Principled Procurement: targeted training for heritage All Souls, Bolton Case Study Alan Gardner Alan Gardner Associates (with/for The Churches Conservation Trust) BSc (Hons), MRICS, SPAB Lethaby Scholar Chartered Building Surveyor, RICS Accredited in Conservation For NECT April 24 th 2012
ISSUES Outreach in the widest sense. Who, in the future, is going to pick up the baton we would like to bequeath (skills & interest); Many historic building repair projects are grant aided & to continue to justify public subsidy we must convince people of the significance and validity of their support; Lip service to the training agenda as a means of acquiring funding; What is useful training? True sustainability? Make training a truly integral part of a construction project & not an add-on of low priority.
EH/HLF RGPOW Scheme Holy Trinity Church, Anslow Engaging with Local Community (Sept 2006) Alan Gardner Associates
Holy Trinity Church, Anslow Engaging with Local Community (Sept 2006) Alan Gardner Associates
Education and Training: St George in the East Gardens, London HLF Public Parks Project
The Churches Conservation Trust All Saints, Harewood
The Churches Conservation Trust: All Saints, Harewood
The Churches Conservation Trust: All Souls, Bolton
All Souls, Bolton
I think it is so that we create a true sustainability for our historic built environment and we should consider 'training, outreach and education' in the widest possible sense. This could involve: The Local Community: having provided the initial energy, enthusiasm and impetus for a project the local community can often end up feeling excluded and sidelined once the 'professionals' appear and site hoarding is erected. To reduce the sense of alienation it is important that during the development of a project there should be active listening to the local community and facilitating rather than a consultation with pre-determined solutions. During the construction phase we should encourage open-days for the local community so that they can see what is happening, have it explained and feel part of the process. This has the added benefit of engendering a sense of ownership so that, upon the completion of the construction phase, they can take responsibility for a site which has changed in a way they have been involved with and seen occur. Also, open days may inspire the next generation to consider careers in the historic built environment. At a more basic level, if we enthuse and provide access to sites we hopefully create a sense of why our historic built environment is important; this should enhance support from the general public and, as a consequence, give impetus for a continuation of funding and political support.
Bolton All Souls: open day June 2010
Craft Apprentices: particularly in the current economic climate, where there are a number of unemployed craft trainees who are part through their NVQ training, the site works might provide a short block of training. This can take place alongside the craftsmen executing the work, so that the trainee continues to add to their portfolio and develop experience. In some cases these short engagements might even lead to permanent employment. Those in Education: Universities, local FE colleges, secondary and even primary schools can all be invited to site to see what is going on again to highlight what the historic built environment has to offer and raise awareness of the issues. Technical Days: for those already in the construction industry tailored days and visits can highlight good practice and demonstrate the use of rarely considered materials.
All Souls, Bolton Training, Outreach and Education Additional Clauses (3.25 to 3.27) to latest Edition of JCT 2005 PREAMABLE: A high profile and much publicised element of the project proposed for Bolton All Souls is the attempt to ensure that a full outreach and training programme is fully incorporated into the pricing documents and delivered during the construction phase. The Client and other bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, CITB Construction Skills and the National Heritage Training Group potentially want to use Bolton All Souls as an exemplar on how to incorporate training and works contracts into a grant-aided project and for this to succeed it will require a real commitment from the selected contractor. To ensure the desired commitment from those tendering the training related element will be given a separate and substantial weighting (30%) in the analysis of the priced submission documentation and discussed in any selection interviews. The Client team and funders are not interested in lip-service to this element of the project and we are seeking substantial and active engagement and successful delivery.
All Souls, Bolton 14 Events including: Apprentices: Roofing, Masonry, Glazing, Taster Days; Education: 14-19, Primary Schools, Universities; Community & Homeowners Days; Technical Days: lime, working with historic buildings, H&S in historic buildings, glazing, etc. Main (and sub) contractor development. Integral and weighted in Main Contractor selection. Priced in tender documents and execution subject to Practical Completion.
The training sheets should be seen as a performance specification as the previous experience of the Main Contractor in training will also be expected to help in delivery. Contacts already made with potential suppliers of apprentices and audiences are contained in the training events summary sheets. Organisations familiar with the delivery of training, evaluation of events, organising bookings, publicity and other associated elements that could be approached to help the Main Contractor (for a fee), if they do not contain sufficient expertise in-house, include: North of England Civic Trust (Contact: Andie Harris 0191 2329279), Blackfriars, Monk Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4XN. North-West Heritage Skills Hub (Contact: Kay Leech, North West Heritage Skills Coordinator T: 0161 2955076 or M: 07938898861)1st Floor Cube Building, 113-115 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 6DW. The local organisation who we believe may be best placed to help with the publicity of local access events, accommodation and catering is: The All Souls Trust (Contact: Bob Allen, Development Manager), Cobden Community Centre, Felton Walk, Bolton, BL1 8EN. All cost associated with the engagement of the above to help the Main Contractor will be deemed to have been included in their tender.
The event sheets each contain a Resources element each section of which should be individually priced (not aggregated) with each total also being transferred to the, Training Additional Contract Clauses contained in the Preliminaries.
3.25.5 Sub-contractors For the avoidance of doubt it is the Contractor's responsibility to obtain the full co operation of subcontractors as necessary to fully meet the Targeted Recruitment and Training requirements. This should entail payment for their time and costs associates with training as part of the Main Contractor s tender. Suitable locally based skilled trainers have, where known, been identified in the Training Events Sheets. It is hoped that they could provide the delivery mentoring and evaluation role for training events and trainees.
DELIVERY: It is anticipated that a dedicated senior member of the contractor s team will take responsibility for the delivery of the training element of the project and there will be discrete monthly progress reports at the main project meetings and it is anticipated there will need to be interim working meetings. The client and contract administration team are willing to bring their extensive experience on board to help guide in the delivery of the training but it will be the responsibility of the contractor to deliver the training from inception to completion (this will include publicity, administration, insurances, delivery of the training, safe and effective site supervision, correlating evaluation forms and ensuring compliance with relevant NVQ, CPD requirements, etc. See also section 3.27, below). Please note that the training will be in addition to anything that the main contractor already delivers within their own organisation and part of the analysis of tender submissions will be based upon evidence of a demonstrable track record on training their own directly employed staff in craft skills and other technical matters in the repair of historic buildings. It is also anticipated that the successful contractor s staff will also, where relevant, attend much of the training as delegates.
3.25.2 Remuneration Trainees and apprentices must, as a minimum, be paid in accordance with industry norms and must have terms and conditions of employment that comply with the law and are at least equivalent to those provided to workers that have equivalent skills and experience. To aid retention, employers are encouraged to increase the remuneration of trainees/apprentices in line with their experience and productivity. Where outside funding (from any source) is obtained to assist in training, the cost benefit shall be passed in its entirety to the Employer. The Contractor will be deemed to have included in his tender for all administration and overhead costs associated with the training requirements. Most contractors will already have trainees/apprentices for whom they will be getting assistance from Construction Skills (or others). The Contractor will therefore need to define which sources of outside funding should directly benefit the Employer and how this will be administered
3.25.3 Trainee Management Trainees are to be provided with supervision, mentoring and support to enable them to complete training and accreditation. Each new trainee/apprentice engaged under the terms of this agreement is to be notified to the Employer or its nominated agent using a pro-forma to be provided by the Main Contractor and approved by the Contract Administrator. The proforma will include a statement to be signed by the trainee/apprentice permitting the employer to provide personal information to the Employer and its agents for progress monitoring only. This is to comply with the Data Protection Act. Where the engagement of a trainee/apprentice that has been notified to the Employer ends this is to be notified to the Employer or the agent using a proforma provided by the Main Contractor and approved by the Contract Administrator (CA). Where requested by the trainee or their training organisation training records are to be maintained e.g. for accreditation purposes. When reasonably requested by the Employer or its agent, or by a training organisation with trainee/apprentices on site, a meeting with a trainee will be facilitated on the Contractor's premises.
3.25.4 Reporting At each monthly site meeting (minimum) or when reasonably requested by the Employer, the Contractor will provide a written progress report and programme for the Targeted Recruitment and Training activities so as to address issues and plan for forthcoming training and recruitment opportunities. Training will have its own section on the Agenda for each site meeting. One week prior to each review meeting the Contractor will provide the Employer and other partners with a Targeted Recruitment and Training Outcomes Statement that includes for the period and cumulatively: a) the number of 'new trainees/apprentices' that are or have been engaged for each Training Event (where relevant) b) the total person-weeks provided by 'new trainees/apprentices' in the period and cumulatively for each Training Event (where relevant) c) planning and/or feedback for the Taster Days and individual Training Days
3.27. SUPPLEMENTARY ADDITIONAL TRAINING RELATED CONTRACT CLAUSE: ORGANISATIONS TO FACILITATE DELIVERY OF THE TRAINING The Main Contractor will have to take complete responsibility for the delivery of training which will be certified by the CA as successfully completed.
Where next? Share good practice and let us not reinvent the wheel. When funding organisations (HLF, EH, etc.) are next asked about incorporation of training direct applicants to a number of webbased case studies (with commentaries?) ; English Heritage and Natural England in the North are currently taking positive steps to actively embrace training as part of grantaided schemes; Easy to say it is too difficult but my experience is that it is not as difficult as made-out (real enthusiasm and commitment is all that is needed!); Can we really afford to not positively embrace training as a part of every grant-aided project?