated by the County, given its pre-determined outcome, are such that we feel it to be in our residents’ best interests to jointly commission our own study into potential alternative local governance structures, keeping an open mind as to what the outcome may be.”

The district councils are aiming to share information on finances and service delivery with BCC so that both reviews are based on the same data.