Direct News April May - apse-archive.org.uk · The preview PAGE 18 Aviemore 2013 preview edition. 2...

direct newsAssociation for Public Service Excellence • April / May • ISSN 16465-2493

Youth Unemployment: Local authorities leading the response

Creating conditions for growth

Cllr Kuldip Sahota,Telford and WrekinCouncil

PAGE 6-7

Managing Demand

Robin Tuddenham, CalderdaleCouncil PAGE 8-9

Fairer for all

Cllr Simon Blackburn, BlackpoolCouncil

PAGE 10-11

Aviemore 2013

The previewPAGE 18

Aviemore 2013 preview edition

direct news 2

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EditorialBaroness Thatcher: The local government legacy

Just as direct news was about to go to press, news of thedemise of Baroness Thatcher began to emerge. Whether youare in the ‘love’ or ‘loathe’ camp it would be impossible tocomment on her political legacy without referencing theimpact on local government of her years in office.

Many of us lived through the years of compulsorycompetitive tendering as competition became the newmantra to improve public services. Marketisation in its manyguises was portrayed as a means to reduce costs and bringabout a more managerial approach to public services. Manydisputed this orthodoxy and argued that public services areunique and applying market mechanisms to public serviceswould never work and lead to failing public services. Theideal of rolling-back the state and allowing private growth isan argument which has once again flourished as publicsector budgets are cut in response to the global financialcrisis.

Many of us in the hazy days of CCT whilst not subscribing to‘competition’ in public services did however recognise thatpublic services needed to demonstrate ‘competitiveness’ –an entirely different concept but one which, like theThatcher legacy of competition in public services, hassurvived and grown as a concept. In austere times frontlineservices are once again under pressure to show that they arebetter, cheaper, more efficient than their comparators. Butsome of the old orthodoxy of hard client and contractorsplits has thankfully drifted into a wispy shadow of its formerperceived management wisdom. In its place we see a moreintelligent delivery of public services. A growth of serviceintegration and improvement linked to tangible outcomesand continuous performance improvement. Unlike otherareas of the public sector local government can say that itresponded better to the challenges which CCT presentedand it continues to respond to the current challenges ofausterity.

Whatever the views on Baroness Thatcher the policy legacyof marketisation has been tweaked and twisted bysuccessive governments of all political persuasions butsome of the underlying orthodoxy still prevails. It is APSE’sjob to promote excellence in frontline services and wherenational politicians intervene in local government we willmake it our job to critically review those policies and with avoice of reason and operational knowledge of frontlineservices determine if they will work or not for our members.The shadow of Baroness Thatcher remains and so does thetentacles of many of her policy ideas in local government;whether you view that as a good or a bad thing is of coursea question of perspective.

Best wishes

Paul O’Brien, APSE Chief Executive

ContentsAPSE Direct News

April/May 2013

Contents and editorial 3

Gisa Job

Paul O’Brien 4

Creating conditions for growth

Cllr Kuldip Sahota 6

Managing demand

Robin Tuddenham 8

Fairer for all

Cllr Simon Blackburn 10

The municipalisation of energy

Cllr Richard Williams 12

Reactec advertisement feature 14

Perspectives on reorganisation

Cllr Angus Carson and Cllr Gareth Sharvin 16

A forward focus on APSE Scotlands fleet,

waste and grounds services seminar 2013

APSE Scotland 18

Spedian advertisement feature 19

Partnering with neighbouring authorities for

the procurement of highway lighting

equipment

Andy Clark 20

Building an Inhouse improvement system

Cllr Phillip O’Dell 22

Busting the myths of ‘elf and safety’

Mo Baines 24

Vtec advertisement feature 26

Report back

A round up of APSE new from March/April 28

Riverside advertisement feature 29

Events diary 30

APSE Direct News is published by the Association for PublicService Excellence 2nd floor Washbrook House • Lancastrian Office Centre •Talbot Road Old Trafford • Manchester M32 0FP

telephone: 0161 772 1810 fax: 0161 772 1811email: [email protected] web: www.apse.org.uk

4direct news

Gisa a job – I can do that’ was the memorable buttragic catchphrase of Yosser Hughes in the 1982 ‘Boysfrom the Blackstuff’ television drama series whichwhilst often warm and humorous ultimately took alook at the catastrophic way economics can affect

ordinary people.APSE’s latest research ‘Youth unemployment; Local authoritiesleading the response’ is far from Alan Bleasdale’s writings but itdoes nevertheless also consider the impact of unemploymentand what local councils can do to stop a generation of youngpeople being consigned to life on the dole.

With almost one million 16-24 year olds not in employment,education or training, there is little disagreement that youthunemployment is a grave national problem. But our researchfound that it is a problem which local authorities are wellplaced to tackle. In many areas local councils are already takingthe bull by the horns.

Our research jointly conducted between APSE and De MontfortUniversity, was carried out among local authorities todetermine the extent to which youth unemployment is an issuein their area and what they are doing about it. As we mightexpect in the current climate, 94% of respondents consideryouth unemployment a problem locally and 91% believe it hasgot worse in the past five years. Our mapping exercise indicatesthat, as might also be predicted, youth unemployment isaffecting areas with higher socio-economic deprivationdisproportionately.

Whilst the research found that 73% of authorities had astrategic plan to tackle youth unemployment, we also wanted

to establish what practical steps councils are taking to helpensure a generation of young people are not consigned to lifeon the dole, with all the social and economic consequences thisbrings. We were buoyed by our findings that on a practicallevel, 70% are facilitating work experience, 80% are providingin-house apprenticeships and 40% are inserting social benefitclauses into contracts to promote local employmentopportunities.

It is clear from our research that local authorities across the UKare playing an active role as local stewards to help addressyouth unemployment.

In the City and County of Swansea the council's ‘Keeping inTouch’ scheme provides targeted support to pupils who may beat risk of leaving school without a qualification. The initiativedeveloped by the City and County of Swansea Council andCareers Wales West provides an example of local partnerscollaborating to develop and deliver an early intervention andpreventative strategy for tackling youth unemployment, underthree key elements, of identifying, engaging and monitoring.The schemes staged approach provides targeted support andreal outcomes for young people.

Another is South Ayrshire's ‘Work Out!’ initiative to enhanceemployability amongst young people through workexperience and vocational training. The initiative helps 14 – 15year olds to develop the ‘soft skills’ which local employers areseeking and provides vocational and core skills training andqualifications. In Bolsover Local Strategic Partnership's ‘RaisingAspirations’ project works with young people to help developskills and qualities that will assist them to move into education,

Gisa jobAPSE Chief Executive Paul O'Brien looks at how councils can play an ensuring rolein tackling youth unemployment.

April / May 2013 5

employment and training. There are many more illustrations ofgood practice in our report Youth Unemployment: localauthorities leading the response.

But what more could local authorities do? We have come upwith 'four C's' to answer this question. This means:

s Convening links with local businesses and trade unions;

s Co-ordinating a response to youth unemployment that joins up information and funding sources;

s Collaboration with partners and employers; and acting as

s Custodians of local communities to create opportunities within their in-house services to providesupport and employment opportunities for young people.

In APSE’s view councils are ideally placed to develop strategieswhich suit their unique local circumstances which enablesthem to achieve better outcomes in tackling youthunemployment, and there is clear evidence of them doing so.But recognition by central government of this key role is vital,not just for inter-generational justice, but for our nationaleconomic survival. If our young people do not have sufficientskills and experience it will disadvantage the UK in globalmarkets and will cost the national purse dearly in the long term,paying benefits instead of collecting tax on earnings.

Central government departments need to recognise thestrategic function of local authorities and invest the necessaryfunding to enable them to fulfil this important role. Ourresearch shows councils have achieved a great deal in thisimportant area with limited budgets and we are not necessarily

calling for massive additional resources. However, centralgovernment does need to invest in the strategic capabilities oflocal authorities and establish a policy environment in whichthe multiplicity of schemes, regulations and fundingmechanisms are channelled towards local leadership ofinitiatives that help ensure a brighter future for young peopleand allow them to contribute economically.

That is why APSE is calling upon central government to givelocal authorities the recognition and funding required to helpsave a generation from a life of long-term unemployment. Localauthorities are leading the response on youth unemploymentbut with the right strategic direction from Government somuch more could be achieved. We want to develop ageneration of skilled, capable young people not a generation tomorph into the tragic character of Yosser Hughes.

Contact: po’[email protected]

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Tackling youth unemployment: Local authorities leading the response

direct news

Creating conditions for growthTelford & Wrekin Council's leader, Cllr Kuldip Sahota and managing director, RichardPartington discuss their authority's whole council, co-operative approach to drivinggrowth

Growth is key to the economic future of the countryand, we believe, to the financial viability of localpublic services in Telford & Wrekin – and in manyother places.

In these difficult economic times, it is no longer enough forlocal authorities to passively wait for the call from a potentialinward investor. Attracting investment is a ‘zero sum game’ withall local authorities fishing in the same global pool - a poolwhich is smaller than ever before as banks continue to fail tolend on a scale or on terms which meet the needs of businesses.

Staying focused on the goal of creating the conditions forgrowth whilst having to manage financial pressures and protectfront-line services is a very real challenge for many localauthorities. Some local authorities though are achieving thisgoal.

In Telford & Wrekin we have set the priority of being a ‘businesssupporting, business winning’ council, focusing on attractingnew investment as well as supporting existing businesses.However, growth doesn’t happen simply because you have a‘growth plan’ – you need to have a ‘whole-system’ councilapproach which underpins the strategy by creating a placewhere people want to both invest and live – a safe, cleanborough, with improving health, good housing and excellentopportunities for learning and skills development. Our servicesneed to be integrated to achieve this.

Our first step was to redesign our organisation to create bothcapacity and a new commercially - orientated culture. Whatdoes this mean? We developed a new Business & DevelopmentCharter which sets out how we will do this, including our one-stop-shop for business and planning services providing adedicated point of contact, free and timely pre-planningadvice, the validation of planning applications within threeworking days of receipt, speedy decisions on all planningapplications and discounts on Building Regulations wheresought at the same time as a planning application is made, toname but a few changes.

As well as getting our organisational structure right, we havefocused on practical actions to take this ‘whole council’ agendaforward.

The council is leading the transformation of the Town Centre inTelford with some £250m of public/private investment, withcouncil facilities being integrated with hotels, restaurant, retail

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April / May 2013 7

and leisure facilities this will create 250 new jobs and safeguard400 jobs and deliver 150 jobs in the construction phase. Phase1 will be completed and open during Spring 2014.

We have launched ‘TLC’ a new Telford Loyalty Card. It is free toresidents and visitors and offers a series of discounts in localbusinesses and council leisure facilities. TLC encouragesspending with local businesses whilst encouraging theadoption of healthy, active lifestyles.

Our partners are central to achieving this culture change. To getbusinesses up and running as quickly as possible we areapplying the principle of ‘Making Every Contact Count’. Forexample, where our Business Support Officers identify anorganisation that needs support to comply with fireregulations, they will take responsibility and co-ordinate thiswith Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service.

An innovative new partnership aimed at making local areaseven cleaner and greener and more attractive as a place to livehas also been established bringing together parish councilsand the council to fund new environmental action teams. Eachparish team enhances the environmental work that Telford &Wrekin Council already does across the borough such as litterpicking and maintaining areas not covered by Telford andWrekin, and also weeding, planting, leaf fall clearing, repairs tostreet furniture and cleaning alleyways and underpasses.

As a ‘Co-operative Council’, we are keen to encourage ourresidents to be more than just passive recipients of publicservices. We are encouraging them to be active voluntaryparticipants – ‘snow wardens’ who take responsibility forclearing paths to key community facilities such as schools,‘street champions’ who act as a focus and the voice for theirneighbourhood, and all of these are volunteers. Leading byexample is an important principle for us. The borough is a ‘hotspot’ for youth unemployment and we are working with local

business and FE colleagues to address this directly, the councilset and achieved its goal of creating 100 apprenticeships byMarch 2012. The merits of this are two fold – supporting 16 to24 year olds to experience work – a real challenge in the currentclimate – and, as importantly directly contributing to trainingthe borough’s workforce of the future.Ultimately we are seeingevidence that our ‘can-do’ commercial approach is working.

Duport.co.uk reports that 603 new companies were formed inTelford last year – our highest annual increase and 16% up onthe previous year. More specifically, we have seen 160 new jobscreated as a direct result of a planning application beingregistered within 24 hours and processed within 6 weeks ofsubmission. We saw 800 new homes completed in the Boroughlast year – one of the highest rates of housing growth across theUK.

As a result of all of this, unemployment overall in the boroughhas fallen over the past two year by 13% - among the top 10%local authorities for this measure. Equally, we are succeeding ingetting our ‘open for business’ message out. The NationalBuilding Group and Building Magazine rank us among the top10% of local authorities for providing a ‘positive economic andplanning environment for investment’.

Despite the disproportionately high level of cuts which localgovernment has received from Government, local authoritiesare successfully creating the right conditions for economicgrowth. But, critically, growth is not an end in itself. Economicgrowth means jobs and this means that we can support ourvulnerable and most deprived communities to ‘narrow the gap’and achieve a good standard of health, housing and prosperityfor all. This is our core agenda.

Contact: [email protected]

It makes sense that by reducing demand for services, localauthorities can reduce the cost of those services. But atCalderdale Council we view demand management asmuch more than a response to budget cuts. We see it as away of transforming services and changing the

relationship between citizens and service providers. That is whyare taking a whole organisation approach and embeddingdemand management within our entire organisational culture.

Demographic pressures such as rising numbers of older andvulnerable people were already prompting a need to thinkdifferently about public services before austerity measureskicked in. Severe budget reductions across local government

have made that need for creative thinking all the more urgent.As an authority, we have saved £40m in the past three years andneed to save a similar amount in the next three years. We haveachieved savings so far through reducing back office,management, administration and facilities costs, but there is alimit to how far these can be pared back. Demandmanagement offers a more innovative approach, which meanschanging behaviour or early intervention to remove some ofthe need for services.

The first step is understanding what drives demand, whichentails examining; expectations and choices; systems andprocesses; and individual behaviour of staff and residents. Thenext step is changing behaviour through a combination of;preventative work; early intervention to limit or avoid long-term dependency; and integrating disparate services aroundpeople and places. This can then be followed be redesigning,restricting and re-sourcing services where appropriate.

We are a year into our demand management journey atCalderdale. We used management consulting firm impower tohelp examine the way in which services are delivered. Webegan by testing the idea of demand management out on aspecific service to enable us to take an evidence basedapproach before applying it more widely.

We looked at home to school transport initially and found wehad created a dependency on specialist buses among peoplewho may be able to travel in other ways. By putting in placetravel training and intensive support with children, vulnerable

direct news

Managing demandCalderdale Council's Director of Communities, Robin Tuddenham, discusses itspioneering council-wide approach to demand management

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April / May 2013 9

adults and their families we have been able to enhancetheir confidence and independence. We identified thatbehaviour change was more likely to be influenced bydoctors and teachers and engaging these professionalsproved valuable. We can potentially save £600k a year as aresult, but service users and their families also report that,rather than taking something away from them, makingthese changes was a positive experience.

We are now rolling out demand management across thecouncil in conjunction with the next round of budgetplanning. Everything that has potential for demandmanagement is being tested. A lead officer has been giventhe remit to analyse where demand management hasworked in other public services, establish a 'demandmanagement network' comprised of key people withinthe council and ensure they are properly trained andsupported in applying its principles.

Adult social care will be one of the largest areas we willlook at in future. We will consider ways in which personalbudgets can be used in conjunction with demandmanagement as a way to enhance self-reliance amongservice users. The implementation of welfare reform alsomeans our revenues and benefits systems will requireradical review and may be fertile ground for a demandmanagement approach. We recognise, however, that noone size fits all and demand management will be moreapplicable to some services than others.

We are clear that this is not just a way of dressing upbudget cuts and we need to communicate carefully withour residents to demonstrate that. Decisions will be takenwith support and involvement of service users and theirinsights will be mobilised in order to find creativesolutions where possible.

We have learned that some aspects of demandmanagement are down to simple things. For example, weexamined how we can manage demand by improvingcommunications with residents. We found that making thecontent of letters clearer means reducing the number ofsubsequent contacts with the council that can arise.

We are trying to maintain investment in the key areas ofchildren's social care, economic development, jobs andchannelling resources into preventative services in orderto stop problems arising in the first place. We haveintroduced new commissioning processes around earlyintervention and, in early years services in particularly, areidentifying youngsters who are at risk sooner.

We are working with the borough's strong voluntary andcommunity sector and seeking ideas from frontline staffworking in local communities. This is not just goodcommunity engagement; it's about building on localnetworks to re-balance the relationship between theauthority and local residents. An obvious example is usinglocal knowledge and resources to provide support for anolder person in their own community, rather than tenmiles away at a day centre on the other side of theborough. Focusing support and rewarding behaviourchange can promote community resilience by buildingupon the strengths that exist within a place – and itspeople.


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It is now nearly a year since we set up the Blackpool FairnessCommission, which aims to make Blackpool a fairer place foreveryone in the town. Statistics show that inequality is growingright across the UK and we are aware that Blackpool is a placeof contrasts – with high levels of poverty and social problems

alongside the huge opportunities that exist in a regeneratedseaside town with thirteen million visitors a year. We believe thatmaking Blackpool fairer will improve quality of life for all who live,learn and work here.

This is a new way of working in partnership which replaces theBlackpool Local Strategic Partnership. It considers the fundamentalquestion: 'Is Blackpool a fair place to live, work and learn?' Whilecelebrating the good work that is currently taking place, theCommission aims to narrow the gap between the richest andpoorest members of our society. We hope to do so by engagingwith local people from all walks of life, listening to their views andusing this to inform decisions and priorities for the town.

The thinking behind the Fairness Commission stems from researchby social epidemiologist Professor Richard Wilkinson ofNottingham University. In the bestselling book The Spirit Level:Why Equality Is Better For Everyone, Professor Wilkinson andProfessor Kate Pickett show that, throughout the world, the moreunfair a place is, the more social problems are experienced byeveryone there. Citizens in more unequal societies (in terms of thegap between those earning the most and the least) experiencemore violence, less trust and more social estrangement. Greaterequality rather than more growth in wealth are what matter towell-being, according to their research. Making a place fairertherefore improves quality of life for everyone - not just the worstoff.

Islington Fairness Commission was the first body of its kind to beestablished and Commissions have since been set up in Liverpool,Newcastle, York, Sheffield and Tower Hamlets, as well as Blackpool.

Divisional Commander at Lancashire Police, Richard Debicki, waschosen as the first chair of our Commission. A steering panel hasbeen set up to help to shape and promote its work. This will meanidentifying practical ways of making Blackpool a fairer place andworking collaboratively across sectors to reduce inequalities. Thepanel will meet four times a year to report on ways to increaseequality in Blackpool.

The role of Blackpool's band of Fairness Commissioners is crucial tothe success of the Commission. They have been recruited to helppromote the group, bring forward ideas to help establish fairness inthe town and give feedback on initiatives. Following its launch inMay 2012, over 100 people from across the community signed upto become Commissioners. They will attend meetings to discussissues, engage with local people, undertake reviews, producerecommendations and take responsibility for implementing thoserecommendations in the areas or organisations they represent.

One of its the first tasks of the Blackpool Fairness Commission willbe to establish a vision for fairness in the town. This will be a visionfor our future whereby everyone is entitled to a good quality of lifeand can access services and opportunities regardless of where theylive, their background or their particular economic circumstances.Residents were invited to ask the important questions toBlackpool’s leaders at a public meeting held by the FairnessCommission in January.

The first meeting, titled ‘Our Blackpool – Your Voice’ brought publicand voluntary sector bodies, businesses and local residents

Fairer for all Blackpool Council's leader, Cllr Simon Blackburn, discusses why a FairnessCommission has been established in the town and what it hopes to achieve

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April / May 2013 11

together to meet the Steering Panel. The meeting was wellattended and gave residents an opportunity to ask those burningquestions, which ranged from licensing restrictions on the townspubs and clubs to questions on how the panel thought that theFairness Commission could help raise the aspirations of the youngpeople of the town.

The day after this event we launched our free breakfast pilot thatprovides every primary school pupil in Blackpool with a freebreakfast and milk every day. This offer is available to everyresident, helping everyone from job seekers to the low incomeworking families. Since then we have also implemented the LivingWage for all staff across the Council and are commending itthrough the Fairness Commission to all our partners in the Town.

The Panel have met three times now, and as a result a number ofcross cutting task groups have been established to work on threekey themes of the Commission. The working groups seek to beboth cross cutting in subject matter and in representation, withpublic, private and voluntary, faith and communityrepresentatives coming together to address key issues that facethe town and seek to pool resource and commitment in aclimate where each of the individual organisations are facingcuts and financial pressure.

We are aware that fairness does not happen over night,especially in an era of budget cuts and financial austerity. Butwe believe that putting fairness explicitly on the agenda forour town – and bringing people together to consider itseriously – is an important first step.


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OFGEM have warned recently that energy bills willcontinue to rise as the UK becomes moresusceptible to world energy prices with theclosure of outdated coal fired power stations. Wetherefore need to actively pursue a step change

in our thinking about local energy generation, efficiency andsupply. As the cuts continue to bite, the social andeconomic context of our local areas get more complex andstaffing levels in Local Government lower, it’s sometimeshard to see if there is light at the end of this tunnel at times.However, I believe that the challenge posed by energy forLocal Government gives us the perfect opportunity to putus:1) at the forefront of the drive to address the country’senergy needs;

2) tackle social deprivation and fuel poverty, create muchneeded new jobs and businesses and;

3) generate new sources of revenue to sustain local publicservices.

Local Government’s increased involvement in this agendaalso ticks the subsidarity box. Local energy efficiency worksand the generation of energy from renewables is bestdelivered at the most local level to the residents andbusinesses that will benefit from it. Local infrastructureprojects, using local work force, creating a financial, socialand environmental benefit to local people - that is whereCouncils working in this agenda can really add value.

Local infrastructure projects, using local work force, creatinga financial, social and environmental benefit to local people-that is where Councils working in this agenda can really addvalue.

So it was from this stand point that a group of 22 officersfrom 15 different local authorities came together for aworking day in February to bring clarity to the concept of aLocal Authority Energy Collaboration. Elected memberrepresentatives from a number of these local authoritiesthen attended a round table event in the evening receivinga report of the day’s discussions. All elected members andofficers attending the event recognised that there wereopportunities afforded to Local Authorities by greatercollaborative working in the green energy agenda,identifying the benefits of increased capacity, expertise,confidence and ‘clout’, in addition to financial savingsthrough joint procurement and finance raising throughaccessing greater levels of funding to deliver bigger projectswith the benefit of shared risk and return.

Consensus gathered around 3 aims for the collaboration:

1. To deliver the local municipalisation of energy, where bywe mean the public ownership and managerial control oflocal energy generation and distribution networks.

2. To address social objectives and deliver communitybenefits such as reduction of fuel poverty and increase inlocal jobs and skills

3. To save money and make money for Local Authorities

The municipalisation of energy:A big ambition but one proposed to be achieved in collaboration. Cllr RichardWilliams, leader of Southampton City Council explains

Left to right: Cllr Richard Williams, Leader of Southampton City Council, Ed Davey, Minister for Climate Change andCllr Gerald Vernon Jackson, Leader of Portsmouth City Council

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April / May 2013 13

There was broad agreement that there were twostreams of work for the collaboration. The first aroundthe delivery of ‘Services’- expertise, networking,procurement, bid writing, marketing- and the secondaround the delivery of ‘Infrastructure’- local energygeneration schemes, large scale energy efficiencyworks, local energy networks. With the opportunity tobe less risk adverse in collaboration as risk and rewardare shared, officers were keen for the collaboration tosupport test schemes encouraging innovation and theestablishment of local green economy services andindustry.

There was consensus that the long term vision of themunicipalisation of energy would need to be achievedin ‘chunks’ recognising the pace of change in differinglocalities, maximising on wider opportunities andaccess to funds. There was general consensus thatlarge capital outlay projects with longer paybackperiods and schemes where there was a perceived lackof market solution, such as large scale retrofit anddistrict energy, were where a collaboration approachcould really add value. In addition the collaborationwould act as a single voice for multiple LocalAuthorities publicising the local green economymodel, influencing policy and negotiating with the Big6 energy companies.

As the day progressed into conversation on how thecollaboration would look to achieve the shared aims, itwas recognised that there may be up front costs to getthe collaboration up and running but that the longterm ambition should be financial self sufficiency.Conversation established that there were plenty ofpots of money out there for projects but that time andexpertise to bring proposals up to oven ready levelwas lacking. From this officers agreed that thecollaboration should start simple and then evolve,acting initially as a hub and clearing house, supportingfeasibility and business case development,coordinating procurement and raising finance, forprojects to be delivered locally.

The day ended discussing what the collaborationcould look like; what structure it could take. Officersidentified that the collaborative model would need tobe agile, flexible and durable and that the structuremight evolve over time from something informal oradministrative such as a joint committee, to somethingmore contractual such as an ESCo (Energy SavingsCompany).

So what is happening now? A core group of officersfrom 11 Local Authorities are working with APSE tocontinue the work started at the workshop anddevelop a business plan for the collaboration. Localauthorities have been asked to sign a Memorandum ofUnderstanding to formally show their commitment tothe outline vision and financially contribute to kickstart the work. The wider group is coming togetheragain in August to finesse the business plan taking itback through their Local Authorities discussionmaking structures with a view for the collaboration tobe formally constituted and delivering work on thegroup by winter. So just when the nights are gettingdarker again, it is hoped that the shining light ofopportunity this Local Authority Energy Collaborationrepresents, will only be getting brighter.


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»

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»

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»

» Specially manufactured aluminium profile lifting armsdeliver a SWL of 400 kgs

Specially manufactured aluminium profile lifting armsdeliver a SWL of 400 kgs
















Lightweight design increases the payload of







deliver a SWL of 400 kgs






»

» Lightweight design increases the payload ofyour vehicle and helps the environment.

Lightweight design increases the payload ofyour vehicle and helps the environment.













your vehicle and helps the environment.













»

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direct news

HAV Management MakesGood Business SenseReactec, the UK’s leading hand arm vibration and tool tracking specialist,highlights the latest cost and welfare benefits within the public sector.

Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is the result ofover exposure to vibration equipment - such aspower tools, diggers and grass cutters - and caninclude painful and disabling injuries of the bloodvessels, nerves, joints and muscles in the hands.

However, it’s not just the health and safety of workers that’s atstake. For employers, it result in hefty compensation claims andreduced productivity through sickness and absence. So how can local authorities and public sector bodieseffectively monitor this exposure and minimise the risks ofhighway operatives developing Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome(HAVS)?

And what of the benefits for employers from effectivemonitoring? Business will benefit from a healthier workforce,but will also realise cost savings from more efficient toolallocation, worker productivity and the reduced risk of injuryclaims.

Getting HAVS management right

Many organisations struggle to maintain a HAV managementpolicy due to its complexities or even keep it on their to-do listas it is seen as a lower risk than other issues.

Testing and tagging your plant for vibration output; healthscreening, training and educating employees on best practice

and why they should support HAV monitoring is only thebeginning.

The challenge is to create a procedure to monitor and manageHAV that is supported by all individuals and is realistic andreliable. Implementing a HAV monitoring system is a key part ofthis, while maintaining the quality of a monitoring system isparamount in supporting workforce welfare, meeting HSEguidelines and reducing business risk.

The cases of local authorities paying the cost are numerous.Last year, for example, a road worker sought compensationafter being diagnosed with HAVS. The condition made itdifficult for him to pick up small objects. In addition to this, thedisease is also made worse by further use of vibrating tools,meaning that the 46 year-old was unable to continue in his fieldof work. Because his employer had failed to follow correctprocedures in the management of HAVS, it was found in breachof regulations and instructed to pay a £10,000 compensationsettlement, and potentially much more in legal fees.

Ensuring buy-in to your HAV monitoring procedure from alllevels of management is essential and clear procedures arerequired to support the flow of exposure data. Each group ofstakeholders, from procurement and finance to healthy andsafety, will have different benefits and the formats to conveythese benefits will also differ.

Advertisement feature

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April / May 2013 15

Employers should emphasise that it’s not a big brotherexercise, but better protection for employees againstcontracting the disabling condition. Using imagerydisplaying victims of HAVS is a powerful and memorableformat to highlight the risks of living with the consequencesof poor monitoring. And it shouldn’t just be an employerresponsibility. Reminding operators that they are partlyresponsible for their welfare is important. The moreaccurately they record tool usage the longer they can workwhilst better protecting them against HAVS.

Operators tend to over-estimate when guessing tool usage atthe end of a shift or even fabricate the data to get it out of theway. Inaccurate data can result in operators being removedfrom tools that have higher levels of vibration and inhibittheir ability to continue working during a shift or project, thusincreasing the time of completion.

Many of the above benefits also apply to a team and SiteManagers who wish to minimise workforce interruptions andadditional workload. They are required on a daily basis tosupport exposure monitoring and collation of records.

More accurate data can mean not having to replace skilledpersonnel that overestimate their exposure levels resulting indelays and ultimately extending project timetables and cost.

So good record data can be obtained by informing allstakeholders of the benefits in helping create and maintain agood HAV welfare solution.

Reaping the rewards of effective HAVS management

This last point is an important one. Effective monitoring ofHAVS has always traditionally been viewed as a health &safety solution, but it can provide employers with so muchmore, particularly when it comes to improving tool allocationand workforce productivity.

Knowing which tools have been used and for how longduring a project helps Project Managers refine requirementsover time for certain projects. Creating efficiency in plantallocation can dramatically reduce unnecessary tool,servicing and transportation costs. Accurate reporting on tooltrigger time usage and performance provides a cleareroverview to help plan efficient tool allocation and servicerequirements.

Being able to monitor operator tool usage and work practicescan provide a company with invaluable intelligence toimprove working performance and project strategy, resultingin potentially shorter project delivery timescales and costreductions. Paper-based systems can disrupt operators andrequire significant administration resource and cost. Alsousing a paper-based system typically over-estimates operatorexposure by up to 4 times, resulting in lower productivity.More accurate data improves workforce practice resulting inpotentially shorter project timescales and tool requirements.

And last but not least, improving access to tool usage canreduce the incidence of tool theft, particularly on larger sites.

Taking all these benefits into consideration, the case for moreeffective HAV monitoring is compelling. It’s not just a case ofmitigating against the risk of over-exposure, it’s aboutproviding organisations with information that can helpdeliver significant cost benefits whilst ensuring worker healthand safety.

For more information on how the HAVmeter can solveyour HAV management requirements, visitwww.reactec.com

By Jim O’Hagan, Managing Director at Reactec.

Llanelli Joint Burial AuthorityBurials and CemeteryWithin Llanelli’s Burials and Cemetary departments, there was ahigh percentage of workers using machine tools such as brushcutters and strimmers. Staff manually recorded their own levelsof Hand Arm Vibration which were then passed to managementeach day to assess. However, the process was time-consumingand they wanted a more fool proof way of monitoring HAVSwhich was user-friendly at all levels.

The Burials and Cemetery departments as well as the Ruraldepartment turned to the HAVmeter in 2012 and are still usingthe system following a successful trial period.

Graham Williams, Cemetery Manager said; “The HAVmeter hasprovided the authority with a user friendly way of monitoringHAVS, helping us monitor levels in a more streamlined fashionensuring our workers are not over exposed to vibration.

“The efficiency of our work force has also improved, producingclear operational benefits for the authority For example, wherepreviously, it was commonplace for an operator to book sixhours against strimming, I could see that the actual trigger timewas significantly less than that at around 4 hours or less.

“We’re also able to evaluate productivity by comparing operatortrigger times working in the same area operating the sametypes of equipment. It’s not surprising that when the operatorswere made aware of the availability of this information theaverage daily trigger times increased significantly.

“We now have a user friendly piece of equipment which iswidely used and understood by our staff in monitoring the

exposure levels of vibration.”

Hyndburn Borough Council Parks Department/Cemetery and Crematorium Hyndburn Borough Council identified a gap in their health andsafety at work systems, when they realised that they had noway of effectively monitoring HAV for operational staff,particularly those covering grounds and tree maintenance. Inan attempt to address the issue, they adopted a simple routineof rotating work machinery, but no measurements were taken.

Realising that they needed to monitor rather than simplyestimate exposure to HAV, the council turned to the HAVmeter.

Craig Haraben, Parks and Cemeteries Manager said: “HAVSmanagement has been one of our key Health and Safetymanagement priorities for the past 4 years”

“The HAVmeter has plugged a gap in our health and safety atwork systems, allowing us to monitor staff HAV levels and helpus amend any poor work practices. The HAVmeter system wasvery simple for the operatives to use and provided us with acost effective monitoring solution.

“One of the main benefits of the system has been its ability tohelp us amend and identify which tools are used themost/least and which tools are of high vibration. Thisinformation in turn has helped us refine our buying decisions.”

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Councillor Angus Carson from Ards BoroughCouncil

When I first saw the title of this seminar, ‘LocalGovernment Reorganisation - Are we there yet’, Ithought it could be the shortest event in history,because we can answer the question very easily - no,we’re not.

But if we ask ‘Are we going to get there?’, Yes, we are. Itmay not be pretty, but we will make it across the line in2015 and embark on a new era in local government inNorthern Ireland.

Of course some of us feel like we’ve been ‘doing’ localgovernment reform for a long, long time. We certainlymarched up to the top of the hill last time round andthen had to march back down after yet another delay.

That was undoubtedly frustrating and it left some of uswith mixed emotions about reform – ranging fromthose who are confident and comfortable with theprocess to those who are at best, sceptical and atworst, disengaged.

I don’t believe, however, that any elected members,can afford to sit back and let reform ‘be done to us’. Wehave a responsibility, I would go so far as to say a duty,to our residents and our staff to embrace reform and tolead the process.

Strong, decisive and strategic leadership has neverbeen more important. If councillors can’t provideleadership, then 2015 and subsequent years will bevery, very messy and very damaging to our staff’smorale and motivation.

So, in my view, as councillors we need to do threethings:

1. Draw a clear line under the past – what’s done isdone.

2. Commit to a programme of planned transition work– and stick to it. And on that point, we have some veryheavy lifting to do, appointing chief executives andsenior management teams, addressing convergenceissues, including key matters such as pay and termsand conditions, and deciding on service models, eventemporarily. Because, remember, on day one of eachnew council, bins must be lifted, leisure centres mustopen, people must be buried and we cannot afford todrop the ball.

And the third and final thing we need to do:

3. Prepare for a brave, new local government world.

That last point is crucial. In the midst of managingtransition, we can lose sight of the fact that this changeis not just about geography and different boundaries.Yes, we will be working across larger areas and thatmay bring its own challenges, for example, in terms ofnew rural and urban splits in population. However, thischange is also about broader service provision andnew responsibilities.

Planning is, of course, ‘the biggie’ in terms oftransferring functions, quickly followed by communityplanning. However, other functions will also transfer tolocal government and, while I have never believed inthe summary description of council work as ‘bins, bogsand burials’ our traditional roles and in some cases, ourtraditional approaches and preoccupations, will haveto change.

I’m not saying that we will no longer be concerned ifMrs Smith’s bin isn’t emptied or a public toilet isn’tmaintained to a high standard. What I am saying is thattoo often we get caught up in the small stuff andforget the big picture. We need also to focus on newissues:

• What kind of a new council do we want to be? Highquality regardless of cost? Or low cost?

• What is our strategic direction going to be? What areour key services? Economic development? Leisure?Community? Tourism?

• What will our values be?

• And how are we going to use our resources to deliverthese services? What service models will we develop?

This is our opportunity to start afresh, to do thingsdifferently, to introduce better ways of working andbetter models for delivering services. It is ouropportunity to focus on the people we serve, ourcustomers and community, and not on ourselves orour officers – as important as we and they are!

How often do we get the chance to influence theshape and development of a brand new organisation?I’ll tell you, once in a generation at most.

So, I will simply say in summary to all my councillorcolleagues across Northern Ireland: don’t carp andcomplain about reform, roll up your sleeves and graspthe opportunity. Lead by example and you will leadyour new council to success.

Perspectives on re-organisationAt a recent APSE Northern Ireland event looking at local government re-organisation, two councillors gave their views on the issues that will arise as the 11new councils emerge in 2015.

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Councillor Gareth Sharvin from Down DistrictCouncil

Having only been a councillor for a short time, lessthan 2 years, I come with a different perspective fromsome of my councillor colleagues with many years ofservice in our councils. Nonetheless I can see sometough issues on the horizon. Many of those issues arerelevant to my own area where Down Council andNewry and Mourne Council look to come together.Down is a very rural area with three main towns and anumber of villages and hamlets whilst Newrydominates our neighbouring council. Thesegeographical differences are amongst the first weneed to consider and how we address different needsacross our new areas. Equally we need to look at thepracticalities of delivering services – do we haveadequate number of vehicles and equipment, are theythe right vehicles for the job and do we have the rightstaff with the right skills. As a group of councillors arewe ready to embrace the political changes that willemerge as power moves between different politicalparties.

On a wider point, the provision of funding to supportthe re-organisation process will help inject moremomentum into transition teams to deliver on thechange and transition responsibilities with localtransition committees being put on a statutory footingafter regulations are considered and approved by theassembly. They will be expected to translate therelevant tasks into local implementation plans and

take these forward at cluster levels. However I for oneam not convinced that the funding made available forthe shadow councils, capacity building, councillorseverance schemes, new ICT and rates convergencewill be adequate to see us through to the new councils.

Clearly councillors will have to take on a more strategicrole to match the new scale of the councils which Iexpect will also mean less of a hands-on approach atthe operational level. The size of the new authoritieswill also have an impact on the councillor-officerrelationship and on the role of the chief executive asthe nature of the organisation and its functions changeand develop.

Furthermore the transition phase will mean jointworking with new councillors in a context we are notused to, followed by a further phase of change as thenew authority looks to start work , settle down and, nodoubt, endure some teething trouble.

But change and development are natural andsomething we have been talking about with regard tolocal government for a long time, so we can hardly saywe didn’t see this coming. As a relatively new electedmember I can see a bright future for councillors andlocal people under the emerging councils and I lookforward to getting stuck into the hard work that willmake them happen.


direct news

The on-going crisis in the Eurozone and therecent bail-out package for Cyprus is a starkreminder to the UK that the Eurozoneeconomies are not yet out of the woods. Whilstthe beaches of Cyprus may be a big contrast to

snowy peaks of Aviemore the impact of the Eurozoneis surprisingly similar. The public sector is facing theon-going austerity programme introduced acrossEurope with Governments cutting back on publicsector spending. The fleet, waste and grounds servicesare certainly not exempt from the programme ofausterity.So with less money to spend councils need to getmore for less, stop providing some services or providethose services to a lesser standard or frequency.Unsurprising then the theme of this year’s Aviemoreevent is ‘A vision for the future’.

‘A vision for the future’ will explore how Scotland’s localauthority services in the field of fleet, transport, streetscene and grounds maintenance can respond to theon-going budget pressures. Continuing to simply dowhat they have always done is not a realistic option sothe seminar will look at innovative new practices, howfleet services can support other council services anddrive efficiencies and of course better procurement ofthe fleet and equipment needed to deliver good localservices in the sector.

So what is it that strapped-for-cash councils are tryingto do? APSE has worked with a number of localauthorities that are looking at their current budgetsituation as a means to develop a programme ofservice transformation, using tools and techniques,such as demand management, and integrating newpolicy ideas, such as resource efficiency, councils aretrying to drive efficiencies through every stage of theiroperations. Whether this is refuse collection serviceswhich need to deliver on fuel efficiencies throughbetter fleet and better driver training, or help theircouncil achieve stringent targets for carbon reductionand reducing waste to landfill, integration of efficiencyacross the service will help councils meet their budget.And many services face similar challenges for examplein grounds maintenance there is always thetemptation to compromise on the quality or the

frequency of the services by assuming that it is a ‘non-essential’ service but as most grounds managers willtestify reducing quality in the short-term can oftenhave underlying consequences for the longer term. Soinstead APSE is seeing councils looking at betterdesign, better planning of public-spaces and evenbehaviour change on the part of service users to helpmaintain good public realm, without of courseincreasing costs beyond those set in tight budgets.Right across frontline services the pressure is on butsolutions are being sought.

With budgets under pressure councils are alsodemanding better deals from their suppliers. Fleetthat can incorporate new innovations that save time,money or both will be popular amongst local authoritypurchasers as they seek to reduce fuel spend,maintenance costs, and down-time. Client localcouncils are also determined to find ways to support agreener local agenda; that means using plant,equipment, new technologies and new techniques,that minimise or eliminate waste from operations orprovides effective recycling opportunities. And yesthey also want cheaper goods – but not cheap goods;authorities are increasingly looking towards consortiapurchasing arrangements to see where volumepurchasing can drive savings. Although the publicsector will always seek to pay a fair price for its goodsand services those supplying the sector will seedemands increased to generate added value fromgoods and services. Councils simply want ‘more bangfor the public buck’ in times of austerity.

But with all the talk of doom and gloom on budgets itis important not to forget the need to invest in thefuture of the service that goes beyond investing inplant and equipment. APSE will launch its new ‘RisingStars’ awards to recognise the talent amongstupcoming service managers and officers. It is thesenew managers that will take forward the ‘vision for thefuture’. APSE’s believes that the Aviemore eventprovides an ideal backdrop to celebrate the newindustry talent upon which the future of local publicservices depends.

Contact: Louise McMillan is the acting principal advisor for APSEScotland; for details contact Louise on [email protected]

A forward focus on APSE Scotland’s fleet,waste and grounds services seminar 2013

kindly sponsored by Zero Waste Scotland

The APSE Scotland ‘Aviemore’ event is now the principal trade show in Scotlandfor fleet, waste and grounds services but as well as a huge outdoor and indoortrade exhibition delegates will debate the key issues for the sector in Scotland

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Cut your marketing spend and make money!A leading vehicle graphics company is encouraging LocalAuthorities to make the most of the marketingopportunities offered by their refuse fleets and save moneywhile communicating effectively with their residents.

Lawrence Craig from Spedian, the company behind the first‘invisible frame’ signage for vehicles, is encouraging LocalAuthorities to recognise the benefits of clear, clean andeasy-to-change signage on refuse vehicles – one of the best-value marketing opportunities available to councils.

He said: “All councils have many key messages to get acrossto their residents. With budgets being squeezed, perhapsconventional ‘bought’ media such as local radio, bus-backs,leaflets and poster sites are less affordable. We’reencouraging councils to look to their fleets of vehicles asperfect platforms for eye-catching and effective mobilemarketing across all their communities with the addedpotential of generating third party revenue.”

He continued: "Of course, the medium has to be of highquality as does the message.”

The Spedian System is the only vehicle signage system withinvisible frames which is guaranteed to stay as clean as thevehicle and can be changed as often as required.

Its HD or Super HD panels enhance messages with vibrant,clear and enduring colour.

Spedian, which provides signage across the UK, Europe andUSA and names Coca Cola and McDonalds amongst itscustomers, developed the Spedian System to be cheaper,lighter and more easily maintained than any other systemson the market.

It is more cost-effective in use too; a Spedian System for a 28foot van will weigh only 800gms and is very low profile,minimising impact on fuel consumption.

Spedian launched its revenue generation model at LARAC,where it was well received.

The Spedian System is adaptable to all shapes and sizes ofvehicle. The system was developed in conjunction with 3Moffering truck graphics which require no bolts, rivets, screwsor welds.


direct news

Finding new ways of working and making limitedbudgets stretch further is of paramount importance ifpublic services are to be maintained.

This principle has seen twenty eight local authoritiescome together in a joint highway lightingprocurement initiative led by Denbighshire CountyCouncil. We are pleased to report that the All Walesand AGMA Highway Lighting Procurement Partnershipwas recently short listed in Procurement Collaborationcategory of the Welsh National Procurement Awards2013.

What is now a far-reaching project was aided at theoutset by an approach to APSE, whose networkqueries system enables councils to raise questionswith others nationwide in order to learn from eachother. In 2007 Denbighshire County Council led on acollaborative procurement exercise on behalf of the sixNorth Wales local authorities to establish a framework

Shedding light on goodprocurement Andy Clark, street lighting manager at Denbighshire County Council describeshow twenty eight local authorities have joined forces to make resources forhighway lighting go further .

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agreement for the supply of highway lightingmaterials. This project produced a range of significantbenefits to the partners and Denbighshire was askedto lead on an All Wales agreement in 2011.

During the lifetime of the original agreement we hadalso received requests from a number of Englishauthorities, who asked if they could also join theagreement if we were to establish a new framework. Aproject group led by senior procurement officer, StuartAndrews, and myself, under the guidance of strategicprocurement manager for Denbighshire, ArwelStaples, was established to set the agreement up. Theintention of the group was to develop an agreementfor the supply of the full range of lighting materials andled to the requirement being advertised in OJEU witheleven different “Lots” covering all materials procuredfor highway lighting. The agreement was advertised asbeing for a period of four years with an estimated valueof £40m. The agreement was also advertised as havingtwenty eight partner authorities (located throughoutWales and within the Association of GreaterManchester Authorities region, including AGMAassociate members in the North West of England) whoall expressed an interest in using the framework whenit was established. The key aim was introducingimprovements to service delivery and considering newinitiatives to facilitate further efficiencies.

This tender process was undertaken using the Proactise-Sourcing system used by Denbighshire CountyCouncil. This process brought significant benefits tothe project where evaluation could be done remotelyby users. Both buyers and suppliers were able toupload documents to the system and the system isfully secure and transparent.

Collaboration between such a large numbers ofauthorities on a procurement exercise of this size wasnot necessarily an easy task. A huge amount of timewas spent in getting the specification drafted and

agreed due to the numerous requirements of thevarious authorities involved. We also had to overcomethe resistance to change from certain manufacturers'products to other more cost effective ones. A fear ofcollaboration also had to be addressed as most of thepartners had not entered into such a large projectpreviously.

The hard work as been well worth it, though, as asignificant number of benefits have been generated interms of cashable and non-cashable savings, processand operational changes to working practices. Theseinclude an average 14% reduction in material costs todate, which could generate possible savings in theregion over £5m over the lifetime of the agreement.Another benefit is that we now have greater control ofprices due to the terms and conditions of theagreement fixing prices at a maximum allowed levelfor longer periods, which allows engineers to plan theirbudgets for longer periods.

The rewards are not just financial. Setting up theframework has been a benefit through the sharing ofexperiences of both technical and procurementofficers across the region. There is now an excellentnetwork of support both technically and commercially.The collaboration provides scope for the group ofauthorities to continually evaluate and reviewoperations to identify and exploit new and moreefficient ways of working.

This is a whole new approach to procurement and webelieve it will enable the authorities involved to stretchtheir diminishing budgets further while alsotransferring knowledge and skills. It is a collaborativeway of working, which we believe could be applied toother services and other councils.


2009, 2010, 2011 TomTom UK & Ireland Reseller of the Year

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Building an In House improvement systemHarrow Council is among the fastest improving local authorities in the country. It won BestAchieving Council at the MJ awards in 2011, is one of the safest London boroughs and has arecycling rate of 50%. Over the last three years staff satisfaction levels have shot up from 50 percent to 63 per cent, and sickness levels have gone down by 30 per cent. Environment Services hasin particular seen a huge turnaround in achievements, due mostly to a new in-houseimprovement system. Cllr Phillip O’Dell, Portfolio Holder for Environment and CommunitySafety, explains how the department got back on the track to success.

Back in 2007, we had the lowest ComprehensivePerformance Assessment score in London, with arating of just two stars. Following a string ofoverspends, the authority’s reserves fell to£1.3million. Morale amongst staff was at a low, and

there was a high level of staff sickness. To top all this off,resident satisfaction levels were amongst the lowest in Londonand the 35,000 refuse complaints we had that year caused ameltdown of the call centre. Harrow was described by the AuditCommission as “stagnant”.

So how did Harrow’s Environment Services transform? We tookit back to basics and did our research. We held focus groupswith residents, staff and young people and consulted 1,000residents. Our findings were very interesting. There was strongsupport for residents to become volunteers, with 68 per cent ofthem willing to help elderly neighbours. One third said theywould like to help with community clean up events and 45 percent said that they would join their neighbours to keep theirareas clean. Some residents felt that our recycling system wastoo complicated and rules on contamination lacked flexibility.

We invested £2m in the council’s environment services as partof the council’s wider transformation programme. We wantedto give a boost to recycling in Harrow, but we wanted to keep itsimple. After consultation and consideration of the feedbackwe received, we settled on a system of three wheeled bins forthe 70,000 households in the borough – a brown bin for foodand garden waste, a blue bin for recyclable waste and a greenbin for residual waste. Against the flow of the hostile national

press we went for an alternate weekly collection of therecycling and residual waste bins, but kept a weekly collectionof the potentially smelly food and garden waste. We maderecycling compulsory but we have succeeded by persuasionand never embarked on enforcement.

At the council, changing to a paperless office, with electronicrecords, allowed for all sorts of gains to be made. Modern wasteservices are significantly more complex and need improvedmanagement tools to plan and manage. Crayons and a papermap are not up to the task anymore.

In 2009, Harrow’s strategic change partner, Capita, designed anew and improved waste management system for crews, ourcall centre Access Harrow and managers. The system wirelesslyconnects waste collection crews and Access Harrow in realtime. Each lorry cab has a touch-screen computer with a GPSlink. Crews log various events on their rounds, for examplewhen they start and finish collecting in a specific road or if theyencounter un-collectable bins. They can even upload picturesof problem areas or contaminated bins, which are sentwirelessly to the central depot and Access Harrow within fourminutes.

If a resident calls to say a bin has not been collected, AccessHarrow pulls up a user-friendly screen with informationshowing if the street’s collection is completed and if there wereany contaminated bins reported. Also on view is the resident’s‘history’ with the council, i.e. previous calls, photos of missedbins, and letters sent out about recycling.

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With the new system, customer assistants are resolving 95% ofqueries first time, meaning a better service for residents. It isvery simple to see if it’s a genuinely overlooked bin – the streetwill be logged as ‘complete’ and the resident’s bin will not bereported as contaminated. In this case, the assistant can correctthe error by issuing an electronic ‘missed bin’ ticket to the crew– often before the vehicle has even left the road - and they canreturn to collect.

Electronic records also mean managers know at any givenmoment where all the lorries are, plus the amount of fuel used,time taken, streets completed, rubbish collected andcontamination levels. Residents can check online why their binwasn’t collected, and could soon receive an automatic text orcall to let them know if their bin was contaminated.

We can identify which people are not recycling or are using thewrong bins. We can then carry out door knocking campaigns, todeliver the message accurately. Harrow is a diverse boroughwith many different languages spoken and the new system alsohelps identify where the message needs to be translated.English may not be a first language and residents mighttherefore be missing the information on how to recycle. Bydealing with any language barriers we are helping residents toget the correct information.

Harrow Council was then able to roll out similar technology intoother public realm departments, like park and street cleansing.Staff were given mobile devices which they would receive theirwork schedule on. They could then record what work was doneand when, and managers would be able to easily identify whatprogress had been made. The success of this allowed thecouncil to measure service performance and drive down costs.

The success of these innovations had led Harrow Council tobecome the first local authority in the country to use cutting-edge technology to fully merge on-street based environmentalservices - saving £1.8million over the next two years

The Public Realm Integrated Service Model (PRISM) will bringtogether Community Safety Services, Highways, and PublicRealm Services such as street cleaning, in a new and improvedenvironmental service underpinned by innovative technology.The technology implemented through PRISM will include ahandheld device that enables council teams to multi-taskacross a broad range of on-street services including checkingpotholes, parking enforcement, basic trading standard spot-checks, broken street lighting, and flytipping. The modelremoves barriers which currently exist between the threeservice areas and will enable on-street council staff to becomethe 'eyes and ears' of the Council by working across the entiredivision rather than one specific area. When problems areidentified the information will be sent digitally from thehandheld device to specialist council staff to resolve. It meansskills and expertise will be coordinated in a much moretargeted way.

As a result of these innovations, we have happier residents anda much improved service. We are reaping the benefits in theform of a better customer satisfaction rate and a cleaner,greener borough, which will continue long into the future.

Contact: For more information contact:[email protected]

direct news

Local authority managers provide a plethora offrontline services and managing health and safetyrisks across such diverse public services presentsmajor challenges. Senior managers responsible fordecision-making in local councils have to achieve a

balance between the interests of the community, their staffand the local authority. It is no easy task in a climate wherethere is the ever-present threat of litigation and as somewould argue a ‘claims-culture’, insurance considerations andcivil liberties, which thwart the efforts of local communitiesto get on and do things without undue interference from, asthe media would have it, council bureaucrats. But what is the reality of health and safety laws? Well the lawitself is clear - a proportionate approach is needed and thisis the approach that many local authorities are already keento take. Rather than waste resources and effort worryingunduly about low risk activities taking a more proportionaterisk allows resources to be freed up to concentrate on thoseareas where more serious risks can be identified andaddressed. Where Councils get this right, the localcommunity reaps the benefits of innovative and enablingactivities. This requires a balanced approach to risk, steeringa middle path between an unnecessary policy of riskaversion at one extreme, and an inability to identify andaddress genuine risks at the other.

Tackling the myths is also vital and it is perhaps both timelyand helpful that the HSE has set up a Myth BustersChallenge Panel. The Panel aims to tackle disproportionateapproaches to risk and so far the panel has responded toover 150 cases. Many of these involve local authoritydecisions and many are based on media stories ridiculingaction taken in the name of health and safety.

The HSE wants to see senior managers in local authoritiesand across public services in general to take a stronger leadin promoting a culture of sensible, proportionate health andsafety decision-making across their authorities; and learningfrom the Myth Busters Challenge Panel is one way in whichthis can be done. HSE has analysed the first cases to helpmanagers challenge over-the-top decisions that takeattention away from the real aim of health and safety lawwhich is about managing risk proportionately.

The HSE has distilled its main findings into four useful ‘toptips’ to challenge over-zealous or inappropriate applicationsof health and safety law:-

s Find out if it really is a health and safety concern

s Look for health and safety solutions that help you deliveryour services – not for health and safety obstacles to stop them

s Ensure that all your health and safety precautions passthe test of being sensible and proportionate

s Communicate all your risk management decisions clearlyand honestly

Whilst health and safety regulations remain important theaim remains no more and no less than to protect staff andmembers of the public affected by significant risks createdby work activities. Perhaps a useful message for local mediato take on board as well!

To visit the latest Myth Buster Cases visit:http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/


Busting the myths of ‘elf and safety’From banning jubilee bunting to three-legged fun races at a school sports day ‘elf andsafety’ takes on a mythical quality in the press which loves to berate local councils butwhat is the reality behind health and safety myths and local authority activities?

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WORKsmart™-Eco monitors and tracks drivingstyles across the fleet, giving EastRenfrewshire Transport team, headed byGordon Moffatt, Transport Manager theinsight needed to identify those vehicles

which are damaging the environment and costly to theCouncil. Andrew Corry, Head of Environmental Services, Roads andTransport for East Renfrewshire Council commented“Following a recent tender process, East RenfrewshireCouncil requested Vtec Solutions to deploy the TomTomTelematics system in December 2012. The Council havebeen hugely impressed with the quality of data beingreceived and the ease of use of the system itself”. GordonMoffatt, Transport Manger added “I am particularlyinterested in monitoring our fleet’s emissions in line with our carbon reduction commitments. The WORKsmart™-Eco systemallows me to very easily monitor the carbon foot print, miles per gallon and time that the vehicles spend needlessly idling”.

Other Public Sector organisations utilisingTomTom Technology include, WestDunbartonshire Council, Fife Council, FalkirkCouncil, Perth and Kinross Council, ScottishBorders Council, Chesterfield Council, SEPA aswell as NHS Aryshire and Arran. Vtec Solutionswill soon be deploying TomTom Solutionsthroughout the Inverclyde Council fleet.

Energy Saving Trust Scotland currently offersheavily reduced FuelGood driver trainingsessions for £10 + VAT per driver (for moredetails call 0800 512 012). If fullyimplemented, the techniques from the training can result in a fuel consumption saving of 15% and annual cost savings of£200-£250 for the average driver. Currently they are monitoring the progress of training provided to a number of ScottishCouncils via the internet based TomTom WEBFLEET® fleet management solution, as provided by Vtec Solutions.

Evidence shows that a stable, fluid driving style is more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly than speeding or stop-start driving inheavy traffic. WORKsmart™-Eco delivers information on the driving style, speed, carbon footprint and idle time of everyvehicle you have on the road, straight to your PC. With such detailed information to hand, you can see at a glance whatneeds to improve. You can then develop a green driving policy for your company, setting out the advice and guidance yourdrivers need to be more fuel-conscious on the road. It will also help in keeping with the safety of drivers, by encouraging adriving style that reduces their exposure to risk. Monitor yourprogress TomTom WEBFLEET® uses the mileage and fuelconsumption data for each car, van or truck to calculate thecarbon footprint of individual vehicles and the entire fleet. Theinformation can be viewed in real time as a KPI on theWEBFLEET® dashboard. You can then compare vehiclesaccording to their fuel efficiency, idle time and fuel wastage. Asa result organisations can also set targets for each KPI andmeasure individuals or teams against them, to ensureeveryone’s doing their bit for the environment.

To find out how Vtec Solutions can assist in reducing your fleetsCO2 emissions contact us on 0845 603 7832, [email protected] or visit our website atwww.vtecsolutions.co.uk

East Renfrewshire Council uses TomTomto reduce their Fleet CO2 Emissions East Renfrewshire Council has joined the growing number of Public Sector organisationsto deploy TomTom Business Solutions Telematics technology, supplied by Vtec SolutionsLtd to measure their fleets CO2 emissions.


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March and April proved busy months for APSE with a range ofconferences, meetings and advocacy activity on behalf of APSEmembers.

England

Space wasteAPSE hosted an event on waste at the National Space CentreLeicester on 27 March. A discussion on the value of joint and flexibleprocurement of fleet was hosted by Carl Miller of LincolnshireCouncil. Other speakers included Webaspx on route optimisationand Kevin Pegg, of Blaby Council on recycling WEEE products.

Central regions AGM will be held in June on municipalentrepreneurship. Contact Rob Bailey for details [email protected]

Resource efficiency Parliament was the backdrop for the launch of APSE’s latest researchon ‘Resource Efficiency’ a new publication developed in associationwith leading green author Philip Monaghan. The event on the 18thApril was well attended with delegates hearing contributions froma panel of speakers including an opening presentation from AlanWhitehead MP and from the report author Philip Monaghan.

On the circuit…APSE chief executive Paul O’Brien attended the PPMA conference inBristol on 18 April

The 19 March saw APSE national chair Cllr John Kerr Brown attendthe Centre for Public Scrutiny tenth anniversary lecture on the stateof democratic accountability held at LGA House London

APSE’s strategic forum on the environment and sustainability washosted by Rochdale council Leader Cllr Colin Lambert on 25 Marchwithin Rochdale alongside chief executive Jim Taylor.

APSE chief executive Paul O’Brien attended the public sector 100event with cost sector catering in London on 4 April

Co-production The TUC hosted an event on Co-Production on 10 April withspeakers including APSE chief executive Paul O’Brien, Rick Muir ofIPPR and Heather Wakefield of UNISON debating the concept andpracticalities of co-production.

United we standAPSE delegates at the national Parks seminar 2013 were treated toan insight into the grounds maintenance arrangements for thepremier champions from Sir Alex Fergusons Groundsman TonySinclair who outlined to Parks delegates his hints and tips on gettinga perfect pitch.

Beautiful south The new south / south west service delivery models group was heldin Bristol on 7 March with speakers from both South GloucestershireCouncil and the London Borough of Lambeth with the new Sportsand Leisure group held at Oxford City Council with VisionRedbridge.

Waterloo The Queen Street Neighbourhood Centre at Waterloo will host anInnovation Seminar on 23 May for the South and South West region

and will incorporate the regional AGM 2013. For details contactHelen Burkhalter on [email protected]

Knowsley Knowledge ShareKnowsley Council hosted an APSE event on trading and chargingwith over 100 delegates attending from local councils throughoutAPSE’s northern region sharing knowledge and ideas on incomegeneration.

Wales

Building up knowledgeAPSE Wales hosted a Building Maintenance group on 21 March atLlanrindodwells with speakers exploring the operational deliveryissues in building maintenance services.

Transformation WalesAPSE Wales will host two events on service transformation withdiscussions on 24 April held in Neath and again in Flintshire on 25April. For details contact Debbie Johns on [email protected]

Dishing up changes APSE Wales will host a discussion for soft facilities management incatering and cleaning on 30 April at Llanrindodwells to explore thefuture of performance management and FM services in a Welshcontext. Contact [email protected] for more details

Scotland

Fleeting Scotland Aviemore will once again host the APSE Scotland Fleet, waste andgrounds seminar 2013, as featured in this edition of direct news. The seminar is kindly sponsored by Zero Waste Scotland

Party linesAPSE Scotland attended the labour party conference in April hostedat Inverness and also attended the SNP conference on 22-24 Marchalso at Inverness. The Liberal Democrat conference hosted inDundee was on 15 -16 March and COSLA at St Andrews on 7-8March all provided opportunities to promote APSE’s services andresearch programme to delegates.

Northern Ireland

The Local Government (NI) Awards winnersannouncedThe winners of the Local Government (NI) Awards were announcedat Derry / Londonderry with APSE sponsoring the Best localauthority service team which was awarded to Antrim BoroughCouncils Customer Service Team. The team were presented withtheir award by presenter and broadcaster Sarah Travers.

Local government reorganisation The most recent APSE Northern Ireland meeting was held in DownCivic Centre to discuss progress with local governmentreorganisation. Key note speaker Linda MacHugh, director from thelocal government policy division of the DoE Northern IrelandAssembly, spoke about progress, the legislative schedule, fundingand the responsibility on local councils to move the agenda forward

Report backA round up of APSE advocacy and events on behalf of our members

direct news 28

April / May 2013 29

Riverside Truck Rental. More than Truck Rental...... Colin McMorine is General Manager at Riverside Truck RentalScotland, at Clark Way on the Bellshill Industrial Estate inNorth Lanarkshire. “We acquired the facility in January of2012, and it is great for us and our future growth plans’’. ‘’Wehave a seventeen bay workshop and we are justcommissioning three ovens and paint bays. This gives us thecapacity we need to deliver all of the familiar RTR services tothe Scottish market, from what is probably the best possiblelocation for our kind of operation anywhere in Scotland.”

Riverside Truck Rental was established in 1996 and in 2006was acquired by its shareholders, led by Sid Sadique whohad previously managed sixty-five fleet depots up anddown the country as Fleet and Pre-Treatment Director atBiffa.

”RTR was established to provide vehicles and plant on longterm contract hire to private sector companies, central andlocal government. As local authority budgets tighten, it hasbecome clear that there was an ever-growing need forcouncils to have access to a wide range of vehicles on a moreflexible basis than direct ownership. Today, our fleet includesa full range of waste handling trucks, large plant,commercial vehicles, cars, heavy plant and other modes ofequipment. Since 1996 we have grown our business bydemonstrating a thorough understanding of local authorityoperations, the vehicles they use and the unique demandsplaced on those vehicles in the provision of statutory andnon-statutory services.” ‘’We understand completely thechallenges that go ‘hand in hand’ with mixed vehicle fleetoperations and vehicle supply’’

“So much so, in fact, that we have now taken on many totalfleet management contracts for councils up and down thecountry’’.

‘’All of the directors at Riverside come from within theindustry, so they all understand how the business works.Workshops, fleet management, fleet maintenance are all keyareas of expertise for the RTR Management team.”

“In Scotland, We are already working with virtually all thelocal authorities and many large commercial operations on aspot-rental and contract hire basis, but we are much morethan simply a rental operation, as we offer all of the fleet andworkshop management services that the company alreadydelivers to councils all over England.

We already maintain all of Viridor’s vehicles in Scotland, andwe work with a number of other private sector companies.We specialise in municipal equipment on rental, but on thecontract and maintenance side we supply a complete rangeof vehicles and plant including; cars, vans, trucks and trailers.We recently delivered two sixty-ton dump-trucks oncontract with Viridor.

Our new body shop facility is equipped with 2 commercial(22 metre) and one car paint bays, dealing with Insurancecompanies and accident management companies, inaddition to end user fleets as well.

We are probably the biggest and best-equipped RTR site inthe UK, and we have room to grow here. And that is myintention.

We want Riverside Truck Rental Ltd to be recognised as thenumber one in this business in Scotland. We have thepeople, the facilities, and the determination, and we are partof one of the strongest companies in the specialist vehicleprovision market.


Events diary

May 7 – 10 Scottish Fleet, waste & grounds seminar Aviemorel

May 13 Green Deal & the new ECO Leeds l

May 15 Cemeteries & Crematoria Supervisory Skills Londonl

May 15 Soft FM Giffnockl

May 16 Handling Difficult Conversations with Frontline Staff Glasgow l

22 May Managing Contractors Safely Glasgow l

23 May One day Innovation and Entrepreneurship Seminar Londonl

23 May APSE South/South West AGM Londonl

May 31 Scottish Annual General Meeting Hamiltonl

4 June Handling Difficult Conversations with Frontline Manchester l

5 June Vehicle Maintenance & Repairs - Supervisory Skills Liverpooll

11 June Health & Safety in Waste & Environmental Services Glasgowl

12 June Transport Advisory Group Manchester Town Halll

12 June Supervisory skills for the Building maintenance and repairs sector Glasgowl

June 20 Green Deal & the new ECO Leedsl

19 June Parks & Ground Maintenance Advisory Group Manchester Town Halll

24 June Event Management Staffordl

June 25 Highways and Street Lighting Manchester Town Halll

June 26 Building Maintenance Advisory Group Manchester Town Halll

June 26 Leisure, sports and culture - supervisory skills for team leaders Seftonl

June 28 Catering Advisory Group Manchester Town Halll

June 28 H&S in leisure centres Dundeel

July 2 Sports and Leisure advisory group Manchester Town Halll

July 4 Building Cleaning Advisory Group Manchester Town Halll

Date Event Venue

Contacts

l Keisha Swaby 0161 772 1810, [email protected] l Laura McNab 01698 454 015, [email protected] Vicky Starmer 0161 772 1810, [email protected] l Andrea Coackley 01698 454015, [email protected] Jan Kennedy 0161 772 1810, [email protected] l Mike Egerton [email protected]

direct news 30

April / May 2013 31

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