Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request for information about :

Council staff working on climate action

Received on 17/01/2023

This request has been formally logged in our FOI management system and has been assigned the reference REQ10873.
You should receive a reply to your request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.

Please remember to quote the reference number REQ10873 in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,
Information Management

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose, distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative compliance. For the full disclaimer please access http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

Dear Hannah Jewell,

Thank you for your recent request for information which I have enclosed
below for ease of reference. Your request has been treated in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

Your Request :  REQ10873

I can confirm that we hold information that falls within the scope of your
request. The answers to your questions have been provided in Red Text
below

I would like information about your council’s staff positions in relation
to climate action for the Council Climate Action Scorecards. This
information is most likely to be held by a HR department or similar.

In particular, please supply me with information relating to the following
questions:

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? 2582
(excluding schools)

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.

If you have answered yes to have a biodiversity planning officer and/or a
retrofit staff member below, both these staff members can be included in
this question even if they are contracted.

This is likely to include all staff in your climate/sustainability team,
such as Climate Change Officers or similar. This may include full time
staff who spend 60% of their time on climate change projects and 40% of
their time on other work.

You might include other staff in other departments, such as a procurement
officer if they are spending 3 or more days per week (0.6 FTE)on writing
and implementing a sustainable procurement policy or a planner that is
working primarily on low carbon policies for new buildings.

Actions from the Climate Change Plan are now embedded into service areas
and staff are working to deliver on these actions.

In terms of specific Climate Change Projects, there is a Carbon Reduction
Team consisting of:

• Climate Change Service Area Manager
• Carbon Reduction Manager
• Carbon Reduction Project Officer
• Carbon Reduction Officer
• Carbon Reduction Trainee
• Operational Energy Manager

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.

No we do not currently have officers employed by the council who work
directly in this area but we are engaging with regional delivery schemes.

3. How many planning ecologists (ecologists within the planning
department) or equivalent working for 3 or more days per week (0.6+FTE)
does the council employ to scrutinise planning reports for Biodiversity
Net Gain? This can include both directly employed and contracted
staff,provided they work 3 or more days per week (0.6 FTE).

We have one Council Ecologist who provides advice on planning applications
in relation to ecological matters, including biodiversity net benefit.

I hope this provides the information you were looking for; if there is any
further information that we can provide, please submit a further request.
If you have any queries about this email or if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please contact me.

If you are not content with the subsequent outcome of your complaint, you
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Councils complaints procedure. To contact the Information Commissioner
click [1]HERE.

For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be
submitted via the link below.

[2]www.newport.gov.uk/foi

Kind regards,

Sarah jones

Information Management

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi