direct newsAssociation for Public Service Excellence • March/April • ISSN 16465-2493

National Pollinator Strategy

DEFRA

Pages 4-5

Biophilic Birmingham

Nick Grayson

Pages 6-7

ALARM Survey 2015

Asphalt Industry Alliance

Pages 8-9

Energy Union

Richard Adams, EURapporteur

Pages 16-17

LLooookkiinngg aahheeaadd ttoo tthhee AAPPSSEESSccoottllaanndd FFlleeeett,, WWaassttee aannddGGrroouunnddss SSeerrvviicceess SSeemmiinnaarr 22001155

March / April 2015 3

EditorialDawn of a new era

As vesting day arrives in Northern Ireland wesee the birth of 11 new authorities born fromthe 26 predecessor authorities. It is important toremember that local authorities in NorthernIreland have had a pivotal role to play in theirlocal communities. Whether one agrees ordisagrees with reorganisation there can be nodoubt that these councils, and the electedmembers and officers who have served thepeople of Northern Ireland, have beengenuinely at the heart of their localcommunities.

Whilst reflecting on the past, and indeedcelebrating achievements, the focus must nowshift towards embedding the new structuresand organisational cultures that will need tomeld to adapt to the changes that the newcouncils will face. Relatively recentreorganisation in areas like Northumberland,Cheshire and Durham prove that time is neededto make both cultural and system shifts toensure that services are not only delivered butthe anticipated improvements and efficienciesare realised.

The changes will also be challenging for localresidents. New council names, new ways ofcontacting the council and eventually newpolicy positions, which could cause confusionand disruption, are now on the horizon socommunication with residents, as well as staff,must be a priority.

The new councils themselves have existed inshadow for the last year. With many new electedmembers taking on responsibility forgovernance and democracy within the newauthorities, they will be the ones who will hearfirst if their local community is unhappy withthe new arrangements.

So whilst it is the dawn of a bright new era andthe challenges are many, I am confident that ournew councils in Northern Ireland will be keen tomake their own mark, delivering the increasedresponsibilities that the new authorities haveand by embracing the significant challengesthat the future holds.

Best wishes

Paul O’Brien, APSE Chief Executive

ContentsAPSE Direct NewsMarch / April 2015

Contents and editorial 3

DEFRA National Pollinator StrategyDefra 4

Biophilic Birmingham- the UK’s first Biophilic CityNicky Grayson, Birmingham City Council 6

Cause for ALARM?Alan Mackenzie, Asphalt Industry Alliance 8

Pest control and biosecurity on council parks andgreen spaces. Are you prepared?The Animal and Plant Health Agency 10

Heading to Aviemore for the APSE Scotland Fleet,Waste and Grounds Seminar 2015APSE 12

Get involved in the Land Audit Management System(LAMS)APSE 14

Building the Energy Union through consumerengagementRichard Adams, European Economic and Social Committee 16

State of the Market Report: Local authority refuse andrecycling servicesWayne Priestley, APSE 18

Nudge, budge, reduce: new strategies for managingthe public realmMo Baines, APSE 20

Keep in touch with local authority suppliers 21

APSE people pages and briefings update 23

Report backA round up of APSE advocacy and events 24

Events diary 26

To advertise in the next edition of direct news, please contactMatt Paton on 01625 614000, or emailm.paton@spacehouse.co.uk

APSE Direct News is published by the Association for Public Service Excellence 2nd floor Washbrook House • Lancastrian Office Centre • Talbot Road Old Trafford • Manchester M32 0FP

telephone: 0161 772 1810 fax: 0161 772 1811email: enquiries@apse.org.uk web: www.apse.org.uk

direct news

There are so many plants in our fields, gardens and greenspaces that we can often take them for granted: primroses,lavenders, oxeye daisies, foxgloves, oil seed rape, to namejust a few.

But these plants could not flourish without their pollen beingspread by bees and hundreds of species of other insects –hoverflies, wasps, moths, beetles and butterflies. If thesepollinating insects went into serious decline, the health of our£100bn food industry, which is at the heart our economy, would bedamaged. Without the service nature provides, some of that foodwould become a lot harder to grow and more expensive.

The beauty not just of our countryside but of our gardens andparks too would be severely affected. Britain would become amuch drabber place. That is why taking action to help these insectsis being seen as a priority by DEFRA to help improve the naturalenvironment and grow the rural economy.

Pollinators face many pressures which have led to declines innumbers, and a reduction in the diversity of species to be found inmany parts of the country and that is the key reason thatGovernment has developed the National Pollinator Strategy, whichit is envisaged over the next 10 years will build a solid foundationto bring about the best possible conditions for bees and otherpollinators to flourish.

It is a shared plan of action with Government enjoying broad cross-party support. The strategy has been developed by a range oforganisations and scientists as well as through a public

consultation exercise. The National Trust, the Forestry Commission,and the Ministry of Defence are amongst many landowners tocommit to the strategy.

One of the key challenges for the strategy is that in developingproposals for action there is still a great deal of uncertainty over thecurrent condition of pollinators. There are questions over theimpact the threats against them are having. For example howresilient are our agricultural and natural systems to changes inpollinator populations. So an important part of the Strategy, andone of the priorities over the next three to five years, is to invest inscience to address key gaps in understanding the current positionon pollinators and provide better evidence to inform publicpolicies.

However what is not at all uncertain is that pollinators are at riskand local authorities can do many simple things in terms of howthey manage their land in Parks and Green Space. Many of theactions are about making simple changes to land management.Simple actions such as creating wild flower meadows rather thanregular grass cutting can help create new habitats for pollinatorswhich have been lost for a number of reasons.

Councils could also look to reduce or minimise the risk forpollinators associated with the use of pesticides through bestpractice, including Integrated Pest Management. Councils alsohave a wider role in working with large-scale landowners, and theiradvisers, as well as contractors and facility managers, to promotesimple changes to land management to provide food, shelter andnest sites.

DEFRA National PollinatorStrategy DEFRA outlined the National Pollinator Strategy at the recent APSE ParksSeminar explaining how local authority Parks and Greenspace services cansupport the strategy.

4

March / April 2015 5

At a local leadership level, Councils could help ensure goodpractice to help pollinators by developing partnership initiativeswith a wide range of external professional networks includingmanagers of public and amenity spaces, utility and transportcompanies, brownfield site managers, local authority developersand planners.

There has also been a number of successful public engagementcampaigns which have encouraged the public to take action intheir gardens, allotments, window boxes and balconies to makethem pollinator-friendly or through other opportunities such ascommunity gardening and volunteering on nature reserves.

A very successful awareness raising project Bees Needs has helpedto develop and disseminate further advice to a wide range of landowners, managers and gardeners to improve the sharing ofknowledge and evidence between scientists, conservationpractitioners and non-government organisations (NGOs) to ensurethat actions taken to support pollinators are based on up-to-dateevidence.

There is of course much more to do including improving evidenceon the status of pollinators and the services they provide to theecosystem. This will need a sustainable long-term monitoringprogramme across both public sector and private sectorlandowners so there is a better understanding of pollinator status,the causes of any declines and where actions will have most effect.This will give us the evidence to understand the value and benefitspollinators provide, and how resilient natural and agriculturalsystems are to changes in their populations.

DEFRA want to see a number of key outcomes

• More, bigger, better, joined-up, diverse and high-quality flower-rich habitats (including nesting places and shelter) supporting ourpollinators across the country.

• Allowing grassed areas to grow to help create new habitats forpollinators

• Councils could also look to reduce or minimise the risk forpollinators associated with the use of pesticides through bestpractice, including Integrated Pest Management.

• Councils working with large-scale landowners, and their advisers,contractors and facility managers, to promote simple changes toland management to provide food, shelter and nest sites.

• Councils to take a lead role in promoting pollinator-friendly landmanagement practices with partners to ensure developments andland management operations take account of pollinator needs

• Develop research to ensure the health of bees and otherpollinators by making them more resilient to climate change andsevere weather events.

• No further extinctions of known threatened pollinator species.

• Enhanced awareness across a wide range of businesses, otherorganisations and the public of the essential needs of pollinators.

• Evidence of actions taken to support pollinators.

Local authorities can help achieve these outcomes with simplemeasures that in financial terms will cost little if anything toimplement. This includes ensuring that local plans should have aclear strategy for enhancing the natural, built and historicenvironment and supporting pollination.

A number of local authorities from across the country includingBristol City Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, GloucestershireCouncil, Kent County Council and Wyre Forest District Council arealready taking affirmative action to support pollinators. It is hopedthat many more will follow.

APSE Briefing 15-06 covers this topic in more detail and can befound on the APSE website.

SWEEPING AIRPORT

WINTER

DESIGNED BY YOU | ENGINEERED BY SCHMIDT

Aebi Schmidt UK Ltd Southgate Way,

Orton Southgate, Peterborough PE2 6GP

Service 01733 363400

Parts 01733 363363 • Sales 01733 363391

email uk-sales@aebi-schmidt.com

01733 363391www.aebi-schmidt.co.uk

MOWING

Hands Free spreadingis now even smarter...At Schmidt we recommend you let youroperators concentrate on driving and let our‘smart’ technology take care of the rest.

The new Schmidt Stratos now features Schmidt’s Smart'Evolution Line' control systems, which are set totransform winter clearance operations across the UK'spublic and private sectors. The Stratos captures thesuccess of earlier models and incorporates technologicalimprovements based on feedback from you, ourcustomers to introduce the most efficient and user-friendlyspreader available on the market today.

For advice on how to improve the safety and efficiency ofyour winter operations, contact us now on 01733 363391

direct news6

Biophilic Birmingham- the UK’sfirst Biophilic CityNick Grayson, Climate Change and Sustainability Manager at Birmingham CityCouncil explains their ambitions to become a totally biophilic city

For many the term ‘biophilic city’may be new, but its origins canbe found in ‘Biophilia’ a conceptwhich first materialised fromHarvard University

myrmecologist and conservationistE.O. Wilson.Wilson explained the human need toconnect with nature, which isbecoming more difficult as urban–lifestyles become the norm. Much ofhuman evolution has occurred in wideopen spaces, and it is only over the lastfew hundred years that we havebecome largely urbanised. Ourbehaviour as human beings is innatelygoverned by the need to connect withnature and urban life-styles havecaused this bond to be broken.

There is now conclusive evidencewhich shows the health benefits, bothphysical and psychological, of us allconnecting more with nature. Thenatural environment has been shownto reduce stress, aid recovery fromillness and to enhance cognitive skillsand academic performance. We nowknow that being more connected tonature brings huge benefits. Bypromoting the natural environmentwithin our cities we can improve theirsustainability by helping them mitigateagainst climate change, improve floodresilience, reduce heat stress and offermore wildlife habitats.

Quality local environments also offergreater economic developmentopportunities for those businesseslocating in such areas, not least fromthe improved health and wellbeing ofthe workforce upon which they rely.

Whilst many of us will have seenbiophilic design, such as healinggardens and spaces in hospitals, andbuildings which provide abundantdaylight, natural ventilation, plants andgreenery, we have not yet introducedthese concepts into our cities. It is thistransitional stage that we are now at.The vision for biophilic cities will varyfrom place to place with some citiesmore advanced than others.Birmingham is the only local council inthe UK to adopt the biophilic citiesapproach, sharing the stage withEuropean and US partners such as Osloand San Francisco. However there aresome common themes which we allcan share. The vision for biophilic citiesis to have an abundance of nature inclose proximity to large numbers ofurbanites; biophilic cities arebiodiverse cities, that value, protectand actively restore biodiversity;biophilic cities are green and growingcities, organic and natureful andencourage that missing evolutionaryconnection with nature that we nowknow is needed for our health andwell-being.

Many may argue that the concept ofconnecting with nature is nothing new.It was the Victorians who created manyof our splendid public parks. Thepurpose of these Victorian parks was toimprove public health by encouraginghealthy walks and thereby preventingtheir workforces indulging in ‘drinkingand immoral behaviour’. Whilst thereasoning for parks may be more of astatement of Victorian values, theimportance of public parks and openspaces in growing urban areas wasclear. Yet despite this realisation over acentury ago the level of urbanisationcontinues apace.

Within Birmingham we have a proudhistory of investing in theenvironment, passing ‘The BirminghamParks Act 1854’ to allow the Authority

permission to acquire land to createPublic Parks. Birmingham was also thefirst UK city to start an Urban WildlifeTrust. Birmingham also created theMillennium Woodland Project, plantinga woodland in every one of its 40Wards. Involving schools andcommunity groups and the urbanwildlife trust we planted 40,000 trees.In 2012 Birmingham together with itsneighbouring Black Countryauthorities was granted NatureImprovement Area status by the UKGovernment. By utilising our well-established networks of people andecological data we received a 3 yeargrant to facilitate community-lednature improvements across the area.In 2012 we were also awarded the LordStafford Award for Innovation inEnvironmental Sustainability for ourcomprehensive climate impact model(BUCCANEER) looking at what climatechange means to the city ofBirmingham.

Birmingham has 591 parks and openspaces across the city, that people canfreely access, one of these being SuttonPark; a 1000 hectare site the only urbanNational Nature Reserve andScheduled Ancient Monument. Sowith so much green space and 23%tree canopy- already providing ‘lungs’to our city one might ask why we haveadopted the biophilic cities approach?The answer possibly lies in our size. Weare the UK’s second city and ourpopulation is growing fast; we areanticipating 150,000 more residentsover the next 20 years requiring up to89,000 new dwellings which need tobe built solely within the municipalboundary. All of this could lead to uscompounding environmental andhealth problems associated withurbanisation, so the adoption of abiophilic city approach helps us ‘squarethe circle’ between the detrimentcaused by increased urbanisationwhilst taking the opportunity toenhance local environments.

Our City’s draft development plan notonly incorporates our growth agendabut is supplemented by planningdocuments which adopt, a new

March / April 2015 7

approach to sustainable development policy. Our draft ‘AGreen and Healthy City - Supplementary PlanningDocument’ sets out our vision for how Birmingham candevelop as a green city. This will require future developmentin the city to have a sustainable footprint. On behalf of theUK Government we have devised a new site planning tool,with the help of the UK Business Council for SustainableDevelopment and four of their industrial partners, which isbased on ecosystem services science. This puts nature first inthe drafting of new developments. It also helps us to identifyadditional stakeholders and co-investors; this is called theNatural Capital Planning Tool.

The Natural Capital Planning Tool helps to provide ameasure by which we can recognise the impact ofdevelopment on our ecosystems. The tool will help assessthe impact of new developments across ten ecosystemservices to improve the overall performance of a planned orproposed development. We know that this may meanadditional effort for developers but we are confident thatthe longer term benefits will outweigh any short terminconvenience. Eventually we envisage it will be possible tobenchmark the value of all our natural capital. By engagingwith developers to try to minimise or compensate for thedamage to natural capital caused by developments, we willbe able to reduce human ill health costs, currently beingpicked up by the public purse, thus creating a virtuous cycleof benefits helping public finances in the longer term.

In the current financial year, Birmingham will introduce aCorporate Natural Capital Account Balance Sheet – to theCity’s Accounts- working with the Natural CapitalCommittee, the ONS and the University of Birmingham –

that will totally transform the understanding of keydecision-makers on the ‘hidden value’ of the city’s naturalenvironment.

The Green Growth Roundtable working to the GreenCommission for Birmingham and the wider economic area-want to pick this up and commission a 25 year NaturalCapital Plan - that will sit at the heart of the area’s growthagenda- for a generation.

The triangulation of the Biophilic City approach, the newscience of ecosystem services and the new economic re-definition achieved through a natural capital - provides thevision, the evidence and the mechanism – to transform thefuture for urban natural environments and the future ofparks- not just here in the UK but potentially for many otherglobal cities. Birmingham’s motto is ‘Forward’- we have a lotto be grateful for to our Victorian forefathers – for their visionand instincts about what was right. But that Victorian modelfor Parks needs a twenty first century make-over. Thechallenges facing global urban areas are considerable - byre-connecting people with nature; by re-defining and re-financing Parks; and by re-balancing economic growth tovalue and account for their dependency on natural capital;the next generation might be able to ‘breathe-easy’ in a trulyBiophilic Birmingham.

Contact: Nick Grayson is the Climate Change andSustainability Manager for Birmingham City Council and sitson UNESCO’s UK Man And Biosphere Urban Forum as well asthe Biophilic Cities Network Steering Group.

Scarab Sweepers is a global frontrunner in the design, manufacturing and supply of compact and truck-mounted road sweepers. Scarab products are all designed and built to a high standard at our manufacturing headquarters in Kent, England.

Our truck-mount models are built on a vehicle manufacturers chassis of your choice from 7.5 tonne to 18+ tonne GVW. Operators can select the type of transmission and power delivery system that best suits their needs.

If you need something out of the ordinary our design team will work with you to build a bespoke sweeper to your requirements.

www.scarab-sweepers.com

Tough on the Streets - Easy on the Environment

T

ts - Eeeough on the StrTTo

om

onmenvir the Eny onasts - E

s.ceeperwab-sar.scwww

om

t

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Annual LocalAuthority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey. It wasintroduced to provide a detailed picture of thecondition of the local road network to enable insightfulanalysis of road maintenance and funding issues.

The picture painted by the 2015 report, published on ThursdayMarch 26, is that we are spending more money, but standingstill. Despite additional funding, local authorities are justtreading water rather than being in a position to tackle thebacklog of repairs and prevent continuing deterioration of ourlocal roads.

And although local authorities reported an increase in theiroverall maintenance budgets, one in six roads in England andWales are classed as being in poor condition and the averagelength of time it would take to clear the backlog of repairs is 13years.

The first ALARM survey was conducted in 1995. There wasgeneral concern at the time that the findings of the NationalRoad Maintenance Condition Survey (NRMCS) did not trulyreflect the state of our roads. This was proved to be the case andthe ALARM survey is now widely recognised as an accurate andinsightful analysis of road maintenance and funding issues.

Since that first survey, we have seen five governments and 10different Secretaries of State for Transport but, when it comes toour roads, little has changed and much of the network is stillcrumbling.

It is true that the high level of shortfall between what highwaysengineers need to maintain their roads properly and what theyactually receive has decreased significantly over the last twodecades; testament to successive government'sacknowledgement of the importance of the issue. The firstALARM survey showed an average shortfall of £9 million per

direct news

Cause for ALARM? Alan Mackenzie, chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance explains how £12billion is still needed to bring the local road network up to scratch

8

March / April 2015 9

authority; this year's average figure across England and Wales(including London) is just over £3 million.

This is a welcome step in the right direction, but the results ofthe 2015 survey again highlight the scale of the task we arefacing to bring our local road network up to scratch: localauthorities would need more than £12 billion, the sameamount reported last year, in spite of the additional fundingthat has been made available.

Unsurprisingly, the number of potholes filled has increased byover a third in the last year to almost 2.7 million; which isequivalent to one every 15 seconds across England and Wales.The government’s emergency funding for pothole and floodrepair has been a major factor in this increase, but it iseffectively wasted money. While we understand that theDepartment for Transport is promoting permanent repairs, thefact remains that filling potholes is like chasing your tail and themoney would be far more wisely spent on plannedpreventative maintenance.

The government's commitment to £6 billion of funding for localroad maintenance between 2015 and 2021 is welcome, but willonly be enough for local authorities to keep pace with repairsand not tackle the backlog. Our local road network represents98 per cent of all our roads and carries two thirds of traffic yetreceives a fraction of the funding allocated to the strategic roadnetwork. Over the next six years, every mile of our motorwaysand trunk roads will receive £1.4 million funding while our localroads will see just £31,000 per mile (Source: LGA).

So, while we acknowledge this move will provide some securityof funding, provided, of course, there is a commitment from anincoming government, we continue to advocate that thismoney should be directed towards proactive, structured roadmaintenance programmes as part of local councils’ long-term

asset management plans. Research has shown that adopting an‘invest to save’ approach pays dividends – with every plannedinvestment in the road network providing long-term savings ofmore than twice the value.

This year’s survey also shows a dramatic increase in the amountpaid in road user compensation claims in England (excludingLondon) which, at £20.2 million, has doubled since last year. Thetotal cost of claims due to poor road condition over the lastyear, including the cost of staff time processing them,amounted to £ 40.8 million across England and Wales. Althoughsome of this may be attributed to claims from previous years, itremains a continuing drain on resources.

Given the pressures that local authorities continue to face, theymust be commended for all they do, in collaboration withindustry, to keep the wheels turning.

The local road network is a local authority’s most valuable assetand the one upon which all the other services it providesdepends. It is truly shocking that less than 0.25% of theestimated £400 billion value of the network is spent annuallyon maintenance.

Looking ahead, it is critical that any incoming governmentrecognises the importance of the funding commitments thatare already in place, and the need to reach a position where ourroads are maintained properly so that patch and mendbecomes a thing of the past.

Contact: Samantha Stagg or Madeleine Hardman, AIA Press &Information OfficeT: +44 (0)20 7222 0136 E: info@asphaltuk.orgW: www.asphaltuk.org

Talk to us at... APSE Aviemore

We’re ready to work for your business

Meet with us at one of the shows we’re exhibiting at:

direct news

We are facing an unprecedented threat from exoticplant and tree pests and diseases which if theywere to become established have huge potentialto change how our landscape looks and severelyimpact our biodiversity, economy and food

security.

The responsibility for preventing outbreaks of exotic notifiablediseases, reporting suspicion and managing eradication orcontainment action when they do occur is shared betweengovernment and stakeholders. Stakeholders include those whoplan, manage and maintain parks and green spaces. Familiaritywith pest and disease threats can be gained by making use ofthe Risk Register using this link:

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/

Over 700 organisms have so far been rated for the likelihoodand impact of them establishing a viable population in the UK,or spreading further within the UK. The Risk Register is notintended to produce a simple list of the “top ten pests”, but toestablish different priorities for regulation, research,contingency planning, publicity, surveys and detailed riskassessment, depending on the characteristics of the organism.

Biosecurity can help protect your sites from some of thesethreats. Practical steps can be taken to reduce the risk ofaccidental introduction of exotic pests and diseases. Considerwhere you source your plants and trees, check that appropriateplant passports are present and monitor new plants and trees

in a quarantine area before planting out. Specify to yoursuppliers that planting material must be high quality, carry theappropriate documentation and if it is imported to have beenlanded in the UK and monitored for several weeks before beingbrought onto your site. When you are using contractors checkthat they are arriving on your site using clean tools and wearingclean boots. Contractors want your business, as the customer itis up to you to write a biosecurity clause into any contract.

It is helpful to have a contingency plan in place to cover theanticipation and assessment of potential pest and diseasethreats, the preparation and response to deal with these threatsand how you are going to recover after the incident.

It isn’t just planting material that carries risk, if you have anylandscaping work taking place that uses imported materialssuch as stone please check the wooden packaging.Contaminated wooden packaging holds the risk of AsianLonghorn Beetle (pictured), a serious threat to a wide range ofdeciduous trees. This distinctive beetle hatches out of exit holesof approx 10mm diameter and is similar in length to a 50ppiece, if you see an Asian Longhorn Beetle please capture it in acontainer and contact the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorateimmediately.

The Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate is part of the Animal andPlant Health Agency and operates across England and Wales:Email: planthealth.info@apha.gsi.gov.uk

Pest control and biosecurity oncouncil parks and green spaces.Are you prepared?The Animal and Plant Health Agency explains the current threats and whatprevention measures local authorities can put into place.

10

March / April 2015 11

direct news

Delegates are once again eagerlyanticipating a great seminar as they headtowards the stunning scenery of Aviemorefor the APSE Scotland Fleet, Waste andGrounds Seminar 2015. The seminar

provides a fantastic opportunity for the sector inScotland to get together to learn, debate and innovateamongst other local authorities. As well as the livelyprogramme of speakers the seminar hosts Scotland’slargest trade exhibition with the latest vehicles,machinery and supplies to the Fleet, Waste andGrounds sectors.

As budget pressures continue to squeeze in Scotlandthe seminar will be opened by Derek Mackay, Ministerfor Transport and Islands who will provide an openingaddress. The Minister will be joined by Ms Joan Aitken,Traffic Commissioner for Scotland, who will beoutlining the latest issues and responsibilities withinfleet and transport.

The future of waste will be a focus for the seminar, withGabby Pieraccini, Head of Zero Waste exploring howScottish Government hopes to achieve a more circulareconomy, utilising a ‘Road Map’ approach to achievethe ambitious aims of zero waste in Scotland. LesleySugden of City of Edinburgh Council will join thespeakers panel to explore developing transitioncapacity with changes to kerbside collections; a topicevery Scottish local authority will have grappled with.

Service innovation features highly at this event as localauthorities share best practice providingdevelopments in their own areas. On day one theinnovation sessions will provide bite size case studieson setting up your own MOT Testing station, improvingrecycling performance in a challenging financialclimate and addressing cuts to parks budgets throughagile mobile working solutions. Contributions will bemade by North Lanarkshire Council, Fife Council andInverclyde Council.

The thorny issues of littering and fly-tipping, a realdoorstep issue for elected members will be debated onthe second seminar day with seminar sponsors ZeroWaste Scotland updating delegates on the NationalLitter Strategy. Edinburgh will highlight their approachto reducing litter and flytipping with timed bincollections in their city centre. Aberdeen City Councilwill also highlight how they are building strongcommunity partnerships and inspiring groups to getinvolved.

Health and Safety and compliance issues within wasteare brought to the table by SEPA as well as theprocurement challenges in waste services, and aninteresting look at how we can design out criminalactivity. Dundee City Council will continue the themeof waste services looking at the successful introductionof food waste collections – an issue that manyauthorities still find difficult.

The final plenary session will explore the challengesand innovation in transport services with Fife Councilexplaining how they plan to green their services byintroducing Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen dual -fuel vehicles; the DVSA speaking about the vehiclelicence changes and MOT modernisation and finallyGlasgow City Council looking at the latestconsiderations for taxi licensing.

The seminar will also play host to training sessions formanagers in Fleet, Waste and grounds services with asession on the new Land Audit Management System,developed in Scotland and now introduced on a UKwide basis by APSE Performance Networks, and astrategic forum discussion on the Transport Sector inScotland.

Contact: To book contact Laura McNab on

lmcnab@apse.org.uk or visit the APSE website

www.apse.org.uk

Heading to Aviemore for theAPSE Scotland Fleet, Waste andGrounds Seminar 2015

12

March / April 2015 13

direct news

APSE performance networks are now launchingits latest performance management tool, theLand Audit Management System (LAMS). Thisquality management system, originallydeveloped by local authorities in Scotland,

allows grounds maintenance and street scene managersthroughout the UK to assess the cleanliness and qualitystandards of their green spaces and street scene. It is a non-technical system and can be used by any officer as part oftheir normal daily work routines, as the inspection is basedon ‘what the public would see’. Importantly, results can bebenchmarked against other local authorities.

Participating in this is free of charge to members of APSEperformance networks and also included is training and therelevant inspection forms and guidance manuals. You canchoose between using the system to monitor groundsmaintenance and/or street cleansing as well. The LAMSsystem has already been proven to be a simple and effectiveperformance measuring system, which has benefits farbeyond simply showing the cleanliness and quality of greenspaces and the street scene. LAMS can be a useful tool tosenior managers who have to justify greenspace and streetscene budgets, it can be used as a marketing tool whenapplying for new contract work, and is also a great way topublicise the work the council does in maintaining its localenvironment to residents and businesses.

How it works

LAMS requires users to identify a number of transects acrossa local authority area and undertake inspections over agiven monitoring period. These transects include a numberof different amenity types or ‘zones’:

• High amenity e.g. town centres

• General amenity e.g. approaches to towns

• Low maintenance e.g. woodlands

By assigning a quality/cleanliness grade to each of thetransects within each of the different types of zones, anoverall picture can be established as to the cleanliness andquality of a local authority’s environment.

Users will receive regular reports throughout the year andtheir scores will be benchmarked against other localauthorities. For more information, contact Wayne Priestleyat wpriestley@apse.org.uk or call APSE on 0161 772 1810 formore information.

Get involved in the Land AuditManagement System (LAMS)

performance networksBenchmark your grounds maintenance and wider street sceneservices through the use of APSE’s Land Audit ManagementSystem (LAMS)

:51 Page 1

14

March / April 2015 15

direct news

The European Energy Union was launched by theEuropean Commission on 25 February and isintended to ensure secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy for citizens and businesses. Ofcourse the big picture is far more than the Energy

Union, it is the global need to move to a low carbon energysystem. There is the ever increasing threat of climate change and theweakness of global governance systems to deal with it andthe need for more measures at a national, regional and locallevel.

In the EU we are faced with deflation, debt, the need forconsumer stimulus and by contrast a huge, necessaryinvestment needed in energy infrastructure. EUR 400 billionfor distribution networks and smart grids; EUR 200 billion fortransmission networks and storage; EUR 500 billion forgeneration capacity – all (in theory) by 2020.

And in the Union itself there is increasing doubt and internalfragmentation, a movement away from the centre,politically less cohesion, increasing nationalism and nationalself-interest. Huge political uncertainty and violence on oureastern and southern borders also have a direct effect on thesecurity, predictability and cost of our energy supplies.

The scale of the Energy Union is ambitious with legislationon gas supply, infrastructure and a new and secureelectricity market, together with a review of energyefficiency legislation, and renewables targets. “Our vision isof an Energy Union with citizens at its core, where citizenstake ownership of the energy transition, benefit from newtechnologies to reduce their bills, participate actively in themarket, and where vulnerable consumers are protected.”

The implementation of this package will affect how energyis generated and also how it is consumed. The consumer ishighlighted as central to making this work, indeed there is awhole section headed ’a new deal for consumers’.

But the consumer will only work for the market if the marketworks for the consumer. How can we persuade theconsumer that we have the market working on their behalf?The biggest problem is that the market obeys a set of ruleswhich can override our best legislative efforts to imposesocial constraints.

This is why we have to find a way of coming to terms withuncertainty. The Energy Union package will help but it is notenough. Consumers themselves will need to understandthat we live in a world of risk. It is the role of policy makers,regulators, consumer organisations and others such as localauthorities to make sure that risks are contained and that

Building the Energy Unionthrough consumer engagementRichard Adams a member of the European Economic and Social Committee,Rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the ‘Roadmap for moving to a competitivelow carbon economy in 2050’ and Co-rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the‘Energy roadmap 2050’ discusses the role of the Energy Union and itsimplications for local authorities and consumers

16

March / April 2015 17

the rewards of being active consumers are sharedfairly. At the moment there are too many affluentwinners in the energy transition and too manyvulnerable losers.

In the EESC we see the principle way of encouragingthis approach as a European Energy Dialogue. It is nowincluded in the Energy Union package as “an energydialogue with stakeholders to inform policy-makingand support active engagement in managing theenergy transition”.

In summary the Energy Dialogue will be a long-term,continuous, education, engagement and actionprogramme, nationally delivered but Europeaninspired. It will be a structured, multi-level‘conversation’ within and across all member statesencouraging practical action and having a measurableinfluence on energy policy-making and, bystimulating convergence at EU level, integrating withthe post-2020 energy and climate framework. It willshow how the inevitable rise in energy costs can bereduced and shared, and how the necessary onetrillion euros investment in energy infrastructure canbe most effectively secured and applied.

We need to get vocal support from consumers tosmooth the path to achieving what are challengingtargets. By connecting to people's lives and concernsan Energy Dialogue-supported governance processwill help bring the Energy Union in tune with citizens'expectations. It will secure an understanding of energychallenges and trade-offs and improve acceptabilityand trust.

This sort of Dialogue is a key outreach activity whichtranslates into ordinary language the market and thepolicy software and enables consumers to interact onit with policy-makers. – not least by demonstrating thecapacity to listen to and involve stakeholders, thusreducing societal blockages to regulatory and policymeasures and potentially supporting changes inbehaviours and attitudes as well as engagement bycitizens.

In reality we know that political costs sit alongside thefinancial costs of energy transition. The Dialogue willreduce the long-term political cost by providing aplace where stakeholders such as local municipalauthorities are involved in designing energy transitionthat is forward-looking and pragmatic.

Contact: Mark Bramah, Director of APSE Energy for moreinformation about this topic.

APSE Energy is a local authority energy collaborationpartnership developed by our member authoritieswhich looks to leverage and maximise theopportunities afforded to local authorities by workingtogether on a national scale in the green energyagenda. See the APSE Energy area on the APSE websitewww.apse.org.uk

NEW Backsense™

Everything you

expect from a

premium obstacle

detection radar...

...except the price

brigade-electronics.comCall 01322 420300 or visit your stockist

Backsense™ is a new affordable radar system from Brigade designed to help reduce collisions in tough working environments. It offers a controlled beam pattern that ensures targeted detection

with fewer false alerts than alternative radar systems. Available in 3 fixed-length models and a fully configurable version

for bespoke detection zones of up to 30m length.

ALL NEW radar. Built by Brigade.

direct news

Within our APSE membership we are proud tosupport the managers at the coalface ofrefuse and recycling services. With austeritymeasures hitting many council budgetsfrontline services like refuse and recycling

can often be asked to make savings, efficiency gains, orimprovements in productivity, to smooth council finances.That is why we regularly undertake surveys amongst ourlocal authority managers to enable us to compare results,identify trends and see what areas our members areprioritising. Our 2015 State of the Market survey confirms,unsurprisingly, that there is a delicate balance to be hadbetween meeting the financial pressures and publicexpectations alongside managing environmentalsustainability.

Our latest survey results suggest that the shift from residualwaste to recycling has become normalised by both councilsand residents, with a growing recognition that we cannotstep backwards on recycling. This is supported by thegrowth figures in recycling activity in APSE’s performancenetworks data and the positive upward trend in recyclingidentified in previous State of the Market surveys. Theheadline results suggest that all responding authorities nowrecycle paper, card and plastics, almost all recycle glass andcans, 92% green waste, 49% food waste, 47% batteries and21% bulbs. A total of 43% of respondents in this year'ssurvey expect increases in recycling of further materials,such as textiles, in the near future, although previous APSEperformance networks benchmarking groups haveexperienced dips in textile collections due to the prevalenceof ‘charity bag’ household collections.

Respondents also felt that residents have a growingunderstanding of what can go into recycling bins; this issignificantly down to the education campaigns on recyclingundertaken by councils. Leaflets to householders were themost popular means of promoting recycling identified bysurvey respondents, with 88% using this method, along with72% using both council-wide campaigns and educationalvisits to schools. While less than 14% currently useenforcement notices as a way to promote recycling, whenasked their opinions on enforcement, 78% said theyconsider this effective however given the risk of adversemedia attention on council enforcement measures oncompliance issues it may not indicate a willingness toexpand enforcement activity anytime soon.

Better recycling rates are coupled with less frequentcollections and again this is supported through APSEPerformance Networks data with less residual waste nowgoing to landfill in most authorities. As recycling becomesthe norm, this can benefit councils' bottom lines as well ashelping fulfil their environmental sustainability aims. Thevast majority of respondents in APSE's latest survey reportedthat an emphasis on recycling is accompanied by lessfrequent collection of residual waste. Three quarters ofresponding authorities now collect residual waste on analternate weekly basis. As alternate weekly residual wastecollections become commonplace, the survey indicates thatwe can expect more councils currently collecting on aweekly basis to move to alternate weekly collections. Somesurvey respondents said moves to three or four weeklycollections may happen in their areas over the next twoyears.

The current recycling rates and the moves towards alternateweekly collections appears to make sense as more and morematerials are recycled. This is helping councils respond tobudgetary pressures through rationalisation of routes whichis again a popular service improvement measure amongstservice managers. However key to the issue of changes tocollection frequencies is effective communication withresidents. While some council tax payers were originallyconcerned about less frequent collections, authorities havenow shown that it can work. Food was identified as an areaof concern among residents when alternate weeklycollections were first introduced and, in authorities thatcollect food waste, the majority continue do so on a weeklybasis. Other recyclables are collected on an alternate weeklybasis in the majority of cases and, as a wider range ofmaterials can mean lower volumes of certain types, it makessense that some respondents said they are moving towardscollecting these every three or four weeks. Service providershave their work cut out however, in terms of ensuring thatless frequent collection does not discourage householdersfrom recycling.

Maintaining the quantity and quality of recyclables isincreasingly a concern amongst service managers. Whilstincreased supply has led to drops in value of materials, thisalso means that collecting sufficient quantity and quality ofrecyclates is increasingly important and a further pressuemay be from reduced material weights for certain recyclatessuch as glass bottles and newspapers which have droppedin both weight and volume terms.

State of the Market Report:Local authority refuse andrecycling servicesAPSE Principal Advisor for the Environment, Wayne Priestley, highlights theresults of the latest state of the market survey on local authority refuseservices

18

March / April 2015 19

A confident 89% of survey respondents said they haverecently reviewed their waste and recycling and believetheir services are compliant with the new Waste Directive,including the TEEP requirements, though 5% of respondentsin our survey identified a need to amend their collectionmethods the overall picture was one where current methodsappear to satisfy the new TEEP criteria.

Budgetary pressures look set to continue for refusecollection, despite being a statutory and highly visible front-line service. Almost 80% of managers in our previous Stateof the Market survey expected their budget to change, withmore than one in three expecting a decrease in capital and66% expecting a decrease in revenue. Expectations seems tohave remained almost static this time round, with a total of77% of respondents in our latest survey expecting theirbudget to change over the next year, with one in threeexpecting decreases in capital and 56% decreases inrevenue. Some 17% of this year's respondents expectdecreases of up to 5%; 11% up to 10%; 20% expectdecreases of up to 15%; and 26% expect decreases of up to20%. While only one authority taking part expecteddecreases of more than 20%, 14% expect increases by up to10% and almost 9% by up to 5%.

The view on staffing levels remains pessimistic this year, with32% of respondents expecting voluntary redundancies and8% compulsory redundancies within the next 12 months,with 38% anticipating staff losses through natural wastageand 10% a recruitment freeze. Last time round, 26% of our

survey respondents expected voluntary redundancies, 12%compulsory redundancy, 40% expected natural wastageand 17% a recruitment freeze. Previous survey results dosuggest that large scale cuts to staffing have in fact alreadyoccurred in the service over a number of years.

Councils do not appear to have stopped on the continuousimprovement journey with 36% completing a service reviewand 50% have one currently underway. 87% are looking atroute optimisation and 80% are exploring vehicle utilisation,with 63% looking to redesign their service. Incomegeneration also features strongly with 92% of respondentauthorities now charging for bulky waste collection and 72%for trade waste collections to schools and hospitals, 94% sellrecycling materials and 12% earn income from renewableenergy. Nearly a quarter of respondents said their servicecould not manage financially without generating additionalincome.

APSE State of the Market surveys offer useful insights intoways in which services are responding to challenges theyface. Our latest poll shows that recycling, less frequentcollections and an emphasis on efficiency and incomegeneration have become 'the new normal' for refusecollection - and effective communication remainsparamount to all of this.

Contact: Wayne Priestley is APSE's principal advisor forenvironmental services. For further information, email:wpriestly@apse.org.uk

direct news

With demand increasing in frontline serviceshow we manage that demand in thefuture is becoming ever more critical forcouncils who are struggling to meet arising tide of demand against a backdrop

of budget reductions. How can we reduce thatdemand without having an adverse impact onservices? And are public services using all the tools andtechniques at their disposal to manage demand moreeffectively? These questions will hopefully beanswered through a new piece of research whichAPSE has commissioned from NLGN who willundertake a high level research project on howcouncils can manage demand for place based servicessuch as:• waste and recycling

• street scene and the public realm

• leisure and parks

As part of this work the research team will exploreevidence from local authorities so that they canexplore the different ways that councils can ‘managedemand’ for services at a time when funding for theseservices is coming under intense pressure.

The project will not simply look at straightforwarddemand reduction in terms of limiting the servicesthat councils provide but will look at how avoidable,preventable and excess demand for some services,such as high volumes of household waste, can bereduced through behaviour change and serviceredesign; and how some forms of co-production andnew relationships with citizens and businesses canmeet demands which are not avoidable, such asupkeep of parks and roads, in alternative ways.

The research will focus on the use of strategies formanaging demand including conventional economicincentives and regulation; behavioural science relatednudges and the use of social norms; and ways councilsare focussing on community led responses to localproblems.

Many of these approaches obviously have a cost-benefit for councils, but also have potentiallyimportant long term benefits for society in terms ofreducing climate change and increasing communityresilience.

The research will explore:-

• The use of incentives (reward points, rate reductions)to discourage behaviour such as littering andencourage behaviours such as recycling.

• The use of punitive measures such as fines or local by-laws to ban unsocial behaviours.

• The use of social norms and other insights frombehavioural economics (such as changing defaults orusing prompts) to encourage individual behaviourssuch as recycling or safe collection of dog foul toreduce demand for services such as waste processingand street cleaning.

• The use of social norms, citizen-led change and co-production strategies to encourage social behavioursthat involve citizens taking greater responsibility fortheir local street scene and environment, meaning thatdemand need not be met by the state. Examples of thismight include ‘Snow Angel’ schemes where residentsplay a role gritting their local streets in the winter.

Following the research APSE will look to launch a seriesof tools and helpful events to explore these issues inmore detail and share best practice and workableapproaches to use ‘Nudge, Budge, Reduce’ as apathway to reducing or managing demand differentlyin a local authority context. If you are interested ingetting involved in this work area with APSE pleaseemail Mo Baines on mbaines@apse.org.uk

Contact: mbaines@apse.org.uk

Nudge, budge, reduce: newstrategies for managing thepublic realm

20

Waste Management

contactus@yotta.co.uk

www.yotta.co.uk/mayrise

01926 319 600

®

Symology

Highway Asset Management & Street Works Management Solutions

Another cleansweep for the bestin the businessProducing fewer CO2 and NOxemissions than any other sweepercurrently available, the SchmidtEuro 6 Swingo proudly boasts thecleanest engine on the market. Call us now to arrange your freedemonstration on 01733 363391.

Aebi Schmidt UK Ltd Southgate Way,

Orton Southgate, Peterborough PE2 6GP

Service 01733 363400 • Parts 01733 363363

SWEEPING

01733 363391

www.aebi-schmidt.co.uk

Keep in touch with local authority suppliers...

direct news

Thursday 14 May 2015 at Elstree Studios, London

AAPPSSEE SSoocciiaall mmeeddiiaa sseemmiinnaarr 22001155 A seminar examining practical applications of Social Media in Local Authorities including

seminars

• Parks Services• Highways and Winter

Maintenance• Waste awareness

• Flood response• Public Health• Democratic Engagement

• Customer Services • Business Intelligence

Bookings are now being taken!

Reserve your place or view the full seminar brochure at

www.apse.org.uk

March / April 2015 23

Moving on to pastures newA huge thank you to Mike Young who is currently APSE performance networks IT and Research Officer.

Mike has worked on a number of projects for APSE performance networks and has been a tremendous help indeveloping new areas such as the Land Audit Management System and quarterly Building Maintenance datacollection. He will be missed by all the team and we are sure by our performance networks members too. Mikehas taken on a great new role at Manchester University helping in the development of the Trauma Audit andResearch Network. We wish Mike every success in his new role.

Welcome to RebeccaWe are delighted to welcome to the performance networks team our new Data Processing and Analysis Officer,Rebecca Monaghan. Rebecca joins APSE following a career in teaching mathematics and will be working on ourstatistics and reporting service for our member authorities. Rebecca can be contacted alongside theperformance networks team on performance.networks@apse.org.uk

Welcome to Andy We are also delighted to welcome to the team Andy Derbyshire. Andy joins the performance networks team aftera career in financial services working with performance data and statistical analysis. His skills will be well utilisedin his new role as Performance Networks Officer which will mean Andy is heavily involved in report productionand responding to member authority queries and requests. Andy can be contacted onperformance.networks@apse.org.uk

Wayne’s world Our new APSE principal advisor for the APSE environmental suite of services is Wayne Priestley. Wayne will alsolook after APSE Wales. Wayne’s role will be acting as our Principal Advisor for APSE refuse and street cleansingadvisory group, APSE’s parks and ground maintenance advisory group and developing the new work stream ofCemeteries and Crematoria services. Wayne joins APSE following a long career in local government, mostrecently with Salford City Council. Wayne has already been involved in a number of environment related projectsincluding the development of the new Land Audit Management System known as LAMS. Wayne will beorganising the APSE Wales programme of advisory groups including Environmental Services and Highways,Housing and Building Maintenance and Soft FM services as well as the Wales programme of events including theAPSE Wales annual policy seminar and AGM. Wayne may be contacted on wpriestley@apse.org.uk

APSE Briefings updateAll APSE briefings are availble for download from the APSE website - www.apse.org.uk

Ref Briefing title15-18 Scottish Government’s Consultation: The Climate Change Order 2015

15-17 An overview of local government in Scotland 2015

15-16 FlyMapper – a free reporting tool for local authorities to record and manage flytipping crime

15-15 State of the Market Survey 2015:Local Authority Street Cleansing Services

15-14 Public Procurement: A Consultation on Changes to the Public Procurement Rules in Scotland

APSE People pages

direct news

March and April proved busy months for APSE with a range ofconferences, meetings and advocacy activity on behalf of APSEmembers.

EnglandBig on Energy APSE’s 'Big Energy Summit' hosted over 100 delegates at Oulton HallLeeds with contributions from a range of high profile and internationalspeakers including DECC, Leeds University and the Renewable EnergyAssociation on 26 and 27 February.

Tidying up Britain for 50 Years!APSE Head of Communications Mo Baines addressed the Keep BritainTidy Annual Conference on issues of demand management in localgovernment. The conference also celebrated their jubilee year as anorganisation. Congratulations to Keep Britain Tidy on a splendid 50years!

Commercialisation Paul O’Brien spoke at a National conference on developing thecommercialisation agenda in local government. This was held inLondon on 19 March.

Housing needCllr John Kerr Brown, Paul O’Brien and Phil Brennan participated in around table on the research the TCPA are undertaking for APSE onfuture housing need. This was held in London on 3 March.

Looking to the futureThe chief executive represented APSE at the MJ futures forum on 26/27March in St Albans.

Natural Capital Paul O’Brien, APSE’s chief executive addressed a Green InfrastructurePartnership seminar in London during March which was supported byArup and launched the natural capital committee’s third report ‘Abreakthrough for green infrastructure?’. The event was organised by theTCPA

Deadly serious APSE will host a cemeteries and crematoria seminar at Chesford GrangeWarwick on the 17 April continuing the development of this servicearea at the request of our member authorities. The seminar will considerdevelopments and innovation as well as opportunities to generateincome from service innovation. Contact Keisha Swaby for details onkswaby@apse.org.uk

Welcome to our new membersWe are delighted to welcome into APSE membership a number of newauthorities; South Derbyshire District Council, Selby District Council,Warwick District Council, The London Borough of Barking andDagenham and the London Borough of Camden. All the team at APSE

are looking forward to working with you on the journey to publicservice excellence.

WalesUpcoming meetingsAPSE’s new principal advisor for Wales is busy organising a series ofbespoke Wales Advisory Groups for spring. The APSE Wales Cateringand Cleaning Group will be hosted in the Media Resource CentreLLandrindod Wells on the 23 April whilst the APSE Wales EnvironmentalServices and Highways Advisory Groups will be held on the 24 April,again at the Media Resource Centre, Llandridnod Wells.

For any up and coming Wales matters or to get involved in APSE Walesplease contact Wayne on wpriestley@apse.org.uk

ScotlandBuilding for successThe APSE Scotland Housing, Building Maintenance and ClimateChange seminar was held in Dunblane on 12 and 13 February and theevent featured a panel of political speakers from across the politicalspectrum in Scotland. This event also played host to the BuildingApprentice awards for Scotland.

Future role of elected membersAPSE Scotland held a fringe at the recent Labour Party Conferencewhich took place in Edinburgh on Saturday 7th March. The topic focuswas our recent publication on the “Future role of elected members inScotland” and speakers on the day included Neil Bibby MSP forScotland West and Jayne Baxter MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, as wellas Professor Steve Griggs of De Montfort University and Paul O’Brien,Chief Executive of APSE. The fringe was Chaired by Cllr Jim Docherty,Chair of APSE Scotland and elected member within South LanarkshireCouncil. The fringe was extremely well attended with over 60participating on the day and a number of interesting and thoughtprovoking questions were asked of our speakers.

Setting the agendaAPSE’s Chief Executive, Paul O’Brien and Louise McMillan, PrincipalAdvisor for Scotland attended the recent Cosla/ Improvement Serviceannual dinner and awards on Thursday 12th March with colleaguesfrom Zero Waste Scotland including their Chief Executive, Iain Gulland.

Northern IrelandDawn of a new era and time tocelebrate the past The new Northern Ireland authorities come into being on the 1 Aprilafter years in the planning and APSE hopes to welcome all the newauthorities into APSE. But it is only fitting that we pay tribute to all theelected members and officers, past and present who have workedtirelessly for their communities in Northern Ireland, through good timesand bad, to support local services in the community.

Report backA round up of APSE advocacy and events on behalf of our members

24

March / April 2015 25

direct news

Events diaryDate Event Location

15 – April Supervisory Skills Frontline Services Manchester

15 April Housing AG (Building Maintenance) Manchester

16 April Principles of contract management Birmingham

17 April Cemeteries and Crematoria Seminar Warwick

17 April Event Management Birmingham

21 April Leisure Advisory Group Manchester

22 April Vehicle Maintenance and Repairs supervisory skills Central London

23 April Health and Safety - Working on the Highway and Verges Central London

24 April Catering Advisory Group Manchester

24 April Scottish Building & Housing Advisory Group meeting

27 April Identifying Damp, timber mould & structural problems Glasgow

29 April CHAMPS2 Business Change Management Manchester

29 April Scottish Renewables & Energy Efficiency Advisory Group meeting Aberdeen

30 April Cleaning Advisory Group Manchester

06 May Renewables Advisory Group Manchester

11 May Managing Allotments Stafford

12 May Controlling Food Costs Central London

13 May Highways Advisory Group Manchester

14 May Principles of contract management Manchester

15 May Health and Safety in Waste and Environmental Services Edinburgh

18 May Awareness of drugs and alcohol for managers and supervisors Glasgow

19 May Gas Safety Awareness (for frontline staff ) Manchester

20 May CHAMPS2 Business Change Management Cardiff

21 May Health and safety in Waste and environmental services for managers Wolverhampton

22 May Using Volunteers? What local authorities need to know Gedling

3 June CHAMPS2 Business Change Management Central London

5 June Health and Safety - Working on the Highway and Verges Glasgow

8 June CHAMPS2 Business Change Management Edinburgh

10 June Service Improvement advisory group Manchester

23 June Leisure Advisory group Manchester

25 June Building Cleaning advisory group Manchester

1 July Housing Advisory Group Manchester

3 July Catering Advisory Group Manchester

2 - 3 September APSE Annual Seminar and Service Awards 2015 Swansea

26

FOR PICTURE-PERFECT STREETS

The new CF is so much more than just a beautiful truck. DAF knows which

other requirements a modern refuse collector has to meet: maximum reliability

and durability and low operating cost. A range of options to efficiently drive the

superstructure and systems. An ultra-clean Euro 6 engine, obviously connected to

a fully automatic transmission. And, of course, a steered leading axle at the rear for

extra payload and maximum yard friendliness. Discover the versatility of the CF series

at your DAF dealer or visit www.daf.co.uk

DRIVEN BY QUALITY

TRUCKS | PARTS | FINANCE WWW.DAF.CO.UK