The majority of local authorities are adopting ‘grow your own’ schemes to tackle the skills shortage, with overwhelmingly-positive results.
A Surveyor questionnaire of highway authorities across the UK revealed that three-quarters of respondents had experienced difficulties in recruiting transport planners and traffic engineers over the past 12 months. More than 70% had responded proactively to recruitment problems by ‘growing their own’ staff, while four others had provided training for existing staff to prepare them for higher positions. Two councils – Lincolnshire and Sutton – are looking at establishing their own schemes.
All councils had experienced positive results from their schemes, with many reporting career progression among candidates. Some suggested their schemes were benefiting from the economic downturn.
Kent said it had ‘several successful engineers because of this approach’, and Cambridgeshire said ‘all have proved to be excellent and many are still with us’. Devon said the recession had attracted more interest, while Cardiff said its scheme bred loyalty among the trainees. Sandwell has had nine trainees over the last six years, and encouraged administrative staff to fill technical positions. The scheme proved particularly successful in encouraging women into engineering posts. Two of the nine trainees left, but the authority viewed this as its contribution to the national pool of engineers.
West Berkshire warned that engineers could be poached by private engineers, once trained at the council’s expense, ‘but this is less likely to happen in the current climate’. However, Bexley, while reporting ‘positive results, in terms of meeting long-term needs’, said this had been ‘time consuming for existing staff’.
Most councils which were growing their own were taking on one or two trainees a year, and providing the training through a mix of on-the-job instruction and day-release to courses, allowing the trainees to get qualifications ranging from HNCs to MsCs. Cardiff council, however, has a dozen trainees at present, posted across a range of disciplines, including planning, engineering, and project management, while Ealing council currently has six trainee positions in total.
Of the councils not growing their own, Darren Richards, at Sutton, said his section was predominantly funded by fees relating to scheme feasibility, design, consultation and implementation, and therefore, ‘engineers joining the department need to hit the ground running’. He added: ‘Unfortunately, we don’t have any staff or financial capability to put into training and mentoring. This is a “Catch 22” situation.’
Greenwich had three graduate trainees in the 1990s, but budget considerations and its inability to provide training had led to a decision to cease the programme.
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