Who we are

We work with Vale of White Horse District Council to provide cost-effective services for our residents. We employ around 450 people, most of whom are based at our offices at 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB.

There are 36 elected councillors. You can read more about your councillors and how they make decisions on how the council is run in our Local Democracy webpages.

Each year, our Council Leader appoints a Chair of the Council – this is a non-political role that involves chairing meetings and representing the council at community events. Find out more information on our Chair here.

The council’s Chief Executive is Mark Stone.

The council’s Acting Deputy Chief Executive’s are:

• Andrew Down – Partnerships and 5 Councils Partnership Commercial Director
• Adrianna Partridge – Transformation and Operations
• Suzanne Malcolm – Place

Services

Our services are divided into the following areas:

Development and Regeneration

Head of department – Emily Cockle

• Economic Development
• Housing development
• Infrastructure
• Property
• Community centres
• Sports and activities (including swimming pools, leisure centres, activities and parks)
• Didcot Garden Town

Housing and Environment

Head of department – Liz Hayden (also Designated Safeguarding Lead)

• Licensing (including taxis and pubs and clubs)
• Housing needs (including housing register, homelessness)
• Environmental and neighbourhood nuisance issues (including environmental health, food safety, restaurant food hygiene ratings, how to report fly-tipping)
• Recycling and waste collections
• Car parks
• Parks maintenance and toilets
• Cemeteries

Planning

Head of department – Adrian Duffield

• Prepares and consults on statutory plans for land use and development in the district
• Gives expert advice to developers and the public
• Scrutinises and determines planning applications
• Investigates contraventions of planning approvals and rules and takes appropriate action
• Conservation area appraisals, Listed buildings and Tree Preservation orders
• Transport infrastructure
• Footpaths

Corporate services

Head of department – James Carpenter

• Health and safety
• Planning for emergency situations
• Communications Team
• Customer services and complaints
• Information governance (Data Protection)
• HR
• IT
• Volunteering opportunities
• Money for community projects (grants)

Finance

Head of department – Simon Hewings (also Section 151 Officer)

• Finances
• Procurement
• Revenues and Benefits (including Council Tax and Housing Benefits)
• Business Rates
• Benefit Fraud Investigation

Legal and democratic

Head of department – Margaret Reed (also Returning Officer, Monitoring Officer and Electoral Registration Officer)

• Legal department
• Land charges
• Elections
• Council meetings

Partnerships

Head of department – Andrew Down

• Growth deal
• Oxfordshire councils
• 5 Councils
• Oxford Cambridge corridor
• LEP
• Enterprise zones

To see job opportunities at the council please see our current vacancies page.

Trade Union facility time

We are required to publish this data on the amount and spend of facility time in respect of staff who are Trade Union representatives

Constitution

South Oxfordshire District Council’s Constitution sets out how the council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures the council follows to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.  Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for the council to choose.

Where you live

To find out more about South Oxfordshire and where you live, you can click on the information about your area section of our home page or for more detail about the district you can head to our where I live page