Dear Hannah Jewell

Freedom of Information Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Information Request ENQ-609009-Y9L9Z2

Thank you for your request for information received on 16/01/2023.

We have up to 20 working days in which to deal with your request.

If we require clarification of your request we will contact you to explain this, and the 20 working-day period will then start from the day that we receive your clarification.

We will inform you in advance if there is a charge for supplying copies of any information, and we will provide an explanation if any information which we hold is not released to you.

If the requested information contains references to any third parties, we may need to seek their views before we can decide whether or not to release the information to you. In such cases we will not share your own personal details with third parties.

Should you have any queries regarding your request, please contact the team by email at [Norfolk County Council request email] or by telephone on 01603 222661.

Please also note for future reference that requests can be submitted online. Further information and the online request form can be found via the following link:
About the FOI Act and making a request - Norfolk County Council

Yours sincerely

Information Management Team
Strategy and Transformation Department
South Wing , Ground Floor

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Dear Hannah Jewell
 
On the 16 January 2023, seven emails detailing requests for information
were received from you each with a different Whatdotheyknow reference
number. All of these requests were acknowledged, and one Norfolk County
Council enquiry number provided ENQ609009-Y9L9Z2.
 
Please note that the following Whatdotheyknow reference numbers are now
being dealt with under a new enquiry number of ENQ609559-G2B0H0, as they
are deemed requests under the Freedom of Information Act.  A single
response will be provided, in response to these requests.
 

 1. Request-937549-fb83279c@whatdotheyknow
 1. Request-937595-dc60dfaa@whatdotheyknow
 1. Request-938004-dc2c03ce@whatdotheyknow

 
 
Clarification Required: Freedom of Information Request ENQ-609559-G2B0H0
 
The request you have made under (1)
Request-937549-fb83279c@whatdotheyknow, has been duplicated within the
request you have made under (3) Request-938004-dc2c03ce@whatdotheyknow,
with an additional question being detailed.   Please can you confirm that
our understanding is correct and therefore only a response regarding (3)
Request-938004-dc2c03ce@whatdotheyknow will be provided?
 
We have looked carefully at your (2)
Request-937595-dc60dfaa@whatdotheyknow, and we are afraid that we are
unable to identify and locate the information requested without further
detail from you. We would therefore be grateful if you could clarify your
request.
 
You have asked:
 
a. Have all senior management received carbon literacy training or
equivalent since 1st January 2019? Please state the type of training.
 

• Please can you provide your definition of ‘senior management’?
• In addition to providing your definition, please can you clarify
whether this is with regard to every such role/level across the
organisation or is this within particular department(s)?

 
        This weblink may be helpful   [1]Structure of the council -
Norfolk County Council
 
 
We would be happy to discuss your request with you if you think that this
would help. You can call us on 01603 222661.
 
Once you have provided this information, we will be able to process your
request. If this information is not received by the 13 January 2023, we
will assume that you do not wish to continue with your request and will
close the file. Your request will be placed on hold whilst we await this
information. Once this information is received, the timescale for response
will reset.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Senior Information Compliance Officer 
Information Compliance Team, Insight and Analytics, Strategy and
Transformation 
Tel Dept: 01603 222661
County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich 
  
 
 
 

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Dear Hannah Jewell
 
As detailed within the email trail, clarification was sought from you on
the 19 January 2023, regarding request Request-937595-dc60dfaa. A response
was provided by you on the 3 February 2023 and in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act, upon receipt of the clarification the
timescale for responding was reset and the new deadline is therefore the 3
March 2023.
 
We aim to respond as soon as practicable, and at the latest by the
deadline date of the 3 March 2023.  I hope this explanation clarifies the
timescales of your request.
 
Your sincerely
 
Senior Information Compliance Officer 
Information Compliance Team, Insight and Analytics, Strategy and
Transformation 
Tel Dept: 01603 222661
County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich 
  
 
 
 

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Dear Hannah Jewell

Freedom of Information Request ENQ-609559-G2B0H0

I refer to your request for information dated 16 January 2023 and your
clarification received on 3 February 2023.

 1. Reference request-937549-fb83279c@whatdotheyknow - 

This you confirmed was a duplicate of
request-938004-dc2c03ce@whatdotheyknow (see below at point 3) and
therefore no response is required.        

 2. Reference request-937595-dc60dfaa@whatdotheyknow :-

a. Have all senior management received carbon literacy training or
equivalent since 1st January 2019? Please state the type of training.

b. Have all current councillors in the cabinet or committee chairs
received carbon literacy training or equivalent since being elected? 
Please state the type of training.

Our response:

To-date, senior councillors and staff have not received formal carbon
literacy training.

Briefings delivered to the Environmental Policy Members Oversight Group
contain elements of carbon literacy where it provides useful background to
organisational changes made in support of delivering our emissions
reduction objectives. In particular, emissions sources, climate impact and
economies of scale have been addressed in briefings on the topics of
sustainable transport and active travel, building retrofit and managing
land for climate and nature including tree planting.

Looking ahead:

(i)        a proposal is under review for the delivery of carbon literacy
training options that support elected members, senior managers and all
staff. The proposal bases training content on the Carbon Literacy
Project’s accredited syllabus, with additional local context; and

(ii)        three senior officers have been nominated to undertake joint
carbon literacy training with the local Integrated Care Board.

3. Reference request-938004-dc2c03ce@whatdotheyknow

1a. How many staff does the Council directly employ (excluding contractors
or subcontractors, and excluding teachers), that work directly for the
Council as opposed to a school, leisure centres or other venture?

Our response

8016.  This excludes school staff and firefighters.

1b. How many directly employed staff spend 3 or more days per week (0.6
Full Time Equivalent (FTE)) on implementing the Climate Action Plan or
other climate change projects? Please provide a list of all the roles.
Please exclude waste management staff unless they are specifically working
3 or more days per week on implementing the Climate Action Plan or other
climate change projects.

Our response

Norfolk County Council is delivering a diverse range of projects to
progress towards our net zero and wider environmental goals articulated in
the county council’s [1]Environmental Policy. This work covers activities
relating to: decarbonising our own estate and operations; influencing our
supply chain and owned-companies; providing clean infrastructure to
support low carbon transport and active travel; and helping catalyse
nature recovery across the county. Details of these activities are
available in reports presented to the council’s cabinet in [2]November
2021 and [3]April 2022.

Climate action is not a stand-alone activity but rather embedded within
the running of council services. Therefore it is difficult to provide an
exact figure for staff spending 3 or more days per week on this. However,
across the functional teams most actively involved here, it is a
reasonable estimate that there are over 80 officers who spend more than
0.6 FTE across our transport, highways and environmental teams, as well as
corporate functions such as procurement, property/facilities and strategy
teams in a range of technical/specialist and project management roles.
Roles include:

• Head of Sustainable Transport
• Head of Passenger Transport
• Passenger Transport Manager
• Public Transport Development Officer
• Safe Travel Officer
• Senior Travel & Transport Officer
• Senior Passenger Transport Co-ordinator
• Travel & Transport Officer
• Team Manager (Design)
• Project Engineer
• Engineer
• Project Technician
• Project Delivery Co-ordinator
• Assistant Project Officer
• Electrical Services Manager
• Engineer (Street Lighting)
• Electrical Services Technician
• Highway Network & Digital Innovation Manager
• Project Engineer – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
• Project Engineer – Network Analysis
• Project Engineer – Network Policy & Performance
• Senior Project Managers
• Project Managers
• Net Zero Delivery Lead
• Procurement Officer
• Director of Procurement and Sustainability
• Lead project manager (environment)
• Lead project manager (green spaces)
• Environment Officers

.

There are roles which are also assigned to climate change work but are
funded through alternative sources and are not directly employed by NCC.
Therefore these are excluded from the roles and the numbers above.

2. Does the council have one or more staff member who works on home energy
efficiency retrofitting, such as retrofit officers or project managers
across the council area, for 3 or more days per week (0.6+ FTE)? This can
include both directly employed and contracted staff, provided they work 3
or more days per week (0.6 FTE). The work of this officer may include
working on any retrofit projects, including council buildings, council
homes or private rented or owned households.

Please list any roles that work in this area, including the full time
equivalent (FTE) if they work part time.

Please include staff members that are shared with other councils, such as
between county and district councils, and note if they are shared across
other areas.

Our response

Norfolk County Council is an upper-tier local authority that does not own
any social housing and therefore does not engage directly in the
retrofitting of domestic properties.

In relation to our own corporate estate, the Head of Construction and
Facilities Management is currently coordinating the development of a
property decarbonisation plan. The council has procured the services of a
consultant to carry out the decarbonisation studies across its estate to
identify measures to improve energy performance and install low carbon
heating systems. These are currently being finalised and will conclude in
March 2023. NCC also procured the services of an external Project
Management and Cost Management company to help quantify the costs of
measures identified in the studies as well as help with the procurement of
a works contractor.  

There are currently 4 roles within the council progressing this work
across project management and technical / specialist roles. As described,
contracted resources are supporting this work and they will vary depending
on the supplier and delivery schedule.

Your original question 3 under this ‘whatdotheyknow’ reference you
withdrew.

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your request, you have the
right of appeal through the Council’s internal review procedure by setting
out the grounds of your appeal in writing to:

[4][Norfolk County Council request email]

or Information Compliance Team

County Hall

Martineau Lane

Norwich

NR1 2DH

An appeal should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of this
notice and should be identified as "FOI Appeal".

If you are dissatisfied after pursuing the appeals procedure, you may
apply to the Information Commissioner under Section 50 of the Act for a
decision whether your request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of Part I of the Act.  Refer to the ICO
Website at: [5]https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ for advice on how to report a
concern.  Or you can write to them at:

First Contact Team

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane, Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Information Compliance Manager (FOI Lead)

Information Governance

Insight & Analytics, Strategy & Transformation

Tel: 01603 222661

County Hall

[6]Norfolk County Council   [7]Twitter[8]Facebook[9]Web

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