FOI request: Governance and Funding for Climate Action
Climate Emergency UK made this Freedom of Information request to Gedling Borough Council as part of a batch sent to 15 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Gedling Borough Council,
Please treat this as a Freedom of Information request.
I would like information about your Council's Planning policy in relation to climate action.
In particular, please supply me with information regarding:
1. What is the total number of directly employed staff and councillors in this council and 1a. How many have received carbon literacy training in the last 3 years (from 1st January 2019 until today)?
Please provide the number of staff that have received carbon literacy project training and separately, the number of staff that have received other carbon literacy training (if relevant).
2. How many Climate Change Officers (or similar) does the Council currently employ?
2b. What is the total number of staff that are employed by the Council to advise on climate change matters and/or implement the Councils’ climate action plan?
Please list all these job titles for both these questions.
3. How much budget has been given to the Climate Action Plan (in terms of writing and managing, not the specific projects) for the Council budget 2022/23?
3b. How much has been spent on projects to reduce Council only emissions since 1st January 2019 up until 1st June 2022?
3c. How much has been spent on projects to reduce emissions across the whole of the authority area since 1st January 2019 up until 1st June 2022?
This may include, but should not be limited to, meeting minutes and other materials such as power point presentations considered by meeting participants, reports, spreadsheets, and relevant messages sent via tools such as WhatsApp, Slack, Yammer, or Signal.
I am interested in all relevant recorded information dated from 1st January 2019 to 1st June 2022.
I would prefer to receive information in a machine readable format, such as CSV files for data. I would prefer not to receive information in pdf format files.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Yours faithfully,
Annie, Climate Emergency UK
Thank you for your request for information from the Council on 30/05/2022.
Your request is being considered and we will endeavour to deal with it
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, subject to the information not
being exempt (or containing reference to a third party).
This means that you should receive a response from the Council on or
before 29/06/2022.
Please note that in some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is
the case, the Council will let you know. A fee notice will be issued to
you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with
your request. Please note that the 20 working day time limit for responses
is suspended until receipt of the payment.
If appropriate, the information will be provided by letter/email, normal
font size (Arial, 12pt). If you require an alternative format, such as
Braille or large print, then please let the Council know.
If you have any queries about your request or wish to respond to this
email please email [Gedling Borough Council request email] quoting reference EIR 11298.
If you are not satisfied with how your request is being dealt with then
you should complain by writing to the Chief Executive. This letter should
be marked for the attention of Executive Support at the Civic Centre,
Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 6LU quoting the above reference
number.
If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint then you
have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Telephone 01625 545 700 or
www.ico.org.uk
Legal Services
Gedling Borough Council
Please read the following carefully. The information in this Email is
confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the
addressee. Access to this message by anyone else is unauthorised. Senders
and recipients of any email should be aware that, under the Data
Protection Legislation and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
contents may have to be disclosed in response to a request made to the
Authority. If you have received the Email in error please notify
[email address]. Any views expressed by an individual within
this Email, which do not constitute or record technical advice, do not
necessarily reflect the views of the council. The Email has been checked
for viruses. We do however recommend that you perform your own scan of any
attachments (if any). We can not accept any responsibility for transmitted
viruses.
Dear Gedling Borough Council,
Thank you for taking the time to look at the FOI request I have submitted.
This is a polite reminder that the legal deadline by which you needed to respond to the FOI was 29th June 2022 which has now passed.
I would be very grateful if you could ensure that you respond to this FOI as soon as you can.
Yours faithfully,
Annie
Climate Emergency UK
Dear Annie,
Further to your request for information of 30/5/22, please find attached our response. If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me at [email address].
Kind regards
Sarah Klapkowski
Information & Practice Manager
Gedling Borough Council
Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park
Arnold, Nottingham NG5 6LU
0115 9013951
www.gedling.gov.uk
Dear Sarah Klapkowski,
Thank you so much for responding to our FOI. I have some follow-up questions if you would be so kind to answer, to help me fully understand your answer.
Your answer of 446 employees (directly employed staff), how did you calculate this?
In order to better clarify how we are calculating the number of staff a council employ, could you answer the question: How many staff does the Council directly employ (that are not contractors or sub-contractors, excluding teachers), that work directly for the Council as opposed to a school, leisure centre or other venture ?
And of your list of staff:
1 x Chief Executive
2 x Corporate Directors
1 x Head of Finance and ICT Paul Adcock
1 x Head of Human Resources, Performance and Service Planning
1 x Head of Development and Place
1 x Head of Environment
1 x Head of Communities and Leisure
1 x Head of Regeneration and Welfare
1 x Food Health & Housing Manager
1 x Climate Change Officer
How many of these staff spend 50% or more of their time on implementing the climate action plan and other climate action?
Or are there other staff that spent 50% or more of their time on implementing the councils' climate action plan and other climate action? And if so, please list them.
As you can tell, we would like to more clearly define which staff work directly on climate action compared to the whole council staff body. If you have further comments or advice on how we might wish to define this, or what data here might be useful, please let us know.
Yours sincerely,
Annie Pickering
Climate Emergency UK
Dear Annie,
Further to your email below I will be logging this as a new FOI request. You will receive an acknowledgement email when this has been done.
Kind regards
Sarah
Thank you for your request for information from the Council on 04/08/2022.
Your request is being considered and we will endeavour to deal with your
request within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being
exempt (or containing reference to a third party). This means that you
should receive a response from the Council on or before 02/09/2022.
Please note that in some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is
the case, the Council will let you know. A fee notice will be issued to
you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with
your request. Please note that the 20 working day time limit for responses
is suspended until receipt of the payment.
If appropriate, the information will be provided by letter/email, normal
font size (Arial, 12pt). If you require an alternative format, such as
Braille or large print, then please let the Council know.
If you have any queries about your request or wish to respond to this
email please email [Gedling Borough Council request email] quoting reference FOI 11448.
If you are not satisfied with how your request is being dealt with then
you should complain by writing to the Chief Executive. This letter should
be marked for the attention of Executive Support at the Civic Centre,
Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 6LU quoting the above reference
number.
If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint then you
have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Telephone 01625 545 700 or
www.ico.org.uk
Legal Services
Gedling Borough council
Please read the following carefully. The information in this Email is
confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the
addressee. Access to this message by anyone else is unauthorised. Senders
and recipients of any email should be aware that, under the Data
Protection Legislation and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
contents may have to be disclosed in response to a request made to the
Authority. If you have received the Email in error please notify
[email address]. Any views expressed by an individual within
this Email, which do not constitute or record technical advice, do not
necessarily reflect the views of the council. The Email has been checked
for viruses. We do however recommend that you perform your own scan of any
attachments (if any). We can not accept any responsibility for transmitted
viruses.
Dear Annie,
Thank you for your email dated 4/8/22 requesting information about council employees/climate change action.
I will deal with each of the questions raised in your email in turn.
- Your answer of 446 employees (directly employed staff), how did you calculate this?
This number is not a calculation, it is the number of staff that are directly employed by the Council either on a full time, part-time or temporary contract.
- How many staff does the Council directly employ (that are not contractors or sub-contractors, excluding teachers), that work directly for the Council as opposed to a school, leisure centre or other venture?
Gedling Borough Council has no Education function so employ no teachers. The number of staff excluding those working in Leisure centres is 331.
(Should you require any further information about staffing structures please refer to our website at https://www.gedling.gov.uk/council/about... )
- How many of these staff spend 50% or more of their time on implementing the climate action plan and other climate action?
Just one - the Climate Change Officer
- Or are there other staff that spent 50% or more of their time on implementing the councils' climate action plan and other climate action? And if so, please list them.
No - there are no other staff that spend 50% or more of their time on implementing the Council's Climate Change Action plan and other climate action.
I trust that this satisfies your request but if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me on telephone 0115 901 3951.
If you are not satisfied with how your request has been dealt with then you should complain by writing to the Chief Executive. Your complaint should be sent to [email address] or marked for the attention of Executive Support at Gedling Borough Council, Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 6LU.
If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint then you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Telephone 01625 545 700 or www.ico.org.uk
Sarah Klapkowski
Information & Practice Manager
Please note I do not work on Wednesdays
Gedling Borough Council
Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park
Arnold, Nottingham NG5 6LU
0115 9013951
www.gedling.gov.uk
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