Collaborating to raise skills in parking

Feb 2011

Raising skills in parking underpins the partnership between Asset Skills and the British Parking Association. Signed in 2008, the agreement has seen the two organisations working together in several areas to help improve vocational training for employers in the parking industry.

Asset Skills is the Sector Skills Council for parking, facilities management, housing, property, planning and cleaning. As such it works closely with employers in the development of occupational standards, training and industry qualifications. A Memorandum of Understanding exists between Asset Skills and the BPA in the area of standards and qualifications development.

Vocational qualifications have undergone massive upheaval in the last year including the introduction of a new credit-based system upon which new, more flexible qualifications were based. The new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) meant all existing qualifications had to be "migrated" onto the new system.

"The QCF was brought in to try and simplify the qualifications landscape," said Richard Beamish, Chief Executive of Asset Skills. "Learners can choose bite-sized chunks of learning and gain a set number of credits for each qualification level they choose. We worked with the BPA to ensure all existing parking qualifications, and the standards on which they are based, were transferred across."

A number of new qualifications were developed in the control of parking areas, notice processing, civil enforcement and vehicle immobilisation. While these are largely in operational areas, the two organisations are also addressing the skills and competence agenda for supervisors and parking managers.

The current joint programme of work involves the:

• Redevelopment of the Level 2 Award in Civil Enforcement

• Introduction of management and leadership qualifications into the parking sector which will create parking specific management qualifications at level 4. These are based on a generic core of management and leadership, with pathways which draw upon existing technical parking units

• Development of parking qualifications in Scotland.

The collaborative approach to raising skills also means the BPA is represented on the Asset Skills Board with reciprocal arrangements in place on the Institute of Parking Professionals Board.

Improving delivery of training through an academy

Asset Skills is in discussion with the BPA about the potential to make the services of its new UK Academy available to members customised to the needs of parking employers.

The UK Academy is a new venture that aims to offer practical assistance to employers in business services, property and housing in the delivery of vocational qualifications and apprenticeships.

Employers and candidates have access to best practice through online forums and an account manager takes responsibility for communication and management of enquiries. The academy looks to support employers with advice on any funding that may exist and seeks to bring together candidates from different organisations in order to create cohorts that can reduce delivery costs through economies of scale.

"Our UK Academy provides a range of different services designed to improve access to learning," said Beamish. "A referral service helps employers to ensure they are getting the most appropriate training for their employees and a network of providers arranges delivery in a cost-effective and flexible manner."

The potential for the development of an apprenticeship scheme in parking is another area being looked at by Asset Skills and the BPA with the first step being to determine how much industry support there is. There is also the possibility apprenticeships could be developed in business and administration with a specialism in notice processing. A specific apprenticeship for parking operational functions will be developed at a later date.

To find out more about the work of Asset Skills or the UK Academy visit www.assetskills.org, email info@assetskills.org or call 0845 678 2 888.