FOI001233 EIR Sustainability

How does the local authority access ecological expertise? Is it through:

a) in-house ecological staff within the local authority,
b) through a Service Level Agreement/shared resource with another local authority,
c) through a Service Level Agreement with another body e.g. Wildlife Trust,
d) through other external expertise e.g. consultants,
e) no access to ecological expertise?

If it is a mixture of the above, could you please specify what the arrangements are. 

I am specifically looking for how the authority accesses staff/resources for implementing, delivering, monitoring and reporting on biodiversity net gain and other natural environment functions.