Who we are
We work with South Oxfordshire District Council to provide cost-effective services for our residents. We employ around 450 people, some of whom are based at our offices at Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3JE. The vast majority of council staff have hybrid working arrangements meaning they can work from home or other remote locations, or in the office.
There are 38 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.
There’s more information about the Leader of our council on our Leaders page.
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 on our website
The council also has Aldermen, an honorary title which can awarded to distinguished former councillors in recognition of the service they provided to the council and the district. There’s more about our Aldermen on our website.
The council’s Chief Executive is Mark Stone (also Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer).
The council’s Deputy Chief Executives are:
- Andrew Down – Partnerships and 5 Councils Partnership Commercial Director
- Adrianna Partridge – Transformation and Operations (also Designated Safeguarding Lead)
- Suzanne Malcolm – Place
Services
Our services are divided into the following areas:
Development and Corporate Landlord
Head of department: James Carpenter
- Economic Development
- Property
- Community centres
- The Beacon
- Leisure centres
- Car parks
- Parks maintenance and toilets
- Cemeteries
Housing and Environment
Head of department – Paul Fielding
- Housing needs (including housing register, homelessness)
- Environmental and neighbourhood nuisance issues (including environmental health, food and workplace safety, restaurant food hygiene ratings, how to report fly-tipping)
- Recycling and waste collections
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: Mark Minion
- Health and safety
- Accessibility, equality and diversity
- Planning for emergency situations
- Communications Team
- Customer services and complaints
- HR
- IT
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: Patrick Arran (also Monitoring Officer)
- Legal department
- Land charges
- Elections
- Council meetings
- Licensing (including taxis and pubs and clubs)
- Information governance (Data Protection, FOI/EIR)
- CCTV
- Community Safety
Policy and Programmes
Head of department: Harry Barrington-Mountford
- Climate
- Corporate Plan
- Planning policy (including Local Plan, Neighbourhood planning, Oxon 2050, S106/CIL Policy)
- Community Grants
- Community Hub
- Garden Communities
- Active Communities
Partnerships
Head of department: Andrew Down
- Future Oxfordshire Partnership
- Oxfordshire councils
- 5 Councils
- Oxford Cambridge corridor
- LEP
- Enterprise zones
Chief Executive
If you have a matter that cannot be dealt with by the relevant team or Head of Department, or you feel you need to escalate it to our Chief Executive Mark Stone, you can do so by emailing Executivesupportsav@southandvale.gov.uk or by calling 01235 422100.
Jobs
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.
This is available to read in a PDF document by clicking the button below.
Constitution
Vale of White Horse District Council’s constitution document sets out how the council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed 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.
