PREMIER PARTNERSHIP CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER

INSIDE THE CHRISTMAS EDITION GROWTH OF PREMIER

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KEEPMOAT 3 BARKING & DAGENHAM

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OXFORDSHIRE CC

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MET POLICE - LEADING FOR LONDON

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FREE MAST TRAINING

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H&S ROUND-UP

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KEEPMOAT - PAGE 4

PREMIER PARTNERSHIP NEWSLETTER

MET POLICE LEADING FOR LONDON - PAGE 6

PREMIER PARTNERSHIP’S GROWTH BENEFITS PUBLIC SECTOR CLIENTS The success of the Managed Training Service Framework 383, investment in learning by clients and a growing appetite for qualifications by the Civil Service has given rise to a dramatic increase in Premier Partnership’s client base over the last 12 months. 25 major clients have commenced trading with Premier in 2015 including Oxfordshire County Council, the National Audit Office, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Keepmoat. When added to the new clients that joined in 2014 such as the Metropolitan Police, Essex County Fire and Rescue, Lincolnshire County Council and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust the new range and geographical spread of the business becomes evident. This growth has enabled Premier to provide new opportunities for it’s supply chain of predominantly small businesses whilst at the same time offering significant savings on the direct and indirect costs of learning to clients through economies of scale. Ali Asmi of the London Borough of Barnet, one of the first organisations to realise the potential of the ESPO

Framework said, “We’re delighted with it! Premier Partnership has provided us with one single contact point for sourcing all of our training needs whilst delivering significant savings.” In the last 18 months Premier Partnership has also seen a dramatic increase in the requirement for accredited learning within the Civil Service. Currently 1,500 learners are undertaking CMI qualifications from level 3 Awards to level 7 Diplomas and 4,500 learners are taking City & Guild qualifications from our Public Sector Clients learner base. Uptake of these qualifications is projected to increase further putting Premier at the forefront of accredited learning in transferable skills and helping our Public Sector Clients drive performance improvement.

the business quadruple enabling large scale investment by the Board in new premises, IT infrastructure, and digital learning technologies. In the last two years staffing numbers have risen from 20 to over 50 with emphasis placed on the continued recruitment of skilled learning professionals into the Customer Relationship Manager roles across the UK. David Pearson, Sales Director at Premier, said “Our core value of becoming a trusted partner for our clients providing flexibility and high quality value for money learning has produced phenomenal interest in our offering and I am so happy we can support so many organisations”. For more information about Premier Partnership or the ESPO Managed Training Service Framework 383 visit www.premier-partnership.co.uk

This growth has seen the turnover of

“Growth has seen the turnover of the business quadruple enabling large scale investment by the Board in new premises, IT infrastructure, and digital learning technologies. In the last two years staffing numbers have risen from 20 to over 50 with emphasis placed on the continued recruitment of skilled learning professionals into the Customer Relationship Manager roles across the UK.” 2

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KEEPMOAT JOINS GROWING LIST OF PRIVATE SECTOR CLIENTS Keepmoat is a national market leader in sustainable community regeneration, housing, and planned and responsive repairs to the UK housing industry. They are a £1billion company with over 80 years’ experience in community regeneration and house building, giving us the skills and experience to deliver better value, better quality services, in more areas.

In September 2015 Keepmoat appointed a new HR and Talent Development Manager, Vanessa Naldrett. I was to become the Client Relationship Manager and so, she set up a meeting at Premier Partnership offices on Friday 4th December. Lots of work had already taken place, prior to Vanessa joining, so the meeting was very productive, Due to the material Premier had provided, Vanessa has a Learning Directory to deliver in house, which includes all courses and overviews and a list of our associate trainers with their bios. We talked through the list of courses that Premier will provide, those Keepmoat have and those which we will work on together. Vanessa has made some amendments to some of Premier course objectives to make them more appropriate to Keepmoat. Vanessa and I also discussed how to ’on board’ the trainers in to Keepmoat ways of working. It is an important part of their role that they understand some of the background to Keepmoat, as well as policies and procedures. We are looking to invite them to Keepmoat Induction days, however if this isn’t logistically possible, Vanessa will provide a pocket book and video that will explain all. We agreed the booking and administration processes and were provided with proposed venues around

the country. We already have all the branding and guidelines and relevant Keepmoat documentation. Vanessa explained they are introducing a new performance management process early in the New Year, so it is likely the first course will be PDR! So we were good to go! I began to discuss the course coordination with Danny, Our Lead Course Co-ordinator and how we will manage the bookings. My next steps are to ensure the new objectives match the content and discuss the branding requirements. Having been handed over other clients since I joined Premier, this one feel like it’s mine from the beginning. It

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does make a difference to be in at the outset, rather than trying to furiously peddle to catch up, whilst still maintain business as usual.. And just this week, as predicted, Vanessa has informed me she has a request for 2 PDR courses (Keepmoat content) in January, one near Newcastle and one in Doncaster. I will start to source the appropriate trainer, although I still need Vanessa to send dates through. The noise is increasing around Keepmoat, so there are going to be quite a few more of these events required over the next month…watch this space! Lynne Foster 11th December 2015

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LONDON BOROUGH OF BARKING AND DAGENHAM TAKE THE LEAP AND MOVE TO THE ESPO FRAMEWORK In our last newsletter we highlighted the increasing popularity of the ESPO framework, particularly from London based Local Authorities. As our portfolio of ESPO clients continues to grow, another London local authority makes the step to a managed service approach, when it comes to their learning as they see the potential in costs savings. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham have made the decision to join Premier Partnerships ESPO Framework, and in doing so Premier will be providing an end to end service to the councils Learning and Development team. During the initial stages Premier have worked closely with LBBD to build their corporate training offer using a mix of their existing suppliers as well as introducing some of our own tried and

trusted associates. Premier have also agreed to manage the administration of evaluating all training and carrying out training observations to ensure that we are quality assuring all aspects of the learning cycle and providing MI to highlight the impact the learning has produced. Our London based Client relationship manager ‘Niro Sritharan’ gives his verdict on the new partnership. “Following initial discussions in the summer with Gail Clarke, HR Manger LBBD, and Jenny O’Hanlon, Lead L&D Coordinator LBBD, it was very clear from the outset that the client were keen to pursue the ESPO framework as an option moving forward for their L&D Strategy. Increased pressure to cut costs, whilst providing an L&D offer which helps to grow the organisation

and its people is a challenge all too common in the public sector at present, but as we have proved with our other clients, it is not all gloom and doom and Premier can, and do provide solutions to this problem. I have worked tirelessly with LBBD to understand their immediate needs and this has included holding a suppliers event to brief their current suppliers, introducing new suppliers who of a high quality, agreeing new processes which will consolidate time spent on admin tasks and developing a corporate training schedule which meets most or all of their training needs. The first lot of training begins this month in Dec and I am very much looking forward to working with our new client who thus far have been a pleasure”.

Here’s how we have helped some of our clients so far: Premier Partnership worked with the management team to analyse existing training spend and provided alternative training suppliers delivering the same or better outcomes at a fraction of the cost for Barnet Street Scene.Our service also enables Barnet’s Children services directorate, to consolidate all their training purchases into one purchase order, thus saving them vast amounts of time and money administering their annual training schedule. Ordinarily they would have had to raise individual purchase order number for every day of training.

By utilising Premier Partnership’s vast portfolio of core skills trainers to deliver their training plan, they have significantly cut their training spend and enabled them to meet strict austerity targets.

Ealing Council use Premier Partnership’s full service to plan their training schedule for the year, design and deliver training, provide high quality training which his evaluated and analysed on their behalf. This service frees up precious time for their L&D team to focus on L&D strategy.

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THE OXFORDSHIRE APPROACH TO MAKING CHANGES Like all local authorities, Oxfordshire County Council is faced with making difficult choices in the way in which is delivers services with a decreasing budget. In order to achieve backoffice savings a cabinet decision was taken to transfer HR, finance and procurement activity to Hampshire County Council’s Integrated Business Centre. This included the Learning and Development Administration Team; the remaining L&D function within Oxfordshire that managed, commissioned and delivered learning and development activity for Oxfordshire County Council staff and partners ceased to be part of Oxfordshire Customer Services and a small team transferred to Corporate Services on 1st July 2015. Oxfordshire made a decision that all external training provision would be sourced via 1-4 strategic contracts – no single activity contracts were to be held. The L&D plan was to focus primarily on essential training required to deliver statutory and mandatory service provision. Oxfordshire uses a small number of preferred external venues for the majority of externally sourced training which have been negotiated as high volume / low cost contracts. Internal venues are used for

staff briefings where possible. To support this change, Oxfordshire adopted the ESPO 383 framework and now partner with Premier for the provision of a majority of their learning and development. The focus is to ensure their learning and development provision continues to be delivered to high quality and is value for money, whilst still maintaining their strategy to reduce expenditure in this area. The new operating model was implemented on 1st July 2015. The Council now has a single Learning and Development Manager, Sarah Sutton, who has responsibility for working with Premier Partnership and the Council’s internal customers to ensure that learning and development needs are met. Sarah works with Premier’s Client Relationship Manager, Brian Fairchild and Course Co-Ordinator, Danny Branton, to ensure that the Council is able to offer staff a variety of learning and development opportunities. The Oxfordshire County Council model has simplified and streamlined many processes, which supports the Council to meet its budget savings. There is a single purchase order raised against each activity for Premier’s services delivered. Oxfordshire develop

specifications for their required learning outcomes and Premier source the training providers. These training providers are drawn from a range of those who previously provided services to the Council, and now are suppliers via Premier, and those who are new to the Council and been introduced through the broad supply chain that Premier is able to offer. The venues are booked by Premier when courses are confirmed. Evaluations are undertaken via an on-line survey, sent out by Premier to all delegates, and the information is collated and provided as a management report to the Council. Although still in the early days of the contract, the initial feedback from both sides is that the relationship is working very well. Premier have already delivered a range of social care, soft skills and health and safety courses to staff within the Council. In January an ILM level 3 programme will commence for first line managers. The level of learning and development provided within the Council via Premier is set to continue to grow throughout 2016, making this a partnership that has produced mutual benefits for the Council and Premier. Premier have assisted Sarah deliver services efficiently and effectively and she would like to mention a special thank you to Lynda, Brian, Danny and the supplier team for being so efficient, helpful and dedicated to ensure Oxfordshire delivers a timely and professional service to all staff. For more information about the Oxfordshire County Council model, contact Sarah Sutton – sarah.sutton@ oxfordshire.gov.uk.

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MET POLICE - LEADING FOR LONDON Leading for London is a leadership development programme to prepare leaders in the Met for the challenges of what many commentators are predicting will be a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous future. The Leading for London pilot programme workshops has now concluded on the 23rd October for all sergeants, constables and equivalent police staff of the pilot Command Units. So far over 5500 training days have been delivered 1,175 mentoring sessions have taken place so far, and feedback continues to be extremely positive - All of the 835 mentees who responded to the survey agreed that it had been a valuable experience Comments included: 92% of the senior officers and staff

WHAT IS LEADING FOR LONDON AND WHY IS IT NEEDED?

have taken up this unique opportunity and feedback has been really positive. “Brilliant session. Feeling very empowered and clear about my future goals.” “Useful reflective session addressing methods in which we provide feedback and hold development meetings with staff” “Excellent sessions - was not expecting it to be that good”

Examples of discussions that have been taking place with mentors include: •

Help with promotion process

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Implementing new skills from the workshops

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Discussing how to manage change and improve team effectiveness

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Managing workloads and personal well-being

“Very useful, rewarding and important With a strong focus on practical skills for dealing with contemporary challenges and the delivery of our vision of Total Policing, Leading for London combines workshops held in London venues with one-to-one support in the workplace, to create a highly individualised leadership development experience. Commencing in early 2015, 6,000 officers and staff of all ranks/bands in 7 pilot Command units are taking part in this nine-month challenging but rewarding development ‘journey’ followed by a potential roll-out across the Met. Critically Leading for London is available to everyone to ensure our current and future leaders understand the drivers for change in the Met and recognise the role of courageous, inclusive and mindful leadership as a route to delivering that change. It is also important that everyone is

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for my development”

familiar with the objectives, content and structure of Leading for London to enable them to work to deliver change. “It’s not a conventional training programme. It’s short on theory and long on practice with skills master classes, tools and techniques and 10 hours of one-to-one executive coaching. The aim is to help you deal with the new pressures we face and the demands to do more with less - or just differently. To become more innovative and agile, and be more collaborative with colleagues, partners and the public.” Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe Commissioner

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MAST - MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAINING The Mayor’s Office for policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) secured funding from the Home Office to develop a mental health training programme known as MAST (Mental Health Awareness and Safeguarding Training), to be made available for front line staff who work with young people. The aim is to promote the safety of young people in London by making it easier for practitioners to identify and take appropriate support action when there are signs of mental health issues and/or emotional trauma. The training which is fully funded by the MPS and MOPAC is for practitioners from the MPS, 3rd Sector Organisations, Education Sector, Health and Social Services, Local Authorities, Multi Agency Groups and anyone within the London Metropolitan area who has a role in dealing with young people. MAST awareness training will cover key areas including Myth Busting and Mental Health, Risk and Resilience, Gangs and Associated Mental Health Issues, Effective Interventions and Skills Practice and Referral Pathways. Further training is split into 3 modules to provide appropriate training based on your personal expertise: •

Mental Health, Early Warning Signs And Triggers For Young People (Gangs)

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Working With Transition

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Understanding Street (Gangs, Girls in Gangs)

Gangs

You can book a single place on our open events or contact us to arrange a group session at your premises, we offer training at weekends and evenings too. Remember all MAST Training is fully funded! To book your place on one or all the modules please visit www. masttraining.co.uk

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TOP CLASS PASSENGER TRANSPORT TRAINING Premier Partnership has developed and delivered a comprehensive programme of Health & Safety courses aimed at the drivers and escorts of vulnerable children and adults on passenger transport. These courses have been delivered to Local Authorities including Warwickshire and London Borough of Barnet and have delivered savings of around £20K per annum. We developed the courses to fit into the working day of these employees and sub-contractors from 10.30am after their morning runs and finishing at 2.30pm before their afternoon runs. This has proved to be a major factor in external contractors buying in to the programme and attending. The Authority provides a transport vehicle and restraint equipment such as baby seats, 2 point and 4 point harnesses etc. for the Securing Passengers training and the emergency evacuation training includes a simulated fire using a fog machine to simulate a smoke filled vehicle so that good practical training can take place. Our programme includes:

Course

Hours

Cost *

Max No's

Timings

ADHD Awareness on Passenger Transport

4.5

£500.00

15

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Autism Awareness on Passenger Transport

4.5

£450.00

15

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Emergency Evacuation (AM course only)

2

£300.00

12

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Emergency First Aid - Accredited

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£440.00

12

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Epilepsy Awareness

2

£300.00

15

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Epilepsy Awareness with Buccal Midazolam

4.5

£400.00

15

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Managing Challenging Behaviour in Special 4.5 Need Children

£550.00

12

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Manual Handling - People on Passenger 4.5 Transport

£450.00

12

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

Securing Passengers Passenger Transport

£500.00

12

Timings are usually between 10.00 - 14.30

&

Wheelchairs

on 4.5

For more information, contact Colette Sellers - H&S Department Manager, 01302 369700 colette.sellers@premier-partnership. co.uk Premier Partnership Newsletter | www.premier-partnership.co.uk

PREMIER PARTNERSHIP CHAMPIONS CONSTRUCTION COURSES Premier Partnership are pleased to announce a partnership with Nationwide Platforms to provide our clients with top class construction, plant and equipment courses. Nationwide Platforms are an established business the largest plant supplier in the UK and their stock of machines is second to none. We can bring the course and equipment to your location, or you can send individuals to various depots among their 25 UK wide Depots (excluding NI). This gives client’s maximum flexibility when booking individuals or whole cohorts on these types of courses. Nationwide Platforms offer Premier Partnership competitive rates that we then pass on to our clients.

Association), the qualification for erectors and users of mobile tower scaffolds.

Our programme includes:

Other courses available are: SMSTS (Site Managers Safety Training Scheme) and SSSTS (Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme).

Nationwide offer 2 of the most commonly used accredited safety qualifications in the construction industry: IPAF (International Powered Access Federation), for users of Scissorlifts and Cherrypickers PASMA (Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’

Both standard qualifications are a oneday course and nationally recognised by the construction industry. Delegates are tested and assessed to establish competency and then issued with a competency card valid for 5 years.

For more information, contact Colette Sellers - H&S Department Manager, 01302 369700 [email protected]

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LOCATIONS Depots are located in key areas which make sending individuals to these course both cost and time effective. •

Aberdeen

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Blackpool

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Blackburn

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Bristol

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Cardiff

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Devon & Cornwall

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Dundee

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Durham

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Edinburgh

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Glasgow

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Kent

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Leeds

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Leicester

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Lincoln

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Liverpool

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London East

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London West

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Luton

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Manchester

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North Wales

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Nottingham

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Peterborough

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Southampton

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Swansea

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Taunton