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I have added in the following points raised at the Haringey Cycling Conference 24/09/15.
Outsource
Pros
Office costs reduced
Marketing knowledge
Varied services may be available, ie beyond Bikeability
Experience of work in other boroughs/countiesCons
Continuity
Stuck with provider/need to manage relationshipTips
There may be a pre-procured solution, eg in London TfL have a Pan London contract with a provider that borough can access.
You might be able to get funding from the YST.
Do a site visit and see your prospective provider's training in action.
Read the TABS Procurement Guidance. -
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The following are notes from the In-house Bikeability delivery surgery from the conference (12 May 2015). This is from two sessions, please feel free to comment, add, amend or embellish. Please let us know your thoughts...
Advantages
• Cost effective
• Integration with wider programme
• Local knowledge
• Certainty about training figures
• Control and manageability – esp. speed of decision-making
• Relationships with schools – trust
• Quality and consistency
• Bespoke solutions possible
• Long-term strategies easier
• No procurement process neededChallenges and solutions
- Team retention can be a problem. We like to keep our talent and build around it. Proposed solutions:
Best pay and working conditions possible
Regular engagement (eg regular team meeting, email updates)
Giving extra responsibility to experienced members
Offer CPD where possible - How do we employ NSIs: F/T, contract and contractors/freelance. This really is a question of choosing the best solution from the possible one for your LA. Be aware that giving CPD training to some of your team and not others (ie non-mandatory training), can have tax consequences for team and management if you employ freelance NSIs.
- Can have a shortage (or a a surplus) of instructors, especially at peak and troughs times of the year. Proposed solutions:
Smooth the peaks by working with schools to book throughout the year
If the scheme manager is an NSI, they can pitch in in peaks
Get instructors to do bike checks ahead of time for future courses in troughs - Balancing deliver and strategy makes for a bigger workload. This goes with the territory!
Proposed solutions:
Get a strategy or delivery-minded colleague from another team to meet with you on a regular basis as a sounding board.
There are various web and IT solution. Use the best you can afford. - Managing costs and getting best value for money
Proposed solutions:
Train NSIs or pay to get them trained (some will work for nothing, eg PCSOs, Heads of PE)
Run four-day courses rather than five
Use pool bikes to get better attendance (and lower cost per place)
Consider charging schools for low attendance
Share delivery of some courses with other authorities
Approach public health for funding, eg for exercise on referral - Need to create an income.
Proposed solutions:
Hire services of team out, eg for Dr Bikes, led rides and workplace maintenance classes. - How do we achieve an uplift in adult training numbers (perhaps a wider than in-house delivery issue).
Proposed solutions:
Offer workplace training
Run adult group sessions for beginners/L1
Run adult groups for specific target audiences: women/ethnic groups/over 55s
Offer family training sessions, getting parents to train alongside their children
- Team retention can be a problem. We like to keep our talent and build around it. Proposed solutions:
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Islington Council are recruiting an assistant cycling officer to help grow cycling in this exciting central London borough.
For full details and to apply go here.
The closing date is 07.09.14.
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I don't think it is up to ITOs to fight for instructor pay increases, rather schemes should pay the best they can to ensure quality.
By paying well, for example paying through the lunch break, schemes create a more viable profession. This means instructors will stay in cycle training longer, growing a better pool of experience.
Instructors should encourage each other to form a guild. It does seem like an excellent idea to support themselves in the marketplace.
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My Hackney colleague Pat Gannon brought this to my attention. Forgive me is this is already something known/dealt with.
With the move from CRB checks (that are valid for three years) to DBS check (which have no time limit), I think we need an agreed guideline for best practice.
The guidelines are here: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-requests-guidance-for-employers#how-to-apply-for-a-criminal-record-check
Toward the bottom of the page is the paragraph:
Duration of criminal record check validity
There is no official expiry date for a criminal record check issued by DBS.
Any information revealed on a DBS certificate will be accurate at the time the certificate was issued. You should check the date of issue on the certificate to decide whether to request a newer one. In certain employment sectors a new criminal record check may be required periodically- Should we agree a best practice to recheck the DBS periodically across the industry or not recheck?
- If we recheck, should this period be 3 years (as with the CRB check) or some other time frame?
- Where would it would leave us legally if an instructor refused to have a new check after 3 years?
- Are we in our rights to not use them until they have a check?
- Are there any other issues you can think of?
Islington Council policy is to recheck the DBS every three years.
Thanks
- Should we agree a best practice to recheck the DBS periodically across the industry or not recheck?
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Ongoing discussion from Bikeability conference 2014.
Here are the notes from the 15 May 2014 workshop. Please feel free to add and continue this debate.
In-house delivery
Pros
Can make delivery more affordable
Team can be flexible
Can train/develop own team (if an ITO)
Bespoke programme
Greater control
Manage quality directlyCons
Some things you might not be set up to deliver
Have to juggle both strategy and delivery
Risk is on you if team fails to deliverTips
Can be helpful if the scheme manager is an NSIOutsourced delivery
Pros
Can cope with large scale
Minimum standards can be set
No extra costs
Professional teamCons
Complexity of tender process
Tender process can be seen as ‘unfair’ and hard to judge true value
Tender might contain missing elementsTips
Be specific, eg min. hours of on-road training for L2
Keep a professional relationship with your provider
Increase the instructor: trainee ratio
Monitor provider
80:20 quality:costMixed (in-house and outsourced) delivery
Pros
Flexibility
Horses for coursesCons
Potential competition between providersTips
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The Mayor of London’s Vision for Cycling is now being actioned as the Borough Cycling Programme and should bring a big uplift in Bikeability activity in the capital over the next three and a half years. Great. However, this could be limited by the number of National Standards Instructors available to deliver it.
In the past, central Government made a £300 bursary available to cyclists getting trained as NSIs, but this was stopped a few years back. In the last two years, I have certainly noticed a drop off in the number of trained instructors approaching me for work and an increase in those looking to get trained and in search of some funding to assist with that. I imagine this scenario is repeated with other LAs and providers.
It would be a shame if London were not able to deliver training all the extra training due to lack of manpower. I also think this shortage will impact the Home Counties too, as with more work available at a higher rate in London, instructors who work just outside London will increasingly be drawn into the capital.
Yes, there is some money available in the Borough Cycling Programme that can be used to train NSIs - the guidance says this is for school staff. I don't think that would have a strong impact as they already have a job and would only be able to deliver a small amount of training. Better to train people without a job!
I don't think LAs will apply to fund NSIs who are not available to deliver. They would rather fund courses and projects, IMO.
Could TfL look to reinstate this bursary for Londoners?
Should it be the DfT who should do this?
Could TABS co-ordinate request for the reinstatement of the bursery?There is now nine months until the greater part of the funding comes online, enough time to develop new instructors, but nine months will fly by.
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We gained £XXX from XXXX to deliver XXXX and XXX people took part.
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