Ofsted and CQC launch consultation for new inspection provision framework for children and young people with SEND
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have today launched a consultation on proposals for a new joint framework for inspecting provision for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) within a local area. The new inspections will be introduced in early 2023.
The new framework will focus on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.
The proposals broaden the focus of inspection to look not only at whether local area partnerships are identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, but also to assess the impact on their lives and outcomes.
The new framework will build on and strengthen accountability for local areas by:
introducing an ongoing cycle of inspections and 3 distinct inspection outcomes.
carrying out engagement meetings in all areas.
strengthening Ofsted’s response where there are concerns through monitoring inspections and/or early re-inspections.
promoting continuous improvement for all by requesting visible action plans following full inspections
To further support these aims, inspection teams will include inspectors from education, health and care so that there can be a deeper understanding of how effective joint working is in a specific area.
Inspections will also focus on children in alternative provision, the majority of whom have SEND, by evaluating how local authorities commission, use and oversee it.
And there will be a greater push to gather evidence from children and young people with SEND and their families directly, as well as from area leaders, practitioners, and settings, so that inspectors understand what it is like to be a child or young person with SEND in any local area in England.
The consultation, which runs from today to September 11, is part of a range of engagement activities Ofsted and CQC will be doing with the sector, children and young people, parents, and carers.
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, said:
The past two years have been challenging for all of us, but the pandemic was particularly hard for the most vulnerable in society.
In that time Ofsted has continued to engage closely with the SEND sector, including bodies representing children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers. That has allowed us to develop and refine the proposals for a new framework.
I welcome responses from the sector whether that be parents, carers or children and young people themselves to help us shape our plans further. Working together, we can ensure that every child gets the best start in life, whatever their background or needs.
HMCI commentary: consulting on Ofsted’s new area SEND framework
Today Ofsted and the CQC are launching a consultation on proposals for our new joint area special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) inspection framework, which we aim to introduce in early 2023. Our aim in developing a new approach to area SEND inspection has been to put the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND at the centre of the inspection framework, strengthen the accountability of local area partnerships and place more focus on alternative provision.
We know from our previous area SEND inspections that the SEND system has significant weaknesses. There are inconsistencies in the identification of needs, weaknesses in joint working across education, health and care partners, and a lack of clarity on local agencies’ accountability within the system. This frequently leads to negative experiences and outcomes for children, young people, and their families.
These issues have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, as have their effects on children and young people with SEND. There is a clear and urgent need for reform. In this context, it is the right time to refine our approach to area SEND inspections, so that they are a force for improvement in the sector to the greatest extent possible.
We have sought to align our new area SEND inspection framework with the direction set out in the Department for Education’s (DfE) SEND and alternative provision green paper to help prepare areas for future reforms. However, it would not be right to wait until reforms are implemented to introduce our new inspection framework. We hope that our proposals will promote improvement at pace within the existing system, while helping areas to prepare for future reform.
SEND review: the right time for reform
Given the need for systemic reform, I am very pleased that the DfE has set out its vision for the SEND system in the SEND and alternative provision green paper.
I welcome the DfE’s efforts to address the inconsistent and often frustrating experiences that children, young people and their families face when trying to access the help and support that they need and are entitled to.
I am pleased that the green paper devotes significant attention to the role of alternative provision, given that around 80% of children who attend alternative provision have some form of SEND. Too often, we see alternative provision used inappropriately to supplement a failing SEND system, rather than placements and interventions that are in children and young people’s best interests.
The green paper provides an opportunity to rethink our approach to SEND provision and I welcome the DfE’s recognition that effective mainstream provision is an integral part of an effective SEND system. I want to see a system that recognises the fundamental importance of a high-quality curriculum and teaching in preventing children and young people’s needs from developing or worsening. And we must acknowledge the crucial role that early education plays in this system, to give children the best possible start in life. While there will always be some children who have severe, profound or multiple needs identified early in their lives, many others are identified as having SEND during key stage 2 or 3. This can often be traced back to a poor curriculum and poor teaching in the early years and key stage 1.
And parents, carers, families, children and young people should not need a diagnosis to access the support they are entitled to. Settings should put support in place as a matter of course where they identify a need, rather than waiting for a formal diagnosis. Of course, some children and young people have complex or profound needs that require quick diagnoses and access to specialist support. But at times, being too quick to move to diagnosis can risk stigmatising children and lowering adults’ expectations of them.
Finally, the DfE needs to devote significant attention both to the detail of the proposed reforms – especially the proposed national standards – and to how they will be implemented. The 2014 SEND reforms had the right aspirations, but did not have the intended impact because insufficient attention was given to their implementation. It is encouraging that the SEND review acknowledges this, and I hope that the DfE will maintain this focus on implementation so as to deliver on its good intentions.
Area SEND: a new inspection framework to raise standards
Our proposed area SEND inspection framework aligns with the direction set out in the SEND review, and will support local area partnerships to focus their attention on the government’s future priorities. However, although our new inspection framework has been designed with future reforms in mind, the local systems in which we conduct our inspections have not yet changed. We will update our inspection frameworks and handbooks to reflect any future changes in arrangements.
In 2016, Ofsted and the CQC were commissioned to carry out a one-off cycle of inspections of local area SEND services, to evaluate how well local areas had implemented the 2014 SEND reforms.
Our new joint inspection framework aims to promote further improvement in the lives of children and young people with SEND, by broadening the focus of inspections and strengthening accountability. Our inspections will complement other Ofsted inspections that involve local area partners.
We want to broaden the focus of inspections to look at both the implementation of the 2014 reforms, and the impact that local areas’ arrangements have on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND. To achieve this, we want to gather more evidence directly from children and young people, so that we can fully understand and report on what it is like to be a child or young person with SEND in any given local area in England. We will also consider how local leaders assess the impact of SEND arrangements for children and young people through their own evaluations, so that they can continually improve the ways in which they work and the services they offer.
We plan to strengthen accountability through introducing a continuous cycle of inspections. Previously, we have seen some examples of short-term approaches that do not meet the needs of children and young people. We believe that a continuous inspection cycle will encourage better long-term strategic planning.
We are also introducing 3 distinct inspection outcomes, and reporting that makes it clear where responsibility for improvement lies. In our reports, we will focus on the impact that local arrangements are having on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people. We will set out clear priorities for the local area partnership and identify who is responsible for delivering these. We will also give clear information about subsequent inspection activity. We believe this approach will promote improvement by enabling earlier reinspection and monitoring. It will also help other partners, such as the DfE, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, understand where improvement is needed and tailor any interventions accordingly.
And we are increasing our focus on alternative provision. Around 80% of children in alternative provision are identified as having SEND, and we are concerned that alternative provision is sometimes inappropriately used to supplement the SEND system. By increasing our focus on alternative provision, we will be better able to identify and report on these practices. Inspectors will evaluate a local authority’s strategy and commissioning arrangements for all children in alternative provision.
We want to play our part in promoting urgent improvement in the SEND system, with the help of everyone who has a stake in that system. We want to hear your views on our proposals. Our consultation is open until September 11, and there are many ways to learn more and get involved.
Your help and involvement will help us to deliver inspections that have a tangible impact on the lives of children and young people with SEND. I look forward to hearing from you.
Lunar Pathfinder
Lunar Pathfinder is a single spacecraft designed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) that will offer commercial communication services to lunar orbiters and surface assets such as rovers and instruments, as well as a lunar navigation services demonstrator and scientific experiments.
The Lunar Pathfinder mission will support the booming demand from Lunar missions and serve the scientific community’s detailed study and analysis of the far side of the Moon, thus laying the foundation to support future sustainable science and exploration.
Polar Surface Data Relay
For polar surface assets, potentially with limited direct to Earth visibility, the use of Lunar Pathfinder’s data-relay service provides the assurance of a communication link, whatever obstacle the terrain may put between the asset and the Earth. Rovers, constrained to remain within line of sight of the lander to relay their communication, will find a new independence, both in how far they can go from the lander and how long they can survive beyond the lander’s limited lifetime.
For all lunar missions, including orbiters and near side surface assets, which could manage with direct to Earth communication, there is an additional economical and technical benefit to using the proximity data-relay service. Due to the proximity of the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft, user assets could achieve higher data-rates with a lower performance, lower mass and lower cost communication module on-board.
Far side Lunar Exploration
The far side of the Moon, particularly the South Pole Aitkin Basin, is a key area for future robotic and human exploration due to its chemical and mineral composition. For surface assets on the far side of the Moon which operate without line of sight to Earth, Lunar Pathfinder’s communications relay service will be a mission enabler, providing the vital bridge between Earth and the lunar surface. The stable elliptical orbit of Lunar Pathfinder will allow for long duration visibility of the Southern Lunar Hemisphere each day, with maximum opportunities for the transmission and reception of data between Earth and the lunar surface.
Lunar Pathfinder Customers
Enabled by the UK subscription to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) exploration programme, ESA announced in December 2021 that it will be the anchor customer for services from Lunar Pathfinder. The agreement establishes ESA’s first commercial lunar services contract to deliver new opportunities for lower cost lunar science, technology demonstration and exploration missions. In addition, ESA is working with NASA on an agreement by which NASA would launch and deliver the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft into its operational lunar orbit in exchange for data-relay services for their own missions, making NASA one of the first users of Lunar Pathfinder services.
Additional customers for services from Lunar Pathfinder are invited to calculate the service they could receive via SSTL’s Lunar Mission Builder App.
Lunar Pathfinder Experimental Payloads
As well as offering communication services to orbiters and lunar surface assets, Lunar Pathfinder will host a number of navigation and scientific experiments including:
an ESA GNSS receiver capable of detecting weak signals coming from the Earth GNSS infrastructure (GPS and Galileo), demonstrating its potential role into Lunar navigation services
a NASA retro-reflector to demonstrate laser ranging capabilities
an ESA radiation monitor to study orbital radiation conditions
Key facts
Some key facts about the mission include:
Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft is being built by SSTL and is due for launch in 2024. It will be operated by SSTL from its Spacecraft Operations Centre in Guildford.
Lunar Pathfinder will operate in an Elliptical Lunar Frozen Orbit (ELFO) for an operational lifetime of 8 years.
Lunar Pathfinder will operate two simultaneous channels of communication with lunar assets, one in S-band and one in UHF: communications are relayed back to Earth ground stations in X-band.
Phase A/B1 Moonlight study is being delivered by a consortium of experienced European space companies led by SSTL. The consortium includes SES Techcom, Airbus, GMV-NSL, Kongsberg Satellite Services and Goonhilly Earth Station.
How is the UK involved?
Lunar Pathfinder is supported by UK Space Agency funding via the European Space Agency.
The Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft is being built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd at the company’s facility in Guildford, as well as a number of sub-systems including an in-house S-band antenna.
UK company QinetiQ is using its heritage experience of Mars communication to design and build the Moon-link payload for the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. QinetiQ is working on the development of user terminals specifically designed units for compatibility to the Lunar Pathfinder service, for future users to plug and play.
On the ground segment side, Lunar Pathfinder will use the services of Goonhilly Earth Station deep space antenna in Cornwall, refurbished since the Apollo years and at the heart of the sustainable return to the Moon.
The Moonlight Phase A/B1 study is supported by the UK Space Agency across two competitive consortia, including UK companies SSTL, Airbus, Goonhilly Earth Station, GMV-NSL, KBR, Inmarsat and MDA UK. The implementation phase will be subject to future ESA subscriptions and competitive tender following ESA processes.
Rutherford Group of companies: information for patients, employees and creditors
On 13 June 2022 winding up orders were made against 8 companies in the Rutherford Group of companies. The court appointed the Official Receiver as the Liquidator.
The Official Receiver is Catherine Hudson. Her priority is to wind-down the Rutherford Group of companies, for the benefit of the companies’ creditors. The Official Receiver has a duty to enquire into the conduct of current and former directors.
Companies in liquidation
Rutherford Diagnostics Limited (Company number 10844984)
Rutherford Health plc (Company number 09420705)
Rutherford Estates Management Limited (Company number 13166007)
Proton Partners International Limited (Company number 12084009)
Rutherford Infrastructures Limited (Company number 11749069)
Rutherford Innovations Limited (Company number 10676791)
Rutherford Estates Limited (Company number 10676819)
Rutherford Cancer Care Limited (Company number 10680302)
Information for patients
The Rutherford Group of companies is in liquidation and all treatment and diagnostic services on the Northumbria, Liverpool, Reading and Newport sites have now ceased to operate.
If you are a patient receiving health services from the Rutherford Group of companies, at one of these four sites, you are advised to contact your consultant or appropriate contact in the NHS, or your insurance company if privately funded, should you have any concerns.
If you are a patient accessing diagnostic services at the Taunton site these services are continuing and patients should continue to attend their appointments unless you are contacted.
Information for employees
You can apply to the Insolvency Service for redundancy and other payments if:
Once you have registered and the Official Receiver receives your Proof of Debt form, we will keep you informed about any updates on the case.
Information for shareholders
Rutherford Health PLC was listed with AQSE and the company’s shares have been suspended since January 2022.
You cannot trade the company’s shares and due to the Official Receiver being appointed as Liquidator, there is no prospect of a return to shareholders.
Shareholders should be aware of third parties offering to dispose of your shares for a fees. The FCA website has information to help you avoid and report share scams.
InFocus: News and views from the GPA (June 2022)
WELCOME TO INFOCUS, JUNE 22
Yvette Greener, Client Director
We exist to create great places to work for the UK’s civil servants. To achieve this we must have a strong commitment to the solutions we design and the services we provide. This is why we are currently reviewing our service offer to create a service and pricing catalogue that works for our clients through being clearer, more consistent and transparent.
Our investment in fixing our client billing also continues with improvements being seen across accuracy, collections and forecasting. But the greatest improvement has been in the timeliness of raising invoices, with a 60 percent improvement in just 12 months. We know there is more to do in this space though and with the award of our new strategic property partner contract with BNP Paribas Real Estate, with a strong emphasis on client satisfaction, we expect to see a real improvement in this area during 22/23.
I am pleased that during 2021/2022 we saw a marked improvement in our client satisfaction scores across nearly all of our clients. Incremental improvements have been seen in each quarter from 3.9 in Q1 to 4.7 in Q2, 5.2 in Q3 and finishing the year at 5.4 out of 10. An increase of 40 percent during the year. But there is more to do.
Our growth and improvements is heavily dependent on the strategic partnerships we build. These partnerships empower us to develop new ways of thinking; to challenge the standards; to ensure we’re improving; and to identify efficiencies and innovations. We’re proud to have recently signed our first Strategic Partner Charter with Atkins Faithful+Gould and AECOM. The Charter includes the ten principles that underpin our commitment to always delivering better for our clients.
As we continue to strive for ‘trusted partner’ status with our clients, I thank you all for your continued support and transparency. Across Government, we are all working to create a modern Civil Service and I look forward to continuing this journey together.
In this issue:
The Government Workplace Design Guide updated to reflect new ways of working
We’ve updated the Government Workplace Design Guide (the Design Guide) – version 3.0 – to reflect new ways of working.
The Design Guide provides guidance, baseline standards and aspirations for delivering the great places to work needed for a modern Civil Service. It covers all buildings within the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programmes, and the central government office estate. The Design Guide helps customers and others who use the Government estate to understand what different working zones are for and how to get the best from using them.
Five key areas or ‘zones’ are identified within the Design Guide that facilitate flexible and hybrid working practices – otherwise known as ‘smarter working’. The Home Zone is where teams will usually work for longer durations on desk-based daily activities in a traditional style but with flexible activity tables and personal storage. The Collaboration Zone provides flexibility and a wide choice in how and where to work with a variety of work settings ideal for group tasks and activities accessible both in person and virtually. Collaboration Zones are accessible to all customers and clients based in the building. The Do Not Disturb Zones provide space for individual focus work, such as work with complex information or conducting confidential activities, without being distracted or disturbed.
The Business Events Centre provides spaces for people to engage with the public and visitors securely and professionally. These are fully flexible, multi-purpose, serviced areas that are used for meetings, training and conferences. Finally, the Amenity Zone comprises a variety of indirect work-related settings for social interaction and wellbeing.
Clive Anderson, our Capital Projects Director, said: “The creation of major multi-departmental government hubs – beacons of workplace excellence – will provide cutting-edge, innovative working environments across all four nations of the UK. This will help improve productivity and deliver a more diverse and inclusive modern Civil Service that can work in a smarter, more flexible way than ever before. The Government Workplace Design Guide is crucial to this and the provision of such guidance is another part of the GPA’s increasing mandate that also includes delivering Places for Growth as part of the Levelling Up Agenda, the property aspects of the Net Zero initiative and the management of more than 700,000 square metres of government office property. We hope that our guidance throughout these workstreams can help foster best practice across both the public and private sectors.”
Graeme Bell, our Deputy Director of Design and Engineering, added: “The Government Workplace Design Guide is a visual and technical resource which clearly sets out how to design and deliver truly great places to work. Today’s workplace is more flexible and the way people interact with the office is changing. The Design Guide has been updated to reflect this, and will continue to be updated as ways of working continue to evolve.”
The Design Guide is supplemented by a range of Technical Annexes :
Architectural Annex
Fire Safety Annex
HM Government Identity Guidelines
Government Hubs Healthy Building Guide
Wayfinding & Signage Annex
Historic Building Annex
Inclusive Design Standards
MEP Technical Annex
Sustainability & Net Zero & Annex
Physical Security Standards & Guidance
Furniture, Fittings and Equipment Specification
Building Information Modelling (BIM)
Better Building Information Management (B2IM) Policy Guidance
We’re pleased to confirm our new strategic partnership with BNP Paribas Real Estate (BNPPRE) for national property and property-related financial services. This follows a robust and comprehensive procurement process via the Crown Commercial Services Estates Management Services framework (RM 6168).
BNPPRE is a top-tier global real estate adviser providing market-leading services in the UK. With 1,500 employees across 67 offices it delivers consulting, advisory and commercial brokerage across commercial, residential and rural real estate.
We have entered into a new three-year contract, which includes the option to extend for up to an additional four years (two plus two) with BNPPRE to deliver improved tax-payer value, outstanding client satisfaction, high quality data and reporting, and improvements in corporate real estate management.
One of the key elements of our Client Strategy is ensuring client-focused commercial contracts. This exciting new partnership will ensure a marked improvement in service quality including financial information and reporting.
As part of the procurement process, we included improved KPIs and placed a strong focus on service quality to drive client satisfaction as a top priority. The new contract sets out critical success factors to ensure service improvements and innovations are achieved across the contract lifecycle. The success of this strategic appointment allows client requirements to be placed at the heart of our service provision.
This is an exciting opportunity for us to improve service standards through this new strategic partnership, further combining Civil Service know-how with commercial acumen.
OneEstate is enabling flexible working across government locations and workspaces
We continue to progress with the development and roll out of the OneEstate interoperability products intended to make it easier for civil servants to work flexibly across different locations.
Shared Network
We are continuing delivery of shared networks in Hubs and onboarding clients to the shared network. We are beginning work on additional regional Hubs, nearing completion of the network at Feethams House in Darlington and preparing to deliver shared networks into three additional buildings within the Whitehall Campus. In addition, we are working with HMRC to deliver shared networks in the 12 regional Hubs delivered by HMRC and we are keen to work with clients moving into these locations.
GovWifi
Since passing its live assessment, we are working on additional measures to further improve the backend GovWifi service to improve ongoing management.
The team is also preparing for the annual Certificate Rotation. This is an important security-related event that has an impact on users. GovWifi administrators should already have received communications. More information on Certificate rotation is available on gov.uk
GovPrint
We are entering the next phase of development with the successful award of a new contract for the GovPrint2 service. This will move us further into the roadmap for GovPrint development and allow us to extend the GovPrint service to more locations and more clients than the previous contract.
We are also working with HMRC to extend the GovPrint service to its regional Hubs which will benefit clients working in those locations and especially clients who may have a footprint in both GPA and HMRC-managed Hubs.
GovPass
GovPass is on track for delivery at a number of key locations across London, Bristol and Cardiff.
We are nearing completion of work on the first full end-to-end implementation of an occupancy management API (application programming interface) via GovPass. This will be the first time in Government that we have a secure mechanism for collecting occupancy data derived from access control systems and sets the standard for future deployments. This data allows us to understand how well buildings are being used in terms of the total number of people in the building, as well as identify opportunities for space optimisation.
Occupancy
We are planning to deliver an occupancy monitoring solution to 100 buildings through the course of this Financial Year. This will give the Government the ability to understand the efficient use of the estate. In order to progress this work at the pace required to meet this ambitious milestone, we will collaborate with our clients in all of the identified buildings to deliver this exciting capability.
Audio Visual
Building on our work on standards for Audio Visual (AV) systems, we are entering into a new contract for the delivery of AV into the Government estate. This work builds on the successful approach of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) based provision of AVsystems to support hybrid working using a range of end-user devices and unified communications platforms.
Procurement
We are continuing our programme of strategic procurement and have completed our procurement exercise for Internet Service Providers, Audio Visual Systems and GovPrint2. We expect to announce the winners of the AV and GovPrint contracts imminently and will release a new ITT for shared networks in government buildings this summer. The contract for shared networks is a flagship contract and represents a significant investment in our intention to continue to deliver on the shared networks model.
As well as delivery into GPA-managed Hubs, these contracts are available to support our clients when seeking to deploy interoperable products into their wider estate.
Our OneEstate initiative is a series of interoperable digital products that is allowing civil servants from our client departments to work flexibly, from any location and on the go. It is also improving the data we capture to make better informed decisions and provide more transparent reporting.
The Whitehall Campus Programme continues to support the Government’s Levelling Up agenda by leading work to consolidate the Central London office estate as roles relocate out of London. To support those that remain in Central London, the programme will establish a Whitehall Campus of interoperable buildings to support modern hybrid ways of working.
The latest development on this is the announcement made on 11 May, that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will relocate its headquarters from 1 Victoria Street to Government-owned buildings in the north end of Whitehall. The new location buildings will be refurbished to the latest Workplace Design Guide prior to BEIS taking occupation in Autumn 2023.
1 Victoria Street, London
The move will increase efficiency and reduce the overall cost of the Government’s Whitehall estate. The new buildings will be linked to the Whitehall Heat Network with cooling provided by efficient heat pumps and will have the latest energy efficient LED lighting installed.
The change of location follows the BEIS plans to move 865 roles to six locations across the UK – Salford, Birmingham, Cardiff and Darlington, and two new locations: Belfast and Edinburgh.
The Government aims for a quarter of all civil service jobs to be based outside of London in the next four years as part of its Levelling Up agenda. BEIS is expecting to go beyond this, with 30% of its workforce to be based in regional offices by 2030.
Darlington
A further example of how the Government Hubs Programme is supporting the Levelling Up agenda and the Places for Growth (PfG) programme, can be seen in Darlington where the Darlington Economic Campus is being created by relocating roles out of London.
This new Hub is an important part of the Cabinet Office’s PfG programme. It will eventually support up to 1,565 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff plus visitors across the Campus.
As part of the first phased move to Darlington, Feethams House will temporarily support up to 600 civil servants, in line with the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement in March 2021. This will allow the economically-facing departments to begin to recruit into posts from the local area as part of the transformation of the Civil Service.
From early June 2022, the Feethams House project will achieve a key milestone when the first sectional completion of the Ground and First Floors will be handed over to HM Treasury for occupation. Work will continue through the spring and the building will be completed and handed over by the end of the summer.
Left: Feethams House, front elevation Top right: New workstations installed ahead of occupation Bottom right: Ground floor collaboration space
Croydon
Our Government Hub at Croydon reached a key milestone in May as we celebrated its ‘topping out’. This represents the stage when the highest beam of the build is secured into place. Our partners and stakeholders were on site with us to sign the beam and celebrate the milestone.
Rated BREEAM Outstanding, this Hub is highly sustainable with fully decarbonised power and all electricity procured from renewable sources. Once complete, it will offer an effective mix of flexible and hybrid work spaces to support neuro-diversity, collaboration and wellbeing, along with fully inclusive refreshment hubs, home zones and meeting rooms to support more than 5,000 civil servants. And it will allow the UK Home Office to come together in one building.
We thank our partners for the continued success of the project: Atkins, Faithful+Gould, AECOM, Stanhope, Schroders, Lendlease, Arup and AHMM.
Left: The beam was signed before being placed into position Top middle: Progress of the facade being installed Top right: The North West corner of the building, with the tower crane and lifting platform Bottom right: The construction partners were on site to celebrate the project’s milestone
CASE STUDY: Feethams House IT solution fully operational in just seven months
Feethams House in Darlington is currently being fitted out to become the temporary accommodation for the Darlington Economic Campus.
Five economic facing departments, with up to 600 FTE’s, will work across more than 3,000 square metres of hybrid space at Feethams House. Due to the sensitive nature of the work these departments perform, it’s critical that we provide a secure environment across all digital platforms and physical spaces.
In rapid response to the need for a fully operational IT solution by mid-2022 we mobilised a DDaT (Digital, Data and Technology) team who, in just two weeks, facilitated a supplier engagement session and completed a network survey. The team identified and procured all long lead items, which involved managing excessive supply delays of up to 28 weeks due to global computer chip shortages.
The team quickly progressed to the discovery and design phases in collaboration with the building contractors, building on lessons learned from previous Hub deliveries to improve delivery efficiencies.
This rapid response from our DDaT team designed and delivered the full network with all equipment in place ready to deploy in just seven months to be operationally ready for the first clients in early June 2022.
Mark Duddy, Deputy Director for Capital Projects at the GPA, said: “Our DDaT team has achieved outstanding results in a challenging and complex environment. It’s a brilliant example of how the GPA responds positively to our client needs and overcome challenges to provide safe and secure environments.”
Enhanced responsiveness and collaboration shows 40% improvement in client satisfaction
Our mission is to provide great places to work for civil servants. We aim to achieve this through continuous innovation, which involves excelling in both operations execution and strategic management, importantly working to ensure our clients and customers are at the heart of everything we do.
We are pleased that during 2021/2022 we saw a marked improvement in our client satisfaction scores across nearly all of our clients. We saw incremental improvements in each quarter from 3.9 in Q1 up to 5.4 by Q4 – an increase of 40 percent.
Our clients’ feedback told us that we’ve made the most progress in responsiveness and collaboration. We have also made improvements in our financial services, however we know we have much more to do. We are continuing to work hard in areas where our clients have told us more focus is needed, such as delivering client-focused services to ensure end-to-end solutions; further improving responsiveness and delivering more consistently.
Moving into the new financial year, we have launched a new GPA Client Strategy with an underpinning delivery plan to support better client service. We are keen to work in partnership with clients to deliver a client-centric approach that is embedded into all of our activities including staff recruitment, inductions and communications. This also includes team meetings, projects and delivery programmes including procurement.
As part of implementing this new approach we want to work with clients to achieve “trusted partner” status, gaining a better understanding of key business drivers. Across Government, we are all working to create a modern Civil Service and we hope to continue this journey together with our Civil Service colleagues.
Our Client Finance team continues to focus on improving our client invoicing. We have been monitoring the Q4 invoicing (produced at the end of December) and the timeliness of invoicing has improved by more than 60% in less than 12 months, with 97% of invoices being raised by the quarter due date.
We have also seen vastly improved collections of the Q4 invoicing in comparison to Q3, despite the inevitable delays across the Christmas and New Year period. We collected the same value of cash within 14 days at Q4 as we did within 60 days at Q3. Furthermore, of the 80 invoices that were queried, only one resulted in an amended charge.
We also continue to focus on reducing the number of invoices raised as we look to consolidate charges. These improvements will continue as we improve accuracy and increase the efficiency of your quarterly invoicing.
FORECASTS
We acknowledge that we didn’t hit our deadline for issuing forecasts for the 22/23 financial year. Despite some glitches, overall this has still been an improvement on the 21/22 forecast process. The information was with you earlier and the collaborative approach taken between our respective teams has produced benefits to both sides. We are happy to take on board any further feedback you might have on how this could be improved further.
RECRUITMENT
We are pleased to confirm Simon Baldry has joined us as Deputy Director of Client Finance. Simon brings a wealth of experience from industry to further strengthen our client support team. Our interim, John Hatter, is continuing to support us on further improving our systems and processes.
Reporting into Simon will be our newly appointed Interim Head of Client Finance, Shane Dowd, who was previously one of our Client Finance Managers. We have also recruited four new Client Finance team members.
Nigel Beckett Finance Director, GPA Talk with Nigel on email (Gmail users) Connect with Nigel on LinkedIn
We exist to create great places to work for the UK’s civil servants. To achieve this we must have a strong commitment to the solutions we design and the services we provide. Therefore, we are increasing our focus on the quality of our service provision and the benefits that we bring to our clients.
We are currently defining the services we provide for our diverse clients. This will create a single, straightforward service catalogue explaining our services and prices. We will set out the service levels and the role that our departmental and ALB clients play in order to deliver those services to meet individual business needs. It is also important that our clients understand the benefits to them as an organisation but also to the Government as a whole.
This work will be ongoing over the early summer period and we will provide a further update in the next newsletter.
New TFM contract awarded for two of our Government Hubs
In December 2021, the Government Property Agency (GPA) commenced a competitive procurement process using the CCS RM3830 framework Lot 1B for to deliver a Total Facilities Management (TFM) service at two of our upcoming Government Hubs – Peterborough and Darlington – as well as a recently transferred site in Manchester.
The Contract was successfully awarded to ISS Mediclean in April 2022 and we have since commenced mobilisation of the first site in Darlington.
This contract will provide an interim TFM solution to these buildings whilst we continue planning our long-term Strategic Workplace Services Supply Chain Contract.