"I am an advocate for training with Leicester City Council and a member of Lantra’s landscape industry group. I am responsible for managing a range of parks and green space related functions notably Parks Services, Landscape Services, Trees and Woodland Services, Bereavement Services and Standards and Development, the latter managing the delivery of major development projects on parks and green space together with business improvement and performance management.
I joined Leicester City Council in 1993 but have been employed within the Local Authority Parks Sector since1970 when I became a horticultural apprentice with the then Whitley Bay Borough Council Parks and Cemeteries Department in Northumberland. In many ways the benefits I gained from being an apprentice make me more supportive of the apprenticeship scheme as a good starter for people entering the profession.
Previously, as with many Local Authority Parks Services nationally, as a result of compulsory competitive tendering, training took a back seat and I used my own initiative to introduce a new, structured apprenticeship programme. The training programmes were introduced following an organisational review which led to the formation of Parks and Green Space Services, which in turn presented new opportunities to invest in service improvement including staff training and development.
We have been working in partnership with Reaseheath College at Nantwich. I had a chance meeting with their head of horticulture at an RHS green skills seminar and as a result they have supported our Train2Gain and modern apprenticeship training. We have offered the NVQ2 in Amenity Horticulture, the NVQ2 in Landscaping, and PA1 and PA6 in pesticide application, as well as basic qualifications such as first aid and manual handling.
In 2006 we started with 12 apprentices, aged 16 to 19, and eight completed. From last summer, we also put about a dozen existing staff through Train to Gain to upgrade their skills and most of them were age 30-plus. Of those who took an NVQ2, all 12 passed, finishing in January this year.
The benefits for the apprentices is that they are being provided with an opportunity for their own personal development in terms of skills and knowledge, while providing them with qualifications and competencies that are relevant to today’s parks and green space sector employers. They develop within our own organisation but at present the scheme doesn’t absolutely guarantee full time employment with the council as an outcome. However, as part of the apprenticeship exit strategy we do provide support training in how to complete application forms, interview techniques in preparation for applying for and securing full time employment. They’re also on a mailing list so that when employment opportunities come up within the authority, they are aware.
This approach sends a powerful message from the organisation that the Parks and Green Space Service is committed to developing its people. The people we employ are our most important resource. Investment in training and development benefits both the employer and the individual, and as a business, for us it is creating a level of momentum and motivation within our staff that previously didn’t exist.
Alongside the Train2Gain courses and modern apprenticeships, we are providing other staff with the opportunity to become related work-based mentors. Staff are voluntarily stepping forward to share the training opportunity and to give their support to individuals, through passing on their knowledge and expertise. We have eight volunteer mentors aged from their late 20s to mid 40s.
We had a feedback meeting with them at the end of the first phase of apprenticeships and they were very pleased. This gave them an opportunity to work in other parts of the city - for example trees and woodlands people would go into parks. This cross fertilisation and transfer of skills and knowledge is another benefit to the individual and the service and ultimately the quality of service delivery.
We have looked at the lessons learned, talked to mentors and service managers and plan to do more Train2Gain work with another 12 to 15 people. From September 2008 we will run the apprenticeship with similar numbers again. We’re also developing positive links with the council’s Children and Young Peoples Service Department ( CYPS ) to get information about our apprenticeships into schools, to encourage youngsters to express an interest and hopefully secure employment within Parks and Green Space Services. I am also working together with CYPS with regard to the introduction of the new Environment and Land Based Diploma and the opportunities created to use Parks and Green Spaces as an ‘outdoor classroom’ in support of Diploma delivery.
Other members of staff are doing training supported by the authority. For example our bereavement services manager is studying for the Institute for Cemetery and Cremation Management Diploma.
In our annual staff appraisals, we consider each individual’s current skills and competences relevant to their current role. If there are gaps and there is available funding then that individual is supported in securing a qualification.
I Chair the GreenSpace East Midlands’ forum, whose remit is amongst other things to promote the sector and education for the benefit of all people working in parks, green spaces and countryside services both public and private. Last year I became a member of the sector skills council, Lantra’s landscape industries working group as the voice of the public sector parks and Green Space service.
These work related activities put Leicester City Council on the map in the sense of sending a message to existing and prospective employees that Leicester is an authority that is committed to developing its people. The fact that Leicester is credited as a member of the Lantra industry group and is represented on the national GreenSpace Forum is good for the organisation. Parks and GreenSpace Services are committed to training and in it for the long term and is already highly regarded by its professional peers having secured the CABESpace Parkforce Award in 2007.
A happier, more motivated workforce should result in lower levels of sickness and absenteeism.
We believe in investing in people, improving services and user satisfaction. A supported and skilled workforce can deliver a better service. I recognise that there is still much to be done, for example in regard to developing a representative workforce however working as a team Leicester Parks and Greenspace Services will continue to rise to the challenge.
