8 minute read
Routes into rail
Long-term thinking key to training, jobs and value for money
NSAR’s Neil Robertson on the strategic approach needed to maintain rail’s momentum
The National Skills Academy for Rail’s (NSAR) Routes into Rail platform launched at NSAR’s Skills Symposium late last month (November 27) in a blaze of glory, accompanied by a keynote from physicist Brian Cox CBE FRS.
The platform is a repository of all of the essential information and advice required by potential candidates exploring rail careers, salaries, where roles are geographically located and is backed up by NSAR’s powerful data.
Neil Robertson might not have the celebrity profile of ‘rock star scientist’ Cox, but his work and enthusiasm makes training, recruitment and upskilling the rail workforce an equally engaging and accessible science. Neil is NSAR’s Chief Executive and also Interim Chair of the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT). During COVID-19, Neil and the NSAR team ensured that the 12,000 apprenticeships being undertaken were completed in 2020 as planned. 8,000 of these were completed as a direct result of NSAR working with several hundred companies to put in place the necessary flexible and safe approaches to training.
Strategy refresh Now, Neil is turning his attention to supporting the Department for Transport’s (DfT) essential refresh of STAT’s strategy and preparing for the new Chair. The strategy refresh has taken on even greater importance in light of the UK moving into
post-COVID recovery mode. The refresh follows the publication of the Four Years of Progress report from the taskforce, established in response to increasing investment in transport and the need for a sector-wide approach to skills and people.
Power of government The report highlights the great strides that have been made since 2016, with 11,254 new apprentice opportunities created in road and rail bodies, while 11 per cent of apprenticeship starts in 2019/20 were at degree level, and 1,207 starts in 2019/20 were within the Department for Transport, Highways England, HS2, Network Rail and Transport for London. The report also demonstrates the power of government and industry collaborating to address skills shortages and close the skills gap. Yet there’s clearly still work to be done.
Neil said: “STAT is at a critical moment right now with refreshing its strategy. For me, the biggest change we’ve seen in four years is that there has been quite a culture change, and the STAT programme has been a big part of that, along with the Government pushing the rail industry into doing more. Everyone in the industry wanted to address the skills shortage problem so we were pushing at an open door, but providing apprenticeship opportunities is now something that is the norm. We’re still probably not doing enough, we probably need to double the amount of training we are doing, but we’re now looking at a big improvement from where we were.”
The report will feed into the refreshed strategy, as will a number of workshops with industry colleagues and stakeholders. While the path ahead will clearly continue the successful focus on apprenticeships, Neil imagines that any next moves should see the industry also focus on its existing staff, diversifying the workforce and how it attracts those from other industries with
trust us...
Seaton Rail’s Railway and Track Safety Training Courses provide companies with the skills, knowledge and certification to ensure that works on the railway are carried out efficiently and safely as well as in full compliance with Network Rail Standards.
Seaton Rail are one of the leading railway training and assessment providers. Our courses are delivered by professional, full-time trainers who know how to get their message across. We can also tailor course content and format to meet your specific requirements. Our courses are delivered at our modern training centres in Bridlington, Goole, York, Rotherham and Glasgow where we have excellent facilities, lunch is provided, unlimited free hot and cold drinks and free wi-fi. We also arrange training to meet the requirements of our Clients shift patterns including early, late and night turns of duty. Training is also available at the weekends, or at a premises of your choice.
Courses we deliver (both initial and recertification):
Personal Track Safety Working Near or Adjacent to the DC Conductor Rail (DCCR) Lookout Individual Working Alone Controller of Site Safety (OLP and CRP LLT) Protection Controller Level Crossing Attendant Points Operator Handsignaller Engineering Supervisor Person in Charge of Possession Senior Person in Charge of Possession Safe Work Leader 1 and 2 Conversion Safe System of Work Planner Possession Support OLEC 1
Workplace assessments we deliver:
Individual Working Alone Controller of Site Safety (Including OLP, CRP LLT and PC) Engineering Supervisor Safe System of Work Planner Possession Support Person in Charge of Possession Senior Person in Charge of Possession
Telephone: 01262 608 313 Web: www.seaton-rail.com Email: training@seaton-rail.com
...to deliver
transferable skillsets. He explained: “I would think that the strategy will now broaden out to consider how we provide reskilling and upskilling people. When NSAR did its own review looking at the last four years that’s the conclusion we came to. As an industry we’ve done quite a lot to bring new people into the pipeline, and made some significant improvements on diversity, most notably around gender diversity, albeit from a pretty low base but, as in the way apprenticeships are now considered the norm, that should also be the case for diversity. We need to do more for existing staff now, help them develop as leaders, develop their digital skills and also reskill people from other sectors. “There would have been a strategy refresh anyway but economic recovery also influences the debate. We continue to hear a lot about levelling up and social inclusion and that remains a big priority for the Government. So we have to ask ourselves what are we doing to enable that and what does that mean for us as an industry? Particularly the big spenders in the industry.”
Strategic approach needed Giving jobs to those in disadvantaged areas, addressing the UK’s socio-economic issues and closing the north-south divide is easily said but, as Neil points out, a long-term strategic approach to change is the only way to make levelling up a reality. He said: “We’ll make sure that we reach out to those harder to reach candidates but we need systematic change to do it at the right numbers. We have to put a number on it so we have been modelling the metrics for this, with NSAR, with a minimum target of 10 per cent of candidates coming from disadvantaged backgrounds with a stretch target of 20 per cent. We think that’s reasonable, although that’s not Government policy. What do those numbers mean to the socioeconomic value of big projects like HS2 and other projects? It makes a huge difference. If you’re creating a job then that is obviously important but if you’re creating a new job and giving it to someone who otherwise would be unemployed, there’s even greater value. By encouraging people into rail it can be transformational, as a career.” Identifying talent with the best potential is clearly high on the agenda for all of those involved in rail. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds will need help, said Neil, in order to be equipped and ready to step into an apprenticeship, so partners who can deliver that level of preparedness will also be key to guaranteeing candidates an interview. In addition, increasing efforts to attract those with the right skillsets from the military, aviation and aerospace industries will also help to fill roles with skills shortages although, again, a systematic way of attracting that talent needs to be established. Neil explained: “We know from our data what the top 20 skills shortage roles are. There are increasing opportunities in the digital space and in jobs like project management. Some specific roles are very hard to fill, such as occupational health and health and safety. If you’ve done any of those jobs in aviation, aerospace, or other
adjacent industries, you’re almost certain to be able to do it in rail. So we are thinking that a new area of development is creating a systematic approach to allow people to transfer to rail with a three or six month course to get them ready, similar to the nine month course we operate to attract people from the British Army. People might otherwise find it hard to compete but with those programmes in place they will become very attractive propositions. In terms of the STAT strategy I’d expect us to come up with the appropriate programmes of training.
“My vision for the future, at a strategic level, is to keep up the energy we’ve built around apprenticeships and make them more available to disadvantaged people, the upskilling of existing people particularly in digital and management competences, to make it easy for people to come in from other sectors. This is all part of a wider productivity story because training and skills are just a means to an end – which is safety and value for money, doing things efficiently and productively, and bringing all of these aspects together coherently.”
Living Lab That coherence is manifest in the Transport Infrastructure Efficiency Strategy ‘Living Lab’, a transformative collaboration of 25 partners, including NSAR together with government, i3P and the Construction Innovation Hub, which will use data, technology and modern methods of construction within live transport infrastructure projects to deliver significant value-adding benefits across the transport infrastructure sector. Neil added: “NSAR has been making the business case for training for years but we need the same level of energy to support efficiencies and value for money across the industry. NSAR is here to support all that, not to be the story, and to encourage some long-term thinking in rail, which would be the real game changer.”
Visit www. for more information
