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Utilising “Get Britain Working” measures by providing key regional leads and a support package specifically tailored for YORbuild, young people are accessing work experience, training opportunities and awareness of construction careers all within a working environment on YORbuild projects.

Luke and Ashley, Jobcentre Plus work placements, on site at the CATCH facility in Grimsby

In particular, Jobcentre Plus are promoting work experience as a positive step towards employment to their customers.  A typical work experience placement will last between 2 and 8 weeks for between 25 and 30 hours per week.  Whilst on a placement the young person will continue to be paid their benefits.  At the end of the placement, the employer will provide the young person with an employer reference.

Hull based Hobson and Porter are the Contractor for the extension of the CATCH facility in Grimsby.  Together with Jobcentre Plus, the Site Manager has agreed a forward plan of work experience placements to fit with the arrival of sub-contractors throughout the duration of the build.

Throughout the duration of the placement, Jobcentre Plus support the young people paying their travel expenses and ensure they have safety equipment and appropriate H&S certificates such as a CSCS card.

The first two work experience placements at CATCH started on the 28^th November and are working with the groundwork subcontractor.

Luke already had a CSCS card and qualifications in Plumbing and Engineering and was really keen to get some work experience.  Luke cycles 3 miles to the site every morning. Ashley lives in Grimsby and has a CSCS card and qualifications in Bricklaying. Ashley was so keen to participate in the work experience, he takes two buses to meet the contractors in Immingham who then take him to site for 8am.  His dad also helps him out with the occasional lift when he is working in the area.  Jobcentre Plus funded Ashley’s travel expenses for the duration of the placement.

The two lads are due to finish their placements before Christmas 2011 when the Site Manager will provide them both with a work reference to add to their CV. Gary Allen Site Manager, Hobson & Porter has been really impressed with the commitment and work ethic of both Luke and Ashley.

Commenting on the initiative Employment and Skills Coordinator for the YORbuild Framework Mark Scott commented “This is another great example of the YORbuild Framework, Contractors, Supply Chain and Agencies working together to maximise real employment and skills outcomes for individuals. Our efforts with Jobcentre Plus are delivering excellent outcomes and we look forward to working with them on future YORbuild projects.”

The Leeds City Region Partnership brings together the eleven local authorities of Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York, along with North Yorkshire County Council to work toward the common aim of a prosperous and sustainable city region by working together in areas such as transport, skills, housing, spatial planning and innovation.

Following a period of detailed evaluation the YORbuild Framework has able to validate its proposition as the regions intelligent collaborative procurement framework for construction and the Leaders Board of the Leeds City Region recognised the efficiency that the framework offers in addition to the excellent social and economic outcomes delivered by the framework management strategy.

Dave Galloway Framework Manager for the West Area of the framework commented: “The YORbuild Framework has a strong evidence base to validate the efficiency that it delivers whilst creating employment and skills opportunites, engaging the regional / local supply chain, reducing waste to landfill and offering funding opportunities for framework users community schemes. Leeds City Region’s choice of the YORbuild Framework will further improve the penetration of the framework within its member local authorities and maximise the efficiency and social / economic outcomes of the framework for its users.”

To download the Press Release published by the Leeds City Region relating to this article please click here.

Work officially starts on Wakefield College's City Centre Campus

There was an air of excitement around Wakefield College last week as contracts were signed to mark the beginning of work on the redevelopment of its City Centre Campus. Bosses from Wakefield College, GB Building Solutions and YORbuild were on hand to break the first turf as work on the first phase officially started.

Phase one of the project will see the existing B Block redeveloped to include a pedestrianised walkthrough, part of the council’s plan to have a traffic free zone,  connecting the College to the city centre. The new block will house a new library, teaching accommodation and enhanced social facilities.

College Principal, Sam Wright said: “We are delighted and excited about starting this major redevelopment of our main City Centre Campus. This project will bring a modern, high-quality and vibrant learning facility to the heart of the City.”

Martin Smout, chairman and chief executive of GB Building Solutions, says: “The first phase of this exciting new development will provide students with the facilities to enhance their education and social skills, it will also add to GB’s extensive experience in the Education sector having provided over 21,000 pupil spaces in the last six years”.

Features in phase one will include disabled parking, a safe drop-off point, cafe terrace, seating areas, cycle stands, and landscaping with trees and planted areas. Designers are promising that the phase one refurbishment and new build will transform the public view of the College from both Wood Street and Bond Street.

The Margaret Street site will enable the College to deliver high-quality education to a wide range of learners including general FE learners, Sixth Form students, HE students and adults.

YORbuild’s Development and Performance Manager Lee Parkinson commented “YORbuild was selected by Wakefield College as its procurement route for the scheme due to the frameworks efficient and flexible mini competition processes and the integrated value adding solutions. Wakefield College participated in the recent Open for Business Event hosted by YORbuild in Castleford where over 200 businesses were engaged to explore opportunities within the supply chain. In addition we have already been working closely with the college to ensure that G B Solutions employment and skills plan is aligned to the skills provision of Wakefield College to ensure that their scheme provides the maximum opportunity to young people in the local area.”

Bardsley Construction has staged a sod-cutting ceremony to mark the start of work on a £4.3m extension to Bradford Academy in Yorkshire.

The 2,500sq metre two-storey building will house 420 primary age pupils at the Academy and is due to be completed in July 2012.

Bardsley is working on the scheme in partnership with DLA Architects of Wakefield and the Leeds office of independent consulting engineers Curtins Consulting.

The sod-cutting ceremony was attended by Adrian Rooney, Yorkshire regional manager for Bardsley Construction, Linda Marshall, all-through principal of the Academy, Albert Price, retiring chair of governors of the Academy, Mark Scott, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator for YORbuild, Thomas Jones of Bradford City Council and pupils and parents.

YORbuild is a series of collaborative construction frameworks for the procurement of new build, refurbishment and design build construction works for the Yorkshire and Humber region’s 22 local authorities and other regionally based public sector bodies, including Third Sector organisations.

Bradford Academy replaced Bradford Cathedral Community College when it opened in September 2007 and now has about 1200 pupils aged from three to 18.

Adrian Rooney of Bardsley Construction said: “This is the first YORbuild scheme for Bardsley Construction and we very much look forward to providing state-of-the-art education facilities for the young people of Bradford.

“We are delighted to be working with Yorkshire architects and engineers and have liaised very closely with the Academy and the City of Bradford Council on the final design to ensure the project is delivered within an affordable budget, while maintaining a high standard of specification and finish.

“The contract builds upon our expertise in the provision of facilities for the public sector and in particular, school and college buildings throughout the North of England.”

Artist's impression of the new extension

Lee Parkinson, Development and Performance Manager for the YORbuild Framework, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Bradford Academy team. They have already seen the benefits of the Framework in terms of procurement efficiency and as the project moves into its delivery phase value will be added through our supply chain engagement / employment and skills planning approaches which offer real opportunities to local people. Our Framework has already created close to 2,000 apprenticeship weeks and we look forward to increasing this further in partnership with Bradford Academy and Bardsley Construction.”

Linda Marshall added: “The ceremony marked a significant milestone in the journey of Bradford Academy. We’re delighted that Albert Price, as retiring chair of governors joined us, and thank him for his vision, leadership and support.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Bradford Council and Bardsley Construction to develop a great All Through school.”

The Bradford Academy has developed their own blog to track and communicate the building process for the new building. The blog has already been used to communicate and obtain feedback on the new building and will be contributed to as the new building is constructed. To view the blog visit http://www.bradfordacademy.co.uk/pages/about-bradford-academy/primary-blog.php

Read more about this and other news around the YORbuild Framework in the Autumn 2011 Newsletter.

Construction News Article (pdf, 402KB)

YORcivil is a new regional framework, which replaces East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s previous way of procuring construction works, the Civil Engineering Contractors Framework, which commissioned works totalling c. £78m from May 2007 to 2011.

YORcivil is a collaborative framework and is split into two tendering areas North and East, with East Riding of Yorkshire Council as the lead authority and South and West, with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council as the lead. Tenders for YORcivil South and West are currently being assessed and the intention is to commence this framework in October 2011.

It is anticipated that almost £129 million’s worth of work will be commissioned through the YORcivil North & East Area framework by the various local authorities during the life of the framework, which may be extended from four to six years. The YORcivil South and West Framework had an advertised value of £384 million.

Nigel Leighton, director of environment and neighbourhood services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who will sit on the operational framework management board tasked with governing, coordinating and managing the framework, said: “The YORcivil Framework is an excellent example of collaborative working in the public and third sector and will ensure both value for money and a speedy tendering process.

“This type of framework has been endorsed by Government as a key step towards reducing costs and encouraging small and medium enterprise supply chain engagement.

“Officers involved in the set up of YORcivil have made the tendering process for contractors as straightforward as possible, whilst still maintaining robust and auditable standards.

“Those appointed to the framework will now be able to bid for contracts within the lot they have been appointed to and will carry out a range of projects, including highways, civil engineering and flood risk management works.”

The seven categories of work within the framework are civil engineering works below £1m, civil engineering works of £1m and above, bridges and structure works, surfacing works, traffic management works, road marking works and barrier repair works.

For further information about the YORcivil Framework and how to access it please contact David Wilkes David.Wilkes@eastriding.gov.uk or Mark Ives Mark.Ives@eastriding.gov.uk of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Buyers from over a dozen YORbuild Framework Contractors will be on hand to speak to delegates with a view to finding new suppliers and subcontractors to add to their supply chains for the numerous public sector building projects around the region. A series of presentations will outline what the YORbuild framework is, how it works and how businesses can find work within it.

Over £40m of building work is coming up via the framework in and around the Wakefield area so delegates will be briefed on what’s types of trades and materials are going to be required. The YORbuild Framework helps public sector clients to build everything from schools to police stations and they are hoping that hundreds of small and medium sized construction related businesses will come along to discover how to find work in the busy public sector construction sector.

The YORbuild Framework is aimed at the £1.2 billion spent each year on public sector construction services in Yorkshire and the Humber.

David Galloway of Leeds City Council and Framework Manager for the West Area of the Framework said “We’re committed to improving construction procurement, and widening the benefits it can bring to the public and voluntary sectors within Yorkshire and the Humber”.

Lee Parkinson, YORbuild’s Development and Performance Manager added: “The YORbuild Supply Chain Engagement Programme is a major step forward in getting the right people and firms working on the YORbuild projects. As the regions managed collaborative construction framework we are keen to ensure that we achieve more than just procurement efficiency. Through YORbuild’s integrated framework management strategy we achieve efficiency and improvement through our commitment to working collaboratively with the supply chain to ensure that they understand what we are trying to achieve and to drive real added value for our framework users.”

Attendees should register at www.yorbuild-castleford.eventbrite.com

(left to right) Richard Butcher, DVC Director of Curriculum and Innovation; Mark Scott, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator, YORbuild; Paul Townsley, DVC Principal and Chief Executive; Paul Metcalfe-Smith, Wildgoose Construction; Andrew Crofts, DVC Construction Tutor

A partnership between YORbuild, Wildgoose Construction and Dearne Valley College (DVC), continues to go from strength to strength.

The Wath based college in conjunction with YORbuild work together to form relationships with building contractors to open up opportunities for its students to get hands on experience with local construction firms.

Wildgoose Construction is a leading building contractor operating throughout a wide geographical area centering on Yorkshire and the East and West Midlands, with a place within a number of lots of the YORbuild Framework.

Wildgoose are currently building homes in West Melton and Kilnhurst for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC), the projects were procured using the YORbuild Framework that includes contractual employment and skills targets and aims to offer local opportunities for local people. Wildgoose with the help of YORbuild approached the college to offer its students placements on its construction sites.

Through this partnership Construction students from the Wath based college have to study towards their Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Site Safety Plus certificate. Recently, representatives from the Chesterfield based company along with YORbuild presented Construction students with their CITB certificates.

The CITB certificate is an introduction to site safety made up of 15 sections on risks and hazards associated with construction sites. Covered over the course of a day with a multi-choice test at the end, this ensures students gain a basic understanding and awareness of health and safety duties and responsibilities of potential risks and hazards on a construction site.

Mark Scott, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator, YORbuild commented:
“Working together, Wildgoose Construction have arranged for students to go on work placements on their sites, this relationship between the three parties continues to promote sustainability and create opportunities for local people”.

Dearne Valley College are now accepting applications for courses starting September 2011.
For a Further and Higher Education course guide 2011/2012 call the Enquiry Line on T: 01709 513355, email learn@dearne-coll.ac.uk or alternatively the course guide can be downloaded from www.dearne-coll.ac.uk