New staff should be recruited as soon as possible to help Oxford City Council combat the effects of climate change, according to a councillor.

At Monday's council meeting, Cllr Jean Fooks asked the executive board to approve the employment of a number of staff to improve the quality of life for residents in the city, by encouraging environmentally and socially sustainable economic practices.

Following the Earth Summit in 1993, the Government committed the United Kingdom to promoting sustainable development, both nationally and locally. Local Agenda 21 is the council's plan to combat climate change.

As part of a redundancy programme implemented to bring the council's budget under control, staff dealing with Agenda 21 lost their posts.

Cllr Fooks said: "We need to review the staffing situation urgently, so that work can recommence on the Local Agenda 21 Plan, as well as on other key issues.

"The Government has recently announced the availability of funds for its Community Energy Programme and this is just the sort of project for which Oxford should be bidding.

"We now need staff to identify opportunities and push us in the right direction, with projects like recycling and reducing energy use."

Councillors from all groups supported Cllr Fooks's motion for the executive board to recruit more staff to tackle Agenda 21 issues.