Effectiveness of water management
Case reference FOI2026/00651
Received 29 June 2026
Published 27 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 does not hold the requested annual planning totals or expenditure breakdowns as compiled recorded information.
OCC does, however, hold individual planning application records relevant to questions 1 and 2. These records are publicly available through the Council’s online planning register.
1. In each of the last three financial years (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26), please provide the total number of approved planning applications for the following:
o major residential developments (50 or more dwellings)
o major commercial developments (5,000 sqm or more floor space)
o residential and commercial developments which included Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
OCC does not hold pre-compiled annual totals for approved applications involving residential developments comprising 50 or more dwellings, commercial developments comprising 5,000 square metres or more of floor space, or residential and commercial developments that included Sustainable Drainage Systems.
OCC’s planning records are maintained as individual application files. Producing the requested annual totals would require a review and analysis of the individual applications and their supporting documents to determine whether each application met the size thresholds specified and whether Sustainable Drainage System measures formed part of the approved development.
The FOIA provides a right of access to recorded information held by a public authority. It does not require OCC to undertake new research or create a statistical analysis that is not already held in recorded form.
The underlying planning application records can be searched through OCC’s online planning register at:
https://public.oxford.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application
The register can be searched by application and decision dates. The application descriptions, plans, drainage documents, consultation responses and decision notices can then be reviewed to establish the nature and scale of each development and whether Sustainable Drainage System measures were included.
2. How many of the approved applications in the last three financial years (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26) have not included any SuDS measures?
OCC does not hold a pre-compiled list or annual total of approved applications that did not include Sustainable Drainage System measures.
Producing this information would require OCC to review the documents associated with each relevant planning application and make a new assessment of whether Sustainable Drainage System measures had been included.
Accordingly, OCC does not hold the annual figures requested in question 2. The underlying planning application records are available through the online planning register referred to above.
3. For each of the last three financial years, please provide total annual council expenditure related to SuDS for:
o Capital projects (net new SuDS infrastructure)
o Maintenance of existing systems
o Retrofit schemes (systems incorporated into existing developed areas)
OCC does not separately identify or code expenditure relating to Sustainable Drainage Systems within its financial accounts.
Sustainable drainage measures may form part of wider housing, development, construction or infrastructure schemes without the costs of those particular measures being separately recorded.
Searches of the relevant financial and project records did not identify any direct OCC expenditure specifically recorded as expenditure on Sustainable Drainage Systems during the requested period. However, because such expenditure is not separately coded, OCC cannot provide confirmed annual totals or state definitively that no Sustainable Drainage System-related costs were included within wider project expenditure.
OCC has not provided estimates or assumptions because these would constitute newly created information rather than recorded information held at the time of the request.
For additional context, OCC is not the Lead Local Flood Authority for Oxfordshire. That statutory role is undertaken by Oxfordshire County Council, which is also a statutory consultee in relation to surface water drainage for major planning applications.
In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, which concerns the duty to provide reasonable advice and assistance, OCC has provided the link to its online planning register and explained how the relevant underlying records may be located. You may also wish to contact Oxfordshire County Council regarding any information it holds about Sustainable Drainage Systems, surface water drainage or related expenditure in its capacity as Lead Local Flood Authority.
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 |
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