Dear Hannah Jewell

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was received by
Vale of White Horse District Council on 16 January 2023.

Please accept this email as confirmation that your request has been
received and is being considered by the relevant department and that a
response will be sent to you within 20 working days, subject to the
information not being exempt and subject to any need for clarification.

The deadline for this will be 13 February 2023

The reference number for this request is Vale 22/1131

I trust that this email is sufficient to assure you that your request is
being dealt with. However, should you have any queries in the meantime,
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at
[1][Vale of White Horse District Council request email]

Kind regards

Information Governance Team

Legal & Democratic Services

Vale of White Horse District Council

[2]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

We’ve moved – our address is now:

Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE

Please update your records.

To find out more about how the council holds, uses and stores your
personal data, please click on the link below

[3]Vale of White Horse District Council

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Dear Hannah Jewell

Thank you for your Freedom of Information requests, which were received by
both South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District
Council, logged under FOI  22/1235 South and 22/1131 Vale. Please note
that the two councils operate as a shared service hence this joint
response.

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 2000 Act) you
are entitled to be informed in writing whether the council holds the
information specified in your request and, if that is the case, to have
that information communicated to you unless any of the statutory
exemptions apply. I have considered your request and can confirm we do
hold some of the information asked and I do not believe any of the
statutory exemptions apply to your request. Please find below the
information you requested (where available):

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?

South Oxfordshire District Council directly employs 379 members of staff.

Vale of White Horse District Council directly employs 192 members of
staff.

Please note members of staff are employed by one council, however, they
work on behalf of both councils.

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.

Six officers employed by either South Oxfordshire District Council or Vale
of White Horse District Council. These roles are shared between both
councils as per our shared services arrangements.

•           1 x Climate and Biodiversity Team Leader

•           1 x Corporate Energy Officer

•           1 x Senior Communications Officer – Climate and Biodiversity

•           3 x Senior Climate Action Officer (2.6 FTE)

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.

No

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).

1 x Senior Countryside Officer

Please treat this as the councils’ formal response under the 2000 Act.  If
you are not satisfied with the decision I have made in response to your
request, you can make a request for an internal review by emailing
[1][email address] and [2][Vale of White Horse District Council request email]  within 40 working
days from the date we issued our response. If you remain dissatisfied
after following that procedure, you have the right under Section 50 of the
2000 Act to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel the
council has not dealt with your request properly. You can contact the
Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
(telephone number: 0303 123 1113). You can also find further information
at [3]www.ico.org.uk.

Kind regards

Information Governance Team

Legal & Democratic Services

South Oxfordshire & Vale of White Horse District Councils

135 Eastern Avenue

Milton Park

Abingdon

Oxfordshire

OX14 4SB

To find out more about how the councils hold, use and store your personal
data, please click on the appropriate link:

[4]South Oxfordshire District Council  [5]Vale of White Horse District
Council

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