John Hix FORS - Practitioner model for white van in a sub-contract platform
John Hix outlined FORS, over 4 million members, half of the fleets were vans. John talked FORS practitioner as a perfect qualification fit to the much talked about degree apprenticeship trailblazer for next generation managers in final mile. FORS practitioner would make a perfect step into management knowledge for any new individual taking on the role in the sector of express.
Round table focus group, What do you want from the Next generation workforce ?
1. Job Role What job roles in your business might be covered by a degree apprenticeship route? What job titles in your business. Do you currently recruit graduates to these roles, might the DA route replace or complement this?
2. Expectations The DA needs to equip apprentices with a range of knowledge, skills and behaviours. People Management. Industry Technical. Business Management. What knowledge, skills and behaviours need to be taught and developed in each of these?
3. Mix of work and learning. The current DA models have around 30 hours/week in work and then teaching and personal study – i.e 4 days work, one day study in a five day week. Is this balance OK? What implications are there arising from 24/7 operations? What is the expectation of the teaching element – attendance at the university or on-line teaching or lecturer in the workplace?
John Bowman IOC / Sarah Bell Univ Derby
Employer views on the degree apprenticeship summary. Employers shared and discussed their expectations of the knowledge, skills and behaviours they will expect apprentices to develop through the degree apprenticeship. Three themes were discussed at the tables.
Callum Macpherson Investec - Oil is key to price of distribution
The price of oil is a key ingredient in the cost of distributing goods, but oil prices have fluctuated wildly over the last couple of years and price forecasts have generally proved to be very wide of the mark. Economists assume that oil supply and demand tends to reach a balance at a price level that works for both producers and consumers, but this rarely works in practice. Callum Macpherson, Head of Commodity Trading at Investec, talked though the challenges of oil price forecasting and suggested some practical steps that the courier industry can take to mitigate the impact of oil price volatility on their distribution costs.
Alex Farkas DWP – Driver workforce solutions with the job centre
Every aspect of the road transport sector is vital to the continuing prosperity of the United Kingdom economy. The industry will need to invest more in recruitment, training and driver welfare and it will also be necessary to promote the sector better in schools and colleges. It is important that the sector broadens the pool of people from which it recruits to ensure Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups and women are better represented in its workforce. The longer-term sustainability of the UK’s express and road transport sector could be undermined if there is not a steady stream of people through the sector gaining the skills and experience that are needed to help the industry grow and evolve. It needs to increase the number of entry points to ensure that it can attract new employees from all sections of society including older workers, military service leavers and those from other driving occupations. There are a significant variety of roles available for employees in logistics and the promotion of the scope of employment opportunities can only assist in attracting the workforce of the future. Jobcentre Plus is one channel that industry can utilise much more effectively to compliment a national attraction strategy.
Tim Ward - TfL – Freight summary – Delivering London
TfL’s job is to keep London working and growing and making life in London better. We do this by delivering a transport system that ensures all those who live and work in and visit London can access all the Capital has to offer in terms of jobs, leisure, health and education. London is growing and we expect there to be 1.7 million more people living here by 2030. Londoner’s also want a more livable City so the challenge London faces is to balance this better quality of life with the economic needs of the City.
In 2013, freight’s contribution to London’s road transport emissions was estimated to be: CO2 emissions – 24 per cent (14 per cent HGVs, 10 per cent LGVs). NOx emissions – 33 per cent (21 per cent HGVs, 12 per cent LGVs). PM10 emissions – 27 per cent (17 per cent HGVs, 10 per cent LGVs). Poor air quality found to cause the equivalent of 9,500 deaths in London every year. The Mayor is now consulting on changes to the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), currently due to come in to force in 2020. Cars, motorcycles, vans, minibuses, buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will all be affected. Diesel vans and HGVs will need to be Euro 6/VI. We are looking to engage and work with industry in both LoCITY and Freight in the City on Nov 2nd at Alexandra Palace.
David Cormack System training – Funding the trailblazer / next generation solutions funded for Express
The apprenticeship levy fund will be collected from may 2017 . The levy effects all organizations, companies with PAYE bills under 3 million pounds will benefit from substantial subsidies reported as high as ninety per-cent. Those over three million will be charged a levy tax by HMRC and will then claim back funding support money. Trailblazer apprenticeships in Express are a perfect solution for the sector, employer led and driven by you. Funding as high as 4,900 pounds to train each of your next generation final mile teams. The groundbreaking new standards have been approved by BIS and ready to be adopted to create the next generation work force for the sector. This is a funding opportunity not to be missed.’ David explained operational delivery in more detail and explained solutions to claim the levy fund for express companies across the UK.
Round up / Prof Tracey Worth IOC- SHU
With exploding delivery numbers in the express delivery, shift from high street retail to home delivery expected to be half of all retail value by 2020, light van registrations up 18% in a single year and three Q4 million foot sortation sheds in middle England 2015. London population increase near two million by 2030. The next challenge is a workforce with skills to deliver the booming numbers in an evolving platform. Minister Robert Halfon has delivered news set to provide a legacy, a step change in the sector, a trailblazer apprenticeship for express delivered before the end of the year, ready for levy. SMEs will get ninety per cent funding, large companies will draw from a levy pot collected by HMRC.
David Cormack - System Training Group
Prof. Tracey Worth
John Hix - FORS
Roundtable session with Adrian Smith
Alex Farkas - DWP
Tim Ward - TfL
Callum Macpherson - Investec
Roundtable session with Sarah Bell, University of Derby
