Freedom of information Request (Code B5)
Case reference FOI2026/00646
Received 26 June 2026
Published 24 July 2026
Request
Response
In accordance with section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds information falling within the scope of your request.
1. The job title and, where disclosure is appropriate, the name of the officer
responsible for:
a) corporate learning and development;
The responsible role is the Organisational Development Manager within the Talent Team, People Services.
b) Workforce development;
The responsible role is the Organisational Development Manager within the Talent Team, People Services.
c) Equality, diversity and inclusion; and
Responsibility is held by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist and the Organisational Development Manager within the Talent Team, People Services.
d) Learning or workforce development within Children’s Services or Children’s
Social Care.
For each role, please provide:
• the relevant team or department;
• the business email address;
• the direct business telephone number or team telephone number;
Where an individual officer’s name or direct contact details cannot be disclosed, please
provide the relevant job title, generic team email address and team telephone number,
for each team.
This is not applicable as OCC does not deliver Children’s Services or Children’s Social Care.
The names, individually assigned business email addresses and direct telephone numbers of the relevant officers in the roles mentioned above are withheld under section 40(2) of the FOIA.
Section 40(2) provides an exemption from disclosure where the requested information constitutes the personal data of individuals other than the requester and disclosure would contravene the data protection principles.
The names and individually assigned contact details relate to identifiable OCC employees and therefore constitute personal data. OCC has considered whether disclosure would be lawful, fair and transparent in accordance with Article 5(1)(a) of the UK GDPR.
OCC recognises a legitimate interest in enabling members of the public to identify the functions responsible for corporate learning and development, workforce development and equality, diversity and inclusion, and to contact OCC about those matters. That interest is met by providing the relevant job titles, team and department, together with an appropriate general contact route.
OCC considers that disclosure of the officers’ names and individually assigned contact details to the public generally would be more extensive than is necessary to meet that legitimate interest and would be outside the reasonable expectations of the officers concerned. Disclosure would therefore contravene the first data protection principle.
The information is consequently exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the FOIA. Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption where the relevant conditions are met, and no separate public interest test is required.
Enquiries concerning these functions may be submitted through OCC’s online contact service at:
https://www.oxford.gov.uk/online
Alternatively, Customer Services can be contacted by telephone on 01865 249811.
2. Please confirm whether the council currently provides any of the following staff
training:
1. British Sign Language training;
OCC does not currently provide a corporate British Sign Language training programme.
2. Deaf-awareness training;
OCC does not currently provide a corporate deaf-awareness training programme.
Individual employees or services may choose to arrange relevant training according to their particular requirements. However, those arrangements are not recorded centrally.
3. Please confirm whether British Sign Language or Deaf-awareness training is:
a. Mandatory or optional;
b. Delivered annually or at another regular interval; and
c. Available council-wide or only to specified services or departments.
d. Is the training provided to staff accredited by Signature ( Awarding body
for all BSL British sign language courses).
OCC does not currently provide British Sign Language training or deaf-awareness training as centrally commissioned corporate training.
Individual employees or services may choose to arrange such training according to their specific requirements. However, information about any training arranged locally is not recorded centrally.
each of the completed financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26, please provide:
1. The council’s total centrally held budget for staff learning, training and
development.
The centrally held budget for staff learning, training and development was £140,000 in each of the requested financial years.
|
Financial year |
Centrally held budget |
|
2024/25 |
£140,000 |
|
2025/26 |
£140,000 |
2. The total centrally recorded expenditure on staff learning, training and
development.
A separate exact expenditure figure for each financial year is not centrally recorded in the information identified for this response.
OCC seeks to maximise use of the available staff learning, training and development budget each year. However, the FOIA does not require the Council to create a new figure or financial breakdown where the information is not already held in recorded form.
3. Where separately identifiable from centrally held records, the total expenditure
on:
a. British Sign Language training;
No expenditure is separately recorded in the Council’s centrally held records
b. Deaf-awareness training;
No expenditure is separately recorded in the Council’s centrally held records
c. Disability-awareness or accessibility training; and
A separate expenditure figure is not centrally recorded.
d. Equality, diversity and inclusion training.
OCC has an annual budget of £80,000 for equality, diversity and inclusion training.
|
Financial year |
Equality, diversity and inclusion training budget |
|
2024/25 |
£80,000 |
|
2025/26 |
£80,000 |
A separate actual expenditure figure for equality, diversity and inclusion training is not centrally recorded.
4. Where centrally recorded, the number of British Sign Language or Deaf
awareness courses or workshops commissioned during those two financial
years.
OCC does not hold a centrally recorded number of British Sign Language or deaf-awareness courses or workshops commissioned during the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26.
5. Where centrally recorded, the names of external organisations commissioned to
deliver British Sign Language or Deaf-awareness training.
No external organisations commissioned specifically to deliver British Sign Language or deaf-awareness training are identified in the centrally held records for the requested period.
6. Where centrally recorded, The names of BSL / Deaf awareness, training providers
who have provided their services for staff training over the last 2 financial years
2024/2025, 2025/2026.
Please restrict the search to centrally held finance, procurement and learning
management records. I am not requesting a manual search of individual
employees’ files, individual service records or every invoice held across the
council.
Where a requested category is not separately recorded, please state that it is not
separately recorded rather than attempting to create a new breakdown.
No British Sign Language or deaf-awareness training providers are identified in the centrally held records for the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26.
The responses above are based on the centrally held finance, procurement and learning-management records specified in your request. Where information is not separately recorded, OCC has stated this rather than attempting to create a new breakdown.
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either email monitoringofficer@oxford.gov.uk – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
Documents
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