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HALTON BOROUGH COUNCIL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

Management Development (link)

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HALTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

MARCH 2003

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HALTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 This report sets out the background and findings of a review of management development needs within the Council, that was undertaken by a cross Directorate working group established in November last year. The accompanying action plan is designed to complement the work of other review groups who have recently been focusing on performance management, internal communications, and the development of a human resource strategy for the Council.

2. RECOMMENDED That

(1) The report and accompanying action plan be adopted(2)(3) The corporate staff development group be given responsibility for

developing and implementing the plan(4) Further reports are made on the resourcing and procurement of

the training programme.

3. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

3.1 The review group was established specifically to:-

Undertake an analysis of the current arrangements for management development in the Council

Look at best practice within the authority and similar organisations Refine the vision, identify objectives and produce a strategy to achieve

these objectives Produce an action plan

In addition to these areas of work the group were asked to consider, as a priority, best practice in the areas of change management, project management and service planning & performance management.

3.2 The groups work has involved:-

Identifying what the Council does/how it does it in the context of management development (cross directorate review)

Collation of Corporate Strategies/Plans relating to staff/management development

Collation of Directorate Training Plans/Statements

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Identification of the framework used by each Directorate for meeting identifiable training and development needs

A questionnaire survey of managers (down to tier 3), and follow up interviews with selected managers, concerning the Council’s current arrangements for developing its managers.

A questionnaire survey of managers (down to tier 3) designed to identify best practice in the use of project management systems

3.3 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (KMBC) have also contributed to the work of the group. They focused on the Management Development programme leading to an MSc in Management, being offered to Knowsley’s managers, in conjunction with Manchester Metropolitan University. KMBC have indicated a willingness to explore options for a joint programme in the event Halton Borough Council chooses to extend its training provision to this level. This type of partnership working is identified as an outcome in the HR Strategy.

3.4 The IDeA was engaged to undertake an analysis of the research findings (See Appendix I), and to assist in producing a draft action plan (See Appendix II).

3.5 Specific proposals for addressing best practice in project management are detailed in Appendix III. This was identified as an immediate priority to achieve high ratings in the various inspection regimes that are relevant to all Councils. The service planning and performance management priority has largely been covered by the performance management review group. Change management skills will inevitably be addressed as part of the Leadership skills training identified below.

4. PRINCIPAL OUTCOMES

4.1 The key managerial development areas that emerged out of the work undertaken by the group are:-

Strategic awareness – the ability to understand the big picture Leadership skills – encouraging and managing change Management skills – skills associated with managing people and

performance Technical skills – an understanding of the skills, knowledge, tools and

techniques associated with delivering effective services and managing projects

4.2 The group acknowledges that corporate training at an introductory level for supervisors, and for managers up to NVQ Level III is currently well catered for. Some Directorates have also developed their own management development programmes in response to specific service needs. What is lacking, however, is a corporate approach to identifying and addressing the skills and attributes that the Council is seeking to develop in its managers at all levels across the organisation. The IDeA competency framework serves as a useful starting point for identifying competencies at different levels of the

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organisation and can be used to identify gaps in key skills, behaviours and values which drive performance.

4.3 Examples from other local authorities that have developed their own competency frameworks, based on the IDeA model, and other models covering change management, project management etc are available as best practice reference documents.

4.4 The work undertaken by other review groups that have been looking into internal communications, performance management and the human resource strategy, clearly complement the work of this group. It is important, therefore, that the reviews are not considered in isolation and that the collective findings are ‘joined up’ and presented as a cohesive strategy.

5. HOW WILL WE DO IT? 5.1 The action plan at Appendix II sets out a series of outcomes and the actions,

timescales and lead responsibilities for actioning each outcome. Consideration may, therefore, have to be given to appointing an external consultant to assist in developing the plan if sufficient resources cannot be identified in-house. This will become critical to the identified priority around project management training. In developing the plan, further consideration will need to be given to the procurement options for the training programme itself. The options range from extending the in-house team to contracting with external providers. The possibility of joint procurement with neighbouring authorities, or other major local employers also needs to be explored.

5.2 In addition to provision of appropriate staff resources, the identification of relevant financial resources will also be critical to the delivery of the development programme.

6. MAKING SURE IT HAPPENS

6.1 The premise on which the management development review group set about its task was that when their work was completed, the group would disband and it would be for others to deliver and monitor the implementation of the resultant action plan. The Chair of the Corporate Staff Development Group (CSDG) has been approached and has agreed to a proposal that the Group takes on an expanded role to oversee and monitor implementation of, not only the management development action plan. It is acknowledged that the membership of the group would need to be changed and adapted to reflect its new and extended role. The involvement of the Chair of the CSDG, as a member of the corporate Management Team, will also give added value and impetus to the management development training programme.

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7. OTHER ISSUES

Corporate Training Centre

7.1 Throughout the review, we were mindful of the need to reflect at some point on the role of the new Corporate Staff Training Centre that has recently opened in Victoria Square, Widnes. The opening of the Centre provides a timely opportunity for the Council to take stock of its corporate training arrangements and to consider whether the pooling of training resources, that currently reside in other Directorates, within a centralised structure, would benefit the Councils ability to better identify, co-ordinate and deliver corporate training.

7.2 A Best Value review of Corporate Services (including Training Services) is approaching its final stages. Pending the outcome of the Best Value review, the management review group have made the assumption that the corporate training function will have been explored in a broader context. Notwithstanding this, further consideration may still need to be given to identifying the effectiveness of the existing delivery arrangements.

Communicating the Strategy

7.3 Reference has already been made to the need to present a joined up strategy that reflects not only the work of this group, but also the work of the other review groups. Against this background it is proposed that the Public Relations team in conjunction with the Personnel Manager and Senior Personnel Officer develop a programme for disseminating the strategy to staff. This will ensure that Members and Officers understand and own the strategy.

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APPENDIX I

Developing and Growing our Own ManagersAction Plan for a Management Development Strategy for Halton Borough

Council

PurposeThe purpose of the action plan is to provide an implementation route for ensuring that all managers within the Council are equipped with the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours necessary to confidently manage change, and deliver innovative services to the standards of a ‘high performing authority’.

This action plan has been drawn up in accordance with Halton’s vision as outlined in the Corporate Plan. It will ensure that all staff have the required skills and competencies to support the delivery of the Corporate Plan and its objectives, and to support the principles of Best Value, Investors in People and the core values of the Government’s White Paper ‘Strong Local Leadership – Quality Public Services’.

ContextHalton Borough Council (HBC) has had a traditionally proactive approach to training and development. This action plan recognises the investment the Council has made in this area, but takes into account that the IDeA’s peer review process of the Local Government Improvement Programme (LGIP) highlighted some areas for improvement in relation to people and management development.

A cross-directorate group, chaired by Maggie Mooney, Operational Director – Student Services and Lifelong Learning, was created to undertake a management development review. Latterly, Dave Owen, Business Development Manager, has chaired the Group. The Management Development Review Group’s approach was akin to the best value 4C’s methodology, though it was never intended to be a full best value review. Nevertheless, it has made significant inroads into assessing the future of management development through use of various diagnostic tools such as questionnaires, desk research and interviews.

In addition to maintaining specialised professional knowledge, the group’s evidence base has emphasised that Halton’s managers will need:

Strategic awareness – the ability to understand the big picture and long term future, anticipate policy and market developments, deal with them pro-actively by designing strategies to meet them and/or influencing the sector’s thinking

Leadership skills – encouraging and managing change with confidence, managing and developing the vision and aspirations of the Council, developing organisational culture, seeking to develop relationships with political leaders, and building alliances with other organisations

Management skills – demonstrating effective communication skills, interpersonal skills, report writing, and ability to motivate staff, developing successful teams, managing performance

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Technical skills – recognising new uses of technology, use of performance data, understanding and application of involvement methodologies, awareness of risk management, contract/procurement management, project management, and general financial and budgetary competencies.

The role of the IDeAThe IDeA was commissioned to act as a ‘critical friend’, providing an independent and objective critique of the review, and to generate a draft action plan that the Management Development Review Group and the Council could develop and drive forward itself. This role was undertaken by Ruby Dixon, Assistant Director, Solutions.

Our approachThe Council wants to continue the development of its managers. The challenge is about how to use limited resources to gain maximum benefits. The review so far has attempted to elicit issues such as cost-effectiveness, responsiveness and quality of approach needed for ‘growing Halton managers’, In this respect, the Council can successfully re-invent itself and its culture in the way it develops existing and future managers.

With this in mind, the IDeA undertook a documentary review of outputs from the review, and held discussions with the Management Development Review Group, in a meeting on 8th January 2003. This injected challenge by asking questions on emergent issues and outputs, and by drafting an action plan.

ConclusionsIn its deliberations and review of what sort of management development function is needed, the review team has raised all the pertinent issues needed to allow for a first class approach to developing its managers. Nevertheless, some emerging issues will still need to be addressed, in particular around on-going staff involvement.

The diagnostic events have implicitly allowed for some ‘buy in’ through some internal stakeholders comments and suggestions of new ideas to old problems. Against a backdrop of dynamic local government change, some training and development blockages may seem tough to crack – these are evident in views expressed, such as ‘training costs a lot and we don’t know if its paying off’, ‘I’m so busy I haven’t got the time to attend training’, and ‘I’ll know what good training is when I see it’.

These difficulties are not insurmountable, however, there needs to be ownership for any new proposals and in particular the Council’s senior management team will need to ‘champion the cause’ and lead by example. The IDeA outlined the ‘top 5’five critical success factors - in others words, the five most pressing issues that the Council and its senior managers will need to resolve before it can realise a successful management development strategy.

1. Ensuring best fit, and that any future provision is strategically aligned to the existing and future needs of the Council, the EDR process, departmental training plans, and the principles of Investors in People.

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2. Ensuring that the ‘development’ in training and development is fully understood, in other word training should not be seen as episodic, one-off events that are remote from the immediate pressures facing managers and their day job. (e.g. managing limited budgets, managing poor performance, building alliances and partnerships with other sectors). Equally, the management development strategy should clarify the role of the manager in developing and coaching staff.

3. Ensuring that there is clarity of centralised and decentralised responsibilities to development, which exploit economies of scale. This involves identifying those issues which cut across all departments and would be better delivered/co-ordinated corporately e.g. core values. What is best delivered through external providers? Is it appropriate for budgets to be devolved?

4. Ensuring that management development activities are flexible, and meet (individual and organisational) learning needs, to empower (rather than coerce) managers to work in an inter-departmental manner.

5. Developing ways of not spreading resources too thinly. This may involve an assessment of whether accreditation is an appropriate way forward, or whether more use of the Management Charter Initiative can be made, what resources are available for training other groups (statutory, induction, service reviews), asking whether better use can be made of intranets/open learning resource library etc

Halton needs to work towards an overall programme that offers different routes to achieving skills in each of these areas. The action plan responds to the key success factors, but is also based upon a recognition that the Council needs a programme that:

1. Ensures the best possible delivery to customers and stakeholders, so that they ‘notice and feel the difference’

2. Enables managers to choose the development routes appropriate to their current experience and responsibilities, business needs, and personal needs and aspirations

3. Recognises and value different learning styles, including e-learning4. Satisfies the needs of those managers who wish to gain formal qualifications and

accreditation5. Offers opportunities for managers to build relationships with key partners whilst at

the same time developing their skills6. Allows the Borough Council to ‘grow its own managers’, to recruit, retain and

support high quality talent7. Enables managers to promote equality of opportunity and the value diversity of its

residents and communities.

The first step is to ensure that any management development initiatives are linked back to the corporate vision, and complements:

Modernisation agenda for local government

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National professional associations and national Human Resource M initiatives (e.g. IIP)

Council and Community Plans Human Resource Management Strategy Performance management/appraisal framework Rising public/customer expectations Developments in new technology and e-government targets Available human and financial resources (in house, and access to external

resources).

The action plan (presented in a separate twin document) deals with each of the building blocks and offers ways forward.

Resourcing the action planBecause the competency of managers is critical to the Council’s ability to deliver on its key priorities, it is essential that resources are allocated and prioritised in line with corporate priorities. In particular, this will require departments to provide opportunities for managers – through a fair and transparent process - to access the development that they need.

All of the above must be viewed in the context of the on-going decision of opening a new Corporate Training Centre this year, as well as resolving issues around the related staffing and growing remit of the training section. Whilst some directorates may be ‘up to speed’ (Social Care, Housing and Health Directorate) careful consideration is needed of how good practice is disseminated and implemented across the whole authority, (Worksteam 10 of the action plan refers).

The current corporate training budget is circa £250k. This alone will not be sufficient to fund an effective management development programme. It is important to note here that in spite of the five-fold increase in the numbers of staff employed by the authority following local government re-organisation in 1998, there has been no corresponding increase in the corporate training budget. Equally there has been no corresponding increase in the staffing levels within the corporate training section.

Additional funding will, therefore, need to be sourced. This may be possible from within existing departmental budgets. The Group has not been able to identify the current level of spending on training by Directorates which is additional to that provided by the corporate budget. Potentially, however, it offers a sizeable resource and, if pooled and managed corporately, could assist in implementing a programme for developing managerial skills within the authority.

It is acknowledged that elements of the Social Services and Education budgets include grants specifically designated for staff training and it is not proposed that these should be included in any pooled training resource arrangements that may follow.

From the IDeA’s experience and national perspective, a comparative benchmark indicates that for a similarly-profiled local authority, the total funding required for manager development would typically amount to 27% of the total budgets allocated to training by individual departments.

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APPENDIX II

AimCreating a Management Development Strategy, supported by training and development programmes, that anticipates the needs of the Council in a dynamic period of unprecedented change, and provides staff with relevant, high quality, cost-effective, needs-driven, development and support opportunities (and responding to a variety of different learning techniques)

Outcome required Action Priority(High, Med, Low)

Timescale Lead Responsibility

Budget ?

1. Links to corporate agendaPromoting ‘capacity to manage change’Having finished the diagnostic, draft the Management Development Strategy, by marrying the outcomes of the review fieldwork to the corporate context

1.1 Review corporate priorities and challenges, organisational systems/standards, Corporate BV, Performance Management framework

1.2 Produce draft strategy and seek input from key stakeholders, including elected members using varied involvement techniques (team meetings, focus groups, e-survey)

1.3 Publicise the emerging strategy internally, and link to channels that will help you distribute the final strategy

High Urgent – to be completed by end of May 2003

Corporate Staff Development Group Chair and Personnel Manager

2. Establish modular deliveryWork on possible format and content of the Management Development Programme

2.1 Produce a checklist of desired content and linkage, e.g.

(a) Taking Halton Borough Council Forward; (fit with CPA, corporate priorities, community leadership, diversity and equalities, budget management)

(b) Taking Services Forward (Best value

High By end of June 2003

Corporate Staff Development Group Chair, with Personnel Manager and Training Manager

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reviews, customer focus, equity, service improvement, team work, project management, e-government)

(c)Taking People Forward (styles, motivation, coaching, equalities)

Establish range of ‘fit for purpose’ development opportunities

2.2 Explore how the programme content can be supported, and how different learning styles can be satisfied, e.g.360 tools, Development Centre, Transformational Leadership Questionnaires, coaching, mentoring, live case studies and vocational projects, action learning sets, shadowing and job rotations, intranet & pooled learning, external programmes and conferences, self managed and remote e-learning.

High By end of June 2003

Personnel Manager and Training Manager

Clarify the role of the Training Section

2.3 Assess and clarify role you want the Training Section to play – will it be a direct provider of in-house provision, or will it manage and co-ordinate training and development opportunities provided by externals?

2.4 This may require further work on the cost of training per head, take up, effectiveness of current arrangements, resource and risk assessment with growing remit but no growth of the Section.

High By end of June 2003

3. Consultation and communicationInternal – on goingProgramme of communication and consultation with staff and elected members to ‘get buy in’

3.1Actions 1 and 2 above should also be linked to a communications plan for internal communication and consultation –e.g. features in staff intranet, team days, Directorate meetings, staff

High By end of June 2003

Head of Public Relations

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newsletter, bulletin boards etc

3.2 Clarify the role of those involved in training and development across the Council and create a mechanism to co-ordinate their activities and experience

3.3 Develop pilot/mock up shared database and process-map on how to access training & development opportunities, seek feedback & refine

Medium

Medium

Training Section

Training Section, working with Directorates

4. Equality-proofingEqualities mainstreamed into Management Development Strategy and process

4.1 Build in equalities as part of the initial strategy criteria and programme content (e.g. link to legislation and policy such as RR(A)A, DDA, EOA, Community Cohesion).

4.2 Incorporate equalities into key performance indicators, including targeting, take up, design, planning and budget)

High By end of May 2003

Corporate Staff Development Group Chair and Operational Directors

5. Develop overall competency frameworkHaving identified key areas, and approach, develop competency framework of expected competencies, skills and behaviours

(You have already started the process by reviewing competency frameworks from other organisations such as Ipswich Council and the IDeA)

5.1 Identify an independent external consultant who can help with this

5.2 Engage all tiers of the council, including managers, front-line staff, and members in developing the competencies areas, appraisal & performance management process, job roles and accreditation for progression at each level

5.3 Finalise the Competency Framework, and roll out with workshops, handbooks, competency framework folders and

High By July 2003 Personnel Manager, with support of Corporate Staff Development Group Chair

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process maps

6. Launch the Management Development StrategyLaunching the Management Development Strategy

6.1 Roll out messages and tools that clearly explain the rationale of the Strategy and programme (e.g. preparing managers for change management, recruiting and retaining the best, growing your own managers) including development work on assessment of competencies (performance management and appraisal framework). This should include messages about target groups, access, what’s expected, outcomes, workloads, support)

6.2 Have a launch conference, attended by managers who are likely to have be targeted by the programme, with speakers, MD strategy pack etc

Medium By September 2003

Corporate Public Relations Team

7. Delivering the programmeEstablish who is going to delivery, and do it well

7.1 Who key internal contacts and deliverers, and work teams (including any external consultants, sub-contractors etc)?

7.2 Logistics forward planning: where will the programmes be delivered? Cognitive environment, support materials, refreshments, access to transport, accessibility of venues etc (this may be the Open Learning Centre)

7.3 Produce a forward planning calendar of programme sessions/activities/assignment deadlines and other required logistics, deliverers, with early warning reminders and triggers

Medium By end of August 2003

Training Section

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8. Follow up and personal Action/Development PlansEnsuring that participants of the management development programme take responsibility for their learning

8.1 Monitoring what needs to happen for managers to ensure that their learning is mainstreamed into their day job. Ask what would make the difference? Is it more intensive 1-2-1 coaching? Self managed e-learning package that can be fitted between time and workload more flexibly?

Low Milestone points: but within 4-6 weeks of inaugural programme ( by end of October 2003)

Programme manager, supported by Personnel Manager and Training Section

9. Evaluation and monitoringDeveloping a culture and associated processes for evaluating management development initiatives during, and after, the life of an initiative, to understand how effective they have been and what learning can be gleaned when planning for future projects

9.1 Produce a pack of core performance indicators for management development (e.g. information targeting take up: number of participants, completion rates per module, flexible alternative timings, learning styles accommodated for, range of delivery mechanisms used utilised, cost per capita, cost per training hour, participant evaluation, cross reference with customer satisfaction ratings, staff satisfaction rating etc. Assess where this information is to be managed and located (e.g. Training Section?)

9.2 Ensure that systems to measure and report consultation performance data, are developed

9.3 Strengthen the Council’s networking links with sector and education institutions who have research capabilities on management development, to improve your access and research findings; latest managerial thinking, accreditation models

9.4 Using the core performance indicators assess the contribution and impact of

Medium By end of Dec 2003

Personnel Manager, and Operational Directors in conjunction with Operational Director – Policy & Performance

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MD Strategy and its activities, this may include cost/benefits analysis, assessment of value to CPD, perceptions of how its enhances career development, improved productivity, staff satisfaction, pace of organisational change

10. Knowledge captureBecome a learning organisation – one that learns from its own experiences, successful and otherwise, and from others

10.1 Continue to develop the benchmarking/comparison work as necessary (e.g. particularly in relation to evolving performance indicators, accreditation and partnership with other local authorities)

10.2 Develop programme of organisational raids/consultation observation visits to leading organisations and partners

10.3 Develop the intranet to share the tool kit, information on cross Council training and development projects, or a

10.4 Use IDeA’s Learning Pool to gain access to and to share learning programmes and tools with other local authorities electronically

10.5 Develop your programme of cross council lunchtime seminars, (this is an effective and low cost way of sharing learning, breaking down professional silos, and developing your own managers as trainers)

10.5 Set up mechanism to capture staff and

customer comments which may help you evaluate the effectiveness of the

Medium

Medium

Medium

Low

Medium

Medium

By Sept 2004 Personnel Manager, working with the Training Section

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programme (e.g. staff and customer consultation, suggestions from staff during team meetings, feedback on a day-to-day basis), so you can link your outcomes and learning from the Management Development strategy to your communications strategy, and the customer facing services

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APPENDIX III

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Background

Project Management training has been identified as a key management development priority within the authority. From the survey work undertaken, it has not been possible to identify any specific areas of best practice that could usefully be applied across the authority. That is not say that the techniques and methods of project management are not being applied, rather that there is a wide variation in the approaches being adopted.

In a few Services, Microsoft Project software (industry standard package) is being used as the driver for managing projects, whilst in others use of paper based systems is in evidence. As part of the survey, managers were also asked to comment on the extent to which Prince 2 – a project management framework – is being used. There was no evidence that Prince 2 has been adopted anywhere within the authority.

When asked whether providing training in project management would help in their work, managers responded with a resounding ‘yes.’ The general thrust of the comments and views in support of project management training stressed the importance of the need to adopt a corporate approach; keeping paperwork and bureaucracy to a minimum and standardising on methods used.

It is suggested that the option to utilise computer based packages as a vehicle for managing projects is an area that can be developed later. The over-riding priority at this stage is to establish a means whereby a project management approach to service delivery is embedded into the culture of the Council.

Delivery Options

The skills and resources to carry out such a programme are not currently available in-house. There are, however, a number of external suppliers who could provide the training. The content of the training packages and costs vary. Below are a sample of supplier organisations and their related costs.

The costs are based upon between 95 to 100 managers going through the programme. Operational Directors would be asked for nominations for the courses from within their respective service areas. It is suggested that attendance should be mandatory.

1. Greater Merseyside Enterprise – Management Skills Services

Would provide a one-day Basic Project Management Course in-house.

12 delegates per course, £650 daily rate plus, expenses plus VAT

Total cost for training 96 managers £ 5,200 + expenses + VAT

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2. North West Employers

Would provide a one-day introduction to Project Management course in-house.

12 delegates per course, £450 daily rate plus expenses, plus VAT

Total cost for training 96 managers £ 3,600 + travel expenses + VAT

3. MaST International Training Group Plc

Would provide a complimentary package for senior managers. Firstly for those who commission or sponsor projects or who can play a key role in influencing the outcomes of projects (one-day workshop). Secondly, through a two-day workshop, a course for managers, team leaders and other staff who have direct or indirect project management responsibility. This second workshop is also suitable for anyone who works within a project team as well as for those who have to plan or manage work where the disciplines of project management would be helpful.

MaST would tailor the course specifically to the authority’s needs. There would not be any additional development costs.

1 x one-day Project Steering for 16 senior managers £ 1,100 + VAT

5 x two-day Managing Projects Successfully for 80 managers £ 11,000 + VAT

Total Cost £ 12,100 + VAT

4. Arras Services

Would tailor the course to specifically meet the requirements of the authority, by investigating the range of projects currently underway. The total price includes development of the course through one to one interviews and other methods. The course would look at the principles of PRINCE2 which is a project management framework.

Each ½ day workshop would be for up to 25 managers.

4 x ½ day Introduction to Project Management Workshops for 100 managers

4 x ½ day Project Management in the Halton BC Environment for 100 managers

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Total Cost (inclusive of development and tailoring) £ 12,800 + expenses + VAT

Observations

Greater Merseyside Enterprise and North West Employers provide off the shelf courses at a relatively basic level. MaST International Training Group and Arras Services offer tailored provision to suit the requirements of the customer. This accounts for the cost differential between the various suppliers.

Arras Services costs are broadly compatible with MaST International. However, MaST International is offering 11 days training in total, whereas Arras Services are only offering 4 days.

Based on these quotations, all managers down to third tier level could be accommodated within any of the programmes.

Other suppliers can be approached for quotations if the need arises.