EIR Request - Council Staff Working on Climate Action
Request 101003218858
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?
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.
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.
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).
Response 31-03-2023
1.a) 5298 employees
b) 3 x FTE staff – Principal Climate Change Strategy Officer & 2 x Climate Change Strategy Officer. However, this does not capture the breadth of climate change work within the Council. The Climate Change Strategy is the responsibility of all staff with governance responsibility from senior management through Heads of Service. Staff are involved in implementing the Climate Change Strategy as part of their other responsibilities from procurement, housing, property, fleet, energy, planning, economic development etc.
2. The Council does not at present have any staff that work 3 or more days per week exclusively on home energy efficiency retrofitting.
3. Not held. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held. Unlike England, planning in Scotland does not impose a legal requirement to deliver biodiversity net gain as compensation for biodiversity destruction. Instead, the Scottish government is delivering biodiversity protection through the national planning framework (NPF). Therefore, the Moray Council does not have any planners scrutinising planning reports for biodiversity net gain. However the Council planners do scrutinise planning applications for biodiversity impact and the Council is in the process of contracting an ecologist on retainer to assist in biodiversity and ecology planning issues. The Council is also part of North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership.