Council vegan catering options

The request was successful.

Helena Davidson

03.04.2023

Dear Sir/Madam,

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information:

1. With regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, does your decision-making regarding the provision of food take into account the fact that veganism is a protected characteristic for the purpose of the Equality Act 2010? Yes/No

2. How many vegan hot and cold meal options do you offer:

• In your own local authority canteen every day (if you have one)? 0, 1, 2, 3 or more. Please also express this as a proportion of the overall number of options offered. 
• In external events catering (if applicable)? Eg: 0, 1, 2, 3 or more.
Please also express this as a proportion of the overall number of options offered.

3. Is a requirement for providing vegan hot and cold meal options included within the catering procurement contracts you issue for other catering provision for which you are responsible including schools, leisure centres, care homes, libraries, and any other public buildings?  Yes/No

4. Has your organisation taken any action to reduce meat and dairy consumption in order to meet environmental goals?

• If yes, please detail what actions have been taken, e.g. 100% or 50% plant-based food options offered.

• If no, do you have ambitions to take action in this area, eg through setting meat reduction targets? Yes/no, if yes please detail what ambitions you have set out.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on [email address] should any aspect of my request require clarification.

Yours faithfully,

Helena Davidson

FOI Vale, Vale of White Horse District Council

 

 

Dear Helena Davidson

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was received by
Vale of White Horse District Council on 4 April 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 5 May 2023

 

The reference number for this request is Vale 23/6

 

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

 

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[3]Vale of White Horse District Council

 

 

 

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FOI South,

Dear Helena Davidson

 

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  23/11 South and 23/6 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 be advised that Oxfordshire operates a two-tier system of local
government. Therefore, you may wish to submit this request to Oxfordshire
County Council. The county councils responsibilities include schools,
libraries, families and children, health and social care. The district
councils are not responsible for providing food to external people, other
than selling food in our cafes within our Arts Centre and Civic Centre and
at occasional meetings/forums.

 

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the
following information:

 

1.          With regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, does your
decision-making regarding the provision of food take into account the fact
that veganism is a protected characteristic for the purpose of the
Equality Act 2010? Yes/No

Teams who are responsible for meetings which include refreshments, ask
those attending if they have any food intolerance or specific dietary
requirements, and this is then communicated with the external catering
company providing the refreshments for the meeting.

 

2.                How many vegan hot and cold meal options do you offer:

 

•            In your own local authority canteen every day (if you have
one)? 0, 1, 2, 3 or more. Please also express this as a proportion of the
overall number of options offered. 

The district councils do not have a canteen. However, staff are provided
with tea, coffee and milk, which includes Soya milk.

 

•            In external events catering (if applicable)? Eg: 0, 1, 2, 3
or more.

Please also express this as a proportion of the overall number of options
offered.

Refreshments are provided for members of the Future Oxfordshire
Partnership who want them and other events that the Partnership Service
supports on behalf of the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership, (LNP) and
Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership, (OIEP). A minimum of one option
is offered. At external events which are normally buffet style we
currently offer a vegan sandwich, finger food and canapes option.
 Approximately 1/4 of the total options available. As we use external
caterers, we may be dependent on the offer available, but that we aim to
cater for all dietary requirements where possible.

 

3.               Is a requirement for providing vegan hot and cold meal
options included within the catering procurement contracts you issue for
other catering provision for which you are responsible including schools,
leisure centres, care homes, libraries, and any other public buildings?
 Yes/No

The district councils are not responsible for schools, care homes or
libraries. The councils have responsibility for leisure centres, one arts
centre and one civic centre which have cafes.   In relation to leisure
centres there is currently no requirement to provide vegan hot and cold
meal options as part of the contract. However, this will be something for
consideration when the contract is renewed. In relation to our Arts and
Civic centre which include cafes/bars, all catering is provided in-house
and therefore, there are no catering contracts in place. Our community
centres do not have any catering contracts in place, and currently only
provide drinks for room hire when required inhouse.

4.          Has your organisation taken any action to reduce meat and
dairy consumption in order to meet environmental goals?

In December 2022, both Cabinets endorsed the [1]Oxfordshire Food Strategy
(Part One) principles, which includes the ambition to waste less food and
ensure that the food we produce, consume and waste has less negative
impact on the planet. In relation to our Arts and Civic Centre, we don’t
have any separate policies or agreements in place to reduce meat use, but
we would try where possible to align with the OFS principles along with
the rest of the council when we next review our menus and suppliers.

 

South Oxfordshire District Council – [2]Council Motion of 22 July 2022 to
Council therefore resolves:

 

1.    To promote local food production and distribution and a sustainable
food culture in South Oxfordshire by maximising opportunities to highlight
the importance of food and farming in our local economy through our
website, communications the press and social media

2.    To recognise that the initial cause of food poverty is not
agricultural but economic/socio-economic due to high cost of living and to
work with local partners such as Good Food Oxfordshire to promote and
encourage food planning

3.    To encourage farming communities and agricultural businesses to
respond to any consultation on our new Joint Local Plan and Oxfordshire
Plan 2050 and to engage more generally with the council.

4.    To encourage developers to include community gardens and allotment
provision within all new housing developments.

5.    To encourage and promote high environmental health standards at all
stages of food production, distribution and redistribution, and continue
to support local businesses, local farmers’ markets and ‘farm-door’ sales,
recognising their positive impact on reducing the carbon emissions
associated with food miles.

6.    To continue to investigate ways we can support food redistribution
organisations and food charities to address food poverty in the district,
noting the work that has already been done in this regard.

7.    To continue to promote ways we can reduce food waste through our
waste service and the use of food recycling bins and promotion of the
circular economy (reduce, re-use and recycle), highlighting the climate
benefits this can bring through initiatives such as Food Waste Action
Week.

8.    To minimise food waste at any event that we may host that serves
food, and to use such occasions to highlight the use of waste food, low
carbon options, and locally sourced produce wherever possible.

 

 

Vale of White Horse District Council -  [3]Motion of 18 May 2022 to
Council therefore resolves:

  

1.        To create a Member Food and Farming Champion to promote local
food production and distribution, as well as healthy eating in the Vale.

2.        To encourage farming communities and agricultural businesses to
respond to any consultation on our new Joint Local Plan and Oxfordshire
Plan 2050.

3.        To encourage developers to include community gardens and
allotment provision within all new housing developments.

4.        To encourage and promote high environmental health standards at
all stages of food production, distribution and redistribution, and
continue to support local businesses and ‘farm-door’ sales, recognising
their positive impact on reducing the carbon emissions associated with
food miles.

5.        To maximise opportunities to highlight the importance of food
and farming in our local economy via the press and through social media.

6.        To continue to investigate ways we can support food
redistribution organisations and food charities to address food poverty in
the district, noting the work that has already been done in this regard.

7.        To continue to promote ways we can reduce food waste through our
waste service and the use of food recycling bins.

8.        To continue to promote the use of waste food and the highlight
the climate benefits this can bring.

9.        To minimise food waste at any event that we may host that serves
food, and to use such occasions to highlight the use of waste food, low
carbon options, and locally sourced produce wherever possible.

 

•      If yes, please detail what actions have been taken, e.g. 100% or
50% plant-based food options offered. N/A

 

•     If no, do you have ambitions to take action in this area, eg through
setting meat reduction targets? Yes/no, if yes please detail what
ambitions you have set out.

No actions have yet been agreed. However, in relation to our Arts Centre
Café and Civic Centre Café, we will observe the council decision to
endorse the OFS principles and will incorporate them into the running of
all council run café/bars and catering provision (inhouse or outsourced)
wherever practical and possible.

 

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
[4][email address] and [5][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 [6]www.ico.org.uk.

 

Kind regards

 

Information Governance Team

Legal & Democratic Services

 

South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District
Council

Visit us at [7]southoxon.gov.uk and [8]whitehorsedc.gov.uk

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

[9]South Oxfordshire District Council and [10]Vale of White Horse District
Council

 

 

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