Established in 2009 in one of South Lanarkshire’s areas of multiple deprivation, Eddlewood Training Academyprovides skills training for both Council employeesand local unemployed people. The Academy was developed by the Council’s Facilities Management Service whose broad ranging remit covers building cleaning, catering, janitorial, school crossing patrol, concierge, reception, and conference and banqueting services and extends to 17 high schools, 124 primary schools, 8 additional needs schools, 9 corporate buildings, 24 public conveniences, and over 200 other Council and partner organisations’ properties across the South Lanarkshire area. The Academy was conceived to address the challenges the service faces in recruiting and retainingsuitably qualified and experiencedstafffor its core businessactivities of cleaning and catering. The project is meeting its primary objectives in ensuring and developing a first class workforcefor the future:problems with staff continuity have been addressed; employees obtain food and nutrition qualifications before they start work at each site; staff cooking skills have improved, and the service receives very positive Environmental health reports. The Academy has also contributed to the Council’s success in increasingthe uptake of school meals,which in many other areas is currently falling, and has generally promoted healthy eating through the provision of training events for pupils, parents and the general public.
PLANNING / · a clear rationale, defined processes and focus on stakeholder needs· contributes to organisation’s goals and addresses current or emerging challenges
The Facilities Management Service recognises its key role in delivering the Council’s educational and health objectives. Itwas an early adopter ofthe radical changes to schools catering brought about by ‘Hungry for Success’, and receives favourable comment from Education Scotland (HMI) for its positive approach.
In 2008, however, the service wasbeginning to face a combination of challenges, including:budget pressures, the need to demonstrate competitiveness,and the need to meet new legislative standards for child nutrition. The service was also facingproblems recruitingand retaining suitable catering and cleaning staff.
The service decided to develop an internal solution specific to its needs,building its own capacities. Firstly,the Council’s Regeneration Services helped develop partnerships with local intermediate employment agencies,including:Routes to Work South, Job Centre Plusand Skills Development Scotland, whose role is to help people affected by a lack of skills, into work and training.Facility Services were in a position to offer both training and excellent work experience in a wide range of settings for these agencies’ clients, which could in turn help the service with its recruitment problems. In doing so, the Academywas conceived to meetits own needs and those of its stakeholders.
Facilities Management is a key player in the delivery of several Council objectives and improvement themes, particularly in the areas of health improvement and support of educational attainment. The table below shows how the TrainingAcademy was designed to fit with these objectives. ‘Connect’is the Council’s highest level plan, sitting under and informed by the Single Outcome Agreement (SOA), which sets the context for South Lanarkshire’s contribution to national outcomes.
‘Connect’ objectives / TrainingAcademy role (contributing to 4 of the 11 objectives)Raise educational attainment for all / Positive contribution to HMI inspections
Training opportunities for school pupils
Increase involvement in lifelong learning / Maintaining and developing the skills of Facility Services workforce
Training opportunities to the wider community
Improve health and physical activity / Food hygiene training for all staff
Increasing staff awareness of nutritional standards
Increasing public awareness of healthy eating
Support the local economy by providing the conditions for growth, improving skills and employability (priority) / Industry recognised qualifications for unemployed or under skilled people
Supervised work experience in a range of work settings
Access to permanent employment opportunities with the Council
Improvement themes / (2 of 5 themes)
Efficient and effective use of resources (priority) / Increased awareness of how staff can contribute to waste minimisation and energy management
Ensuring staff are aware of how equipment and resources should be looked after
Using in house skills and resources to develop the workforce
Ensuring that the workforce is skilled, flexible and competitive
Partnership working, community leadership and engagement / Providing training services required by partners
Working with partners to develop approaches and respond to change
DELIVERING / ·implemented in all relevant areas and across all the required stakeholders
· carried out in a structured and logical way , using robust and sustainable methods
Adisused community hall inone of Hamilton’s areas of multiple deprivation was selected as the preferred location for the Academy. Buildingwork was deliveredby the Council through a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant. Thisstate of the art facility now comprisesa teaching room and eight work areas for food preparation, cooking and cleaning. All flooring materials and surfaces found in the Council’s offices and venues are replicated in the Academy,helping protect assets by providing training on correct cleaning methods.
Current employees undertaking training at the Academyundertake a 6 week course leading to the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) Elementary Food Hygiene qualification. Courses for external trainees are developed jointly with project partners. Most of the trainees referred by the partner agencies have been unemployed for at least a year andlive in areas of multiple deprivation. Trainees undertake a free 13 week training course at the Academy,after which they are guaranteed a work placement in a Council catering establishment, where they learn vital on the job skills from experienced staff and can gain the REHIS elementary food hygiene qualification and an SVQ 1 in Catering (Facility Serviceshave employed two SVQ Assessors who provide advice to trainees and assess their progress). As part of their training, traineesget the opportunity to learn a wide range of catering skills, including the following: food preparation and cooking skills, buffet, table and food serving skills, bar and bar service skills. On completion of training,referring agencies liaise with local businesses to try to secure permanent employment for them. However, 40candidates have gained direct employment with theCouncil. For the Council, this means avoidingcostly advertising and the delivery ofwell-trained job candidates already familiar with the Council work environment.
As well as providing internal and external training courses, the Academy:
Has ensured legislative compliance and pushed up the quality of school meals.
Is now used overnight as a centralised production facility, producing 41,500 cold salads and sandwiches each year for all South Lanarkshire’s schools and corporate units
Successfully launched new brands for the school meals service, including‘Go Fresh Gang’ in primary schools and ‘Go Fresh Café’ in secondary schools
Has been used to deliver knife skills and health and safety courses for Council staff
Became the central production facility for over 2,000 daily packed lunches during the 2011 Lanarkshire International Children’s Games, staffed by 45 trained 5th and 6th year school pupils
Provided a number of training courses in healthy eating and basic cooking methodsfor primary school pupils, their parents and other members of the public
INNOVATION + LEADING PRACTICE / ·Demonstrates leading practice, and is capable of replication elsewhere·Achieves genuine innovation or new ways of working
South Lanarkshire’s Facilities Management Service has an excellent track record: it was the first and only service in the UK to successfully retain in-house catering, cleaning and janitorial services within a schools public private partnership; successfully retained external contracts for cleaning with Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services;and in 2009/10 was listed by APSE as one of the top seven education catering performers in the UK (the only Scottish council listed).
The TrainingAcademy has received very positive feedback and comments from course participants and partner agencies. Education Scotland inspectors have complementedthe way in which the service is meeting the new legislative standards on nutrition in schools; and environmental health inspection reports state thatgood practice is being achieved in Facility Services’ catering establishments.
The Academy shows what can be achieved by developing internal skills and resources. The approach would be widely applicable to other large councils and has enabled the service to be self-sufficient in terms of its key areas of staff development. South Lanarkshire is thought to be the only Council providing this kind of specialist catering training in Scotland. What sets it apart from others is the benefits gained through partnership with local employment regeneration agencies, putting people in greatest need in touch with quality training and job opportunities, and its contribution to wider objectives, including promoting healthy eating in the community.
RESULTS + IMPACT / · a convincing mix of customer and internal performance measures· clear line of sight to the delivery of better outcomes for communities
· a full range of relevant results– either already achieved or with potential to deliverover time
The followingperformance measures illustrate the success of the Academy:
Outputs
All 650 catering employees achievedthe REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene qualification
All 149 unemployed people have gained an industry standardcatering qualification
160 primary school pupils/parents have taken part in healthy eating and cooking skills events
140 members of the public have attended similar events
Approximately 41,500 nutritious cold meals and snacksare prepared at the Academy each year
Customer results
100%of external trainees agreed that the training courses providedwere useful and relevant and that the accommodation and facilities were appropriate
Outcome measures
The Council’s school meals uptake in 2010 exceeded the Scottish national average (by 5% in the case of primary school meals and by 10.4% in the case of secondary school meals)
The Council was one of the seven “education catering best performers” and one of the eight “education catering most improved performers” in the UK in 2009/10, based onthe following APSE key performance indicators: uptake of paid meals in schools, quality assurance and stakeholder consultation process, percentage of schools holding a food safety/health award, andpercentage of staff trained in food nutrition and health (most of which ‘best in Scotland’)
Cleaning performance was also high in relation to education cleaning in 2009/10, with the Council joint best in Scotland in terms ofquality assurance and stakeholder consultation process
£100,000 per year saving has been achieved as a result of the centralised production of school meals
40 people have been employed with theCouncil in traditionally hard to fill jobs and 119 unemployed people have gained skills, helping them to gain employment in the catering industry
45 senior secondary school pupils gained the nationally recognised REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene qualification, enabling them to gain employment in local restaurants. As part of the 2011 Lanarkshire Children’s Games Legacy, Facility Services will continue to partner with local schools and offer REHIS training to 45 pupils each year for the next 10 years
COSLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2012 Page | 1
COSLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2012 Page | 1