Meeting documents

The Chairman welcomed Members to the meeting.

Apologies of absence were received from Mary Baldwin, Dev Dhillon and Michael Moore.

There were no declarations of interest.

The review has been commissioned by the Overview and Scrutiny Commissioning Committee to examine issues of safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children within client transport that has been outsourced to Amey plc from June 2008. 

The Chairman of the scrutiny task and finish group will summarise the scope of the review.

Wendy Mallen  -  Chairman Task and Finish Group

The Chairman introduced the review by advising that the review had been commissioned by the Overview and Scrutiny Commissioning Committee to examine issues of safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children within client transport that has been outsourced to Amey plc from June 2008.

The Chairman said that the review should look at how the Client Transport provision within Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) was allocated.

The Task and Finish group will be looking at:

• Transport provision
• The cost and effectiveness of those provisions.
• Possible improvements in quality in service and whether this can be maintained.
• Members were advised that safeguarding should be firmly in their mind throughout the review whilst maintaining quality of service.

The Buckinghamshire County Council contract compliance manager will outline to members of the panel how the County Council monitors the contract that was awarded to awarded to Amey to ensure the safeguarding of children and adult users of client transport services. Members will hear detail of the contractual relationship with Amey, governance arrangements, the main requirements of the contract and how it is performance managed with a summary of the main key performance indicators (KPIs).

Helen Halfpenny – Client Transport compliance managerBuckinghamshire County Council

Helen Halfpenny – Client Transport Compliance ManagerBuckinghamshire County Council attended the meeting to outline to members of the Task and Finish Group how the County Council monitors the contract that was awarded to Amey to ensure the safeguarding of children and adult users of client transport services. Members will hear detail of the contractual relationship with Amey, governance arrangements, the main requirements of the contract and how it is performance managed with a summary of the main key performance indicators (KPIs).

Helen Halfpenny made the following points:

Background

• The contract with Amey is for five years with an option to extend
• Amey take the role of Management Agents
• They manage the service for BCC but the money stays in BCC
• Budget sits in transportation
• Helen Halfpenny manages the contract between BCC and Amey
• Service areas determine policies and who is entitled to the service
• Service areas send transport referrals for clients to Amey

Contract

• Contract specifications include: Ensuring drivers and passenger assistants are CRB checked, journey lengths are within agreed timescales and training of staff.  Helen Halfpenny said that she could provide a copy of the specification to Members if required.
• There are protocols around safeguarding e.g. if a driver delivers a child home and the parents are not at home
• The target price is agreed yearly with Amey
• BCC pay Amey a management fee and the TUPE costs
• Amey also get a margin, which is their profit
• If Amey do not meet the target cost, their margin is at risk.  If they achieve savings they receive a percentage off
• There are seven performance indicators of the Amey contract:
  1. Target cost
  2. Punctuality of transport
  3. Contract compliance by sub-contractors
  4. Monitoring of contracts and transport contractors
  5. Customer satisfaction
  6. Training of drivers and passenger assistants
  7. Reduction of Carbon Emissions
• Complaints are recorded on the Routewise system
• Amey have an obligation to monitor contractors and also investigate individual problems
• Customer satisfaction survey are sent to Children and Young People and Adult and Family Well Being service users
• Amey are required to report on training (KPI)
• Reduction of carbon emissions (KPI)

Governance

• Helen Halfpenny meets with Jim Waddington on a weekly basis
• Complaints are referred to Helen Halfpenny if not dealt with satisfactorily by Amey
• Amey have monthly meetings with service areas
• TRANstat – Transport for Buckinghamshire’s monthly performance Board receives and challenges performance, financial and risk reports from Amey. This is attended by Steven Bagnall (C&YP) Jim Stevens Caroline Penfold (Adults and Family Well Being), (Head of Transportation), Val Letheren (Cabinet Member for Transportation).
• BCC and Amey are working for the same aims to have a successful contract
• Good communication is the key to success
• BCC ensure Amey are delivering on the contract through feedback from parents, schools and KPIs
• Contractually – there are remedies for BCC in the contract and ultimately can terminate the contract.

Members then made comments and asked questions which are summarised as below:

Can you confirm the pre contractual budget?

The actual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The background to new Vetting and Barring Scheme and a briefing on the CRB process will provide the review panel with an overview of the current systems, the changes due to take place from 2010 onwards and the implications for client transportation.

Chris Daltry - Human Resources Manager Buckinghamshire County Council

Chris Daltry - Human Resources Manager Buckinghamshire County Council attended the meeting to provide a background to the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and a briefing on the CRB process. Members had received a report.

The Officer made the following comments:

• The Government’s generic guidance has been published.  There will be a number of sector specific guidance documents which are due to be published in early 2010 and one is expected to be Transport
• The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, following Sir Michael Bichard’s Inquiry into the Soham murders (recommendation 19), introduced a new Monitoring Scheme for those who wish to work or volunteer with vulnerable groups.
• The Monitoring Scheme named Vetting & Barring will be run by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) and has a 5 year implementation plan.
• The Vetting & Barring Scheme (VBS) was launched on 12 October 2009 and brought in a number of changes
  • It introduced ‘regulated’ activity
  • It made it a criminal offence for barred persons to apply to work with children or vulnerable adults in a wider range of posts.

• The ‘Drawing the line’ report by Sir Roger Singleton was published on 14 December 2009. The main focus of which was to review the scope of ISA Regulated Activity to ensure that it remained proportionate.

• ISA Regulated Activity includes activities taking place in specific settings and establishments that meet the frequency or intensively threshold.
• Transport of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults are included within the scheme therefore Amey or client transport is included under the Scheme
• The scheme does not include general taxi drivers or bus drivers that may transport Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults.
• The Registration Scheme will be launched on 26 July 2010 and it is from this date that the first applicants can be registered.
• Only those individuals who are considered to pose ‘no known risk’ will be given ISA registration.
• ISA registration is lifelong and involves continual monitoring.
• A person may require ISA registration and a CRB check as ISA registration does not present any details of a criminal record, just whether someone is barred or not barred.
• There will be no exception to start work without ISA registration once this comes into force in November 2010.
• The scheme is intended as an addition not as a replacement for a CRB Disclosure.
• The Scheme is not designed to assess the suitability of an employee – that is the responsibility of the employer.
• As with any legislation there will be legal penalties with non compliance.

Members then asked the following questions:

If you have a CRB and you are a school governor, will you need an ISA?

Yes.  However an ISA is transferrable whereas a CRB is not.

Who pays for the ISA?

That is dependent on the employer.  Amey will need to agree the cost with the contractor.  The cost of a first ISA registration is £64.00 as a CRB is also required. The Officer said she would send to the clerk the breakdown of the cost of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members of the Amey management team will provide the review panel with an overview of how the contract is being delivered. The review panel will hear of the mechanisms that have been put in place by Amey around safeguarding practices. Members will also learn of the current procedures in place for training drivers and passenger assistants. The complaints process will also be discussed, how they are handled and the main areas of focus around safeguarding.

Jim Waddington Service Director Amey plc

Phil Dyson Amey plc Transport Operations Manager.

Colin Edwards Commercial Manager Amey plc

Gordon McKendry Compliance manager Amey plc

Jim Waddington Service Director Amey plc, Phil Dyson Amey plc Transport Operations Manager, Colin Edwards Commercial Manager Amey plcand

Gordon McKendry Compliance manager Amey plc who are Members of Amey management team attended the meeting to provide the Task and Finish group

with an overview of how the contract is being delivered, discuss mechanisms that have been put in place by Amey around safeguarding practices. Members will also learn of the current procedures in place for training drivers and passenger assistants. The complaints process will also be discussed, how they are handled and the main areas of focus around safeguarding.

Each of the management team introduced themselves and provided a summary of their working background.

The Management team made the following comments:

• Jim Waddington said that compared to the previous transport team there is now an in depth background and knowledge within the team whereas in comparison the team was previously purely technical.
• Amey is primarily a Health & Safety organisation. As the company’s main income is through road maintenance a good health & Safety record is vital and they received BSI accreditation in May 2009.
• ‘Safeguarded children’ is a sub set within the overall group transport. This is a specific client group and includes home to school transport and respite care. At any time there may be 250-400 young people transported in BCC.
• Those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are a vulnerable client group and additional systems in place when transporting.
• Amey have a specific contract with BCC and are responsible for procuring, managing and delivering transport.
• Amey does not deal with eligibility or entitlement issues.
• Some BCC staff have moved to Amey through TUPE.
• The contract sets out the KPIs, which are reviewed annually.
• Information with subcontractors is shared on a ‘need to know’ basis.
• Essentially following any complaints any investigations are carried out by the County Council.

Members then raised the following comments and questions:

What is ‘Team Teach’?

Team Teach is about anger management. There are different types of children who need transporting and we need to ensure that all the children are seated appropriately. The training focuses on risk assessments, journey length and medical information. There is a written test on the day. Team Teach is nationally accredited.

            What is the procedure of recording incidents?

            If there is an incident on a vehicle, the contractor is expected to fill out a form and contact Amey in the first instance who will inform the parents, Social Services and others as required.

            Who pays for the training?

            The companies.

            What checks are carried out on the contractors?

In relation to checks and monitoring, there were 984 checks carried out by BCC. In the first 9 months with Amey 1491 were carried out. Amey also now carry out depot checks to ensure that contractors have got the right paperwork for themselves and subcontractors such as insurance, driving licences and CRB. These are carried out twice a year. Amey have also brought in new system called Penalty Points.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The next meeting of the review panel will be held on Wednesday 13th January 2010, Aylesbury Town Council, 5 Church Street Aylesbury, HP20 2QP (map attached)

Morning session 9.30 am to 12.30 pm

Afternoon session 1- 4pm 

The next meeting of the Task and Finish group will be held on Wednesday 13th January 2010, 9.30am, Aylesbury Town Council, 5 Church Street Aylesbury, HP20 2QP

[Addendum: post meeting note: Due to adverse weather conditions the meeting to be held on 13 January was postponed]