What is Local Environment Skills?
Local Environment Skills is a website which aims to improve the skills of everyone who works in the local environmental management sector.
By asking website users to login and complete a skills assessment, each person will be able to see how their individual skills set matches up to what is actually required of them in their job role.
Where there are any gaps in an individual’s skills set, relevant training opportunities are suggested to help them to improve and become better at their job.
How can I login and assess my skills?
Please click here to watch a short video explaining how to login and carry out an assessment of your skills.
Why has this website been developed?
The cleanliness and quality of the environment influences people’s view on the overall performance of their local council.
Research shows that standards in the quality of the local environment can be easily improved by ensuring that staff area all well-trained to deal with any situation effectively.
The Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) have carried out research with Keep Britain Tidy into this subject. This research identified five main challenges where skills need to be improved:
- Systematic monitoring and service management.
Every local authority needs to ensure that their staff have the right skills to carry out effective monitoring of the local environment. This will help to identify problem areas, and help to prioritise the delivery of services. - Overcoming impediments to service delivery.
If you have a systematic monitoring system in place, you will be able to develop a service strategy which is flexible enough to overcome any problems that you may face. - Adapting services to social and economic change.
Any effective service also needs to take the needs of their customers into account, and therefore you need to ensure that your staff have the skills to understand local social and economic changes that may impact on your service delivery. - Staff training and motivation.
Investing in a skilled and motivated workforce in the short-term will ensure an increased quality of service delivery in the long-term. - Targeted communication, campaigning and enforcement.
You need to ensure that your staff have the skills to tailor any communications, services and campaigns to meet the different needs of the people who live in the areas that you serve.
Organisations involved in Local Environment Skills
Several organisations have been involved in the development of Local Environment Skills:
Defra is the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As part of their commitment to help local authorities deliver more effective local environmental services, they have been a main driving force behind the development of localenvironmentskills.org.
Keep Britain Tidy is an environmental charity which campaigns for better cared-for and more attractive places, and against litter and neglect. Their vision is for cleaner, greener places respected and enjoyed by all. Improving the skills of local authorities is a central part of the success of this vision.
The IDeA, owned by the LGA, works for local government improvement so councils can serve people and places better. They support councils on issues impacting on local people and encourage partnerships. Their Beacon scheme recognises best practice which they share on their website. Their Leadership Academy helps councillors to become better leaders. The IDeA works with national, regional and local partners, tackling priorities such as health, children’s services, promoting economic prosperity, customer services, and workforce development.
Asset Skills is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the Cleaning, Property, Housing and Facilities Management sectors. SSCs are employer-les and government licensed organisations that have been established to improve the skills of the UK workforce and to boost productivity and competitiveness. Asset Skills work with business, public and professional bodies and learning providers to ensure the training that employers need is available to meet their current and future skills requirements.
The LGA is a voluntary lobbying organisation, acting as the voice of the local government sector, and an authoritative advocate on its behalf.
APSE is a not-for-profit local government body working with over 300 councils throughout the UK. Promoting excellence in public services, APSE is the foremost specialist in local authority front line services, hosting a network for service providers in areas such as waste and refuse collection, parks and environmental services, leisure, school meals, cleaning, housing, and buildings maintenance.
The Chartered Management Institute is the professional body dedicated to management and leadership. They are committed to raising the performance of businesses by championing management, supporting individuals, advising organisations and engaging policy-makers in government and the key management professions. The Chartered Management Institute aims to equip individuals with the necessary skills to deal with the challenges and decisions they face throughout their careers, and aims to help organisations and businesses realise their full potential.
CIWM is the leading professional body for waste and resource management with over 7000 members, mostly in the UK, but also in the Irish Republic, and 250 members elsewhere in the world. CIWM also focus on professionalism and information, based on sound science and training.
WAMITAB is the awarding body for the waste management industry and has a remit to determine and advise upon the policy and standards of education, training and qualification for people concerned with or engaged in the waste management industry. WAMITAB offers a wide range of vocational qualifications which have a direct impact on the local environment. WAMITAB is keen to increase the skills and competence of all those employed in delivering the service at ‘street level’ and supports Local Environment Skills in this endeavour.
Lantra is the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector, representing 17 industries across the whole of the UK, including horticulture, landscaping and environmental conservation in the green space sector. As a Sector Skills Council, Lantra ensures that people working in the sector have the right skills to carry out their jobs effectively, which in turn improves productivity and performance.
Energy & Utility Skills is the Sector Skills Council for the gas, power, waste management and water industries. Employer-le, their purpose is to help employers identify their skills needs. They can then provide effective solutions to improve business performance such as training tools and funding opportunities.
Construction Skills is the Sector Skills Council for construction. They represent every part of the construction industry, from architects to bricklayers, in every part of the UK. Construction Skills cover every part of the skills agenda - from grants to college places.
CABE Space is the government’s advisor on public space and is dedicated to bringing excellence to the design and management of public spaces in our towns and cities, including green space. It is responsible for leading and co-ordinating the Skills to Grow strategy.
NEON acts as an advocate for local government's pivotal role in environmental management. NEON promotes local government’s leadership role, strategic role, and delivery role, and aims to position local government as efficient & effective, and to raise the profile of the local authority environment sector.
