Council staff working on climate action

The request was partially successful.

Climate Emergency UK

Dear Oxford City Council,

Please treat this as a Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations request.

I would like information about your council’s staff positions in relation to climate action for the Council Climate Action Scorecards. This information is most likely to be held by a HR department or similar.

In particular, please supply me with information relating to the following questions:

1a. How many staff does the Council directly employ (excluding contractors or subcontractors, and excluding teachers), that work directly for the Council as opposed to a school, leisure centres or other venture?

1b. How many directly employed staff spend 3 or more days per week (0.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE)) on implementing the Climate Action Plan or other climate change projects? Please provide a list of all the roles. Please exclude waste management staff unless they are specifically working 3 or more days per week on implementing the Climate Action Plan or other climate change projects.
If you have answered yes to have a biodiversity planning officer and/or a retrofit staff member below, both these staff members can be included in this question even if they are contracted. This is likely to include all staff in your climate/sustainability team, such as Climate Change Officers or similar. This may include full time staff who spend 60% of their time on climate change projects and 40% of their time on other work.
You might include other staff in other departments, such as a procurement officer if they are spending 3 or more days per week (0.6 FTE) on writing and implementing a sustainable procurement policy or a planner that is working primarily on low carbon policies for new buildings.

2. Does the council have one or more staff member who works on home energy efficiency retrofitting, such as retrofit officers or project managers across the council area, for 3 or more days per week (0.6+ FTE)? This can include both directly employed and contracted staff, provided they work 3 or more days per week (0.6 FTE). The work of this officer may include working on any retrofit projects, including council buildings, council homes or private rented or owned households.
Please list any roles that work in this area, including the full time equivalent (FTE) if they work part time.
Please include staff members that are shared with other councils, such as between county and district councils, and note if they are shared across other areas.

3. How many planning ecologists (ecologists within the planning department) or equivalent working for 3 or more days per week (0.6+ FTE) does the council employ to scrutinise planning reports for Biodiversity Net Gain? This can include both directly employed and contracted staff, provided they work 3 or more days per week (0.6 FTE).

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Hannah Jewell, Climate Emergency UK

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

Dear Hannah Jewell,

Freedom of Information, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11714

Thank you for your email.  Your request was received on 16th January 2023 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt) in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being exempt or containing reference to a third party.

Due to an unprecedented volume of Freedom of Information Requests currently, it is likely that some requests may go beyond the 20 working days. We are working as hard as possible to respond in a timely manner, but we feel it is better to keep requestors informed in advance.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Officer

| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the [email address] mailbox

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

Dear Hannah Jewell,

I am writing to you regarding your Freedom of Information Request, reference number 11714, regarding employees of Oxford City Council with roles relating to tackling climate change.  Unfortunately, we are still working on this, and the response to your request has been delayed. In the meantime, I can inform you that we have a total headcount of 792 employees, amounting to 714 FTE. As well as our Environmental Sustainability team, I have contacted our Planning department for information, since their team includes employees dedicated to assessing the environmental impact of submitted planning applications.

I wish to apologise for this delay, and any resulting inconvenience caused. Please be assured that we are actively working on the response to your request, and will provide you with the response as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Freedom of Information Officer

| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the [email address] mailbox

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Hannah Jewell,

Re: Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11714

Our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to this request, and any inconvenience caused. Further to the acknowledgement below, please see attached response to your Freedom of Information Act 2000 request, which we received on 16th January 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Officer

| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |

show quoted sections