Schools will save thousands of pounds in recruitment costs as the Government launches a new online tool to help them avoid agencies that charge excessive fees.

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds today (15 January) announces an online tool which will clearly show the fees recruitment agencies charge on top of staff wages, so school leaders know what they are getting for their money. It will also help schools avoid agencies that charge fees for making temporary staff permanent.

In 2016/17, the last year for which figures are available, schools in England spent £825 million with supply agencies.

To appear on the list of approved agencies available through the tool, they must set out their costs up-front – allowing schools to compare prices – and conduct rigorous background checks on their staff.

Schools across the country are already benefiting from the Government’s clampdown on expensive fees after plans were initially set out last year. Rainhill High School, an academy in St Helens, Merseyside, reported savings of £2,500 in three months – thanks in part to using the tool to find a new supply agency that offered the best value. The Education Secretary is now calling on more schools to follow their lead by using the new online tool when recruiting supply teachers and agency workers.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

I want to help schools use their resources as effectively as possible. There will always be a role for supply teachers within schools, but schools shouldn’t be ripped off when trying to recruit them. This new online tool will bring much-needed transparency to the fees that agencies charge to enable school leaders to see what they are getting for their money.

This is the latest step in our effort to help schools bear down some of the costs they face, building on the School Resource Management Strategy I launched last year to provide practical advice and support to school leaders so that they can focus on what they do so well – delivering high-quality education for their pupils.

There can be no great schools without great teachers to inspire and motivate children, so it’s absolutely right that we help schools to maximise the money they have to spend in the classroom by working together, making sure they’re getting the best deals and are not being overcharged for services.

Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System, is writing to all schools in England to let them know about the online tool, which has been developed with Crown Commercial Service.

Today’s launch follows the Education Secretary’s pledge at the National Association of Head Teachers’ annual conference in May to work with schools and drive down unnecessary cost pressures so headteachers can get maximum value for every pound they spend and bring in the best staff.

It also follows a series of steps taken by the department to help schools deliver value for money and ensure resources can be targeted at the frontline.

This includes:

• A free website to advertise school vacancies – this will help schools save on advertising for positions, which currently costs them up to £75 million per year;
• Recommended deals that are helping schools to save money on the things they buy regularly, such as printers and photocopiers – one school in the North West has saved an estimated £40,000 on its printing costs;
• Regional Schools Buying Hubs, piloted in the North West and South West, providing hands-on support and advice to schools on complex procurement. One school saved £75,000 across a three-year cleaning contract, while 82 schools in the South West have saved an estimated £137,000 on water;
• A network of advisers providing practical support on how schools can use their budgets more effectively. During the pilot phase of 72 deployments, advisers identified £35 million of potential savings for schools;
• A benchmarking website to allow schools to compare their income and expenditure with others in England.

Education Secretary launches online tool for headteachers to avoid high supply agency fees

The Policing Minister, Nick Hurd, has today (15 January) chaired a new taskforce to tackle vehicle theft.

The taskforce replicates the successful model used to reduce moped-related crime in London, which fell by a third in the period from January to October 2018 compared with the same period in 2017 last year. It will drive forward action to reduce and prevent vehicle crime and promote best practice.

The taskforce will meet every six months and publish an action plan with new measures. Vehicle theft has risen by 7% in the last 12 months and has impacted communities across the country.

Chairing the meeting, Policing Minister Nick Hurd said:

We are determined to take swift and decisive action on emerging crime threats. With rates of vehicle theft increasing, I am keen to ensure everything is being done to prevent these crimes.

Drawing together the police, industry and government proved to be a successful way to see what more could be done to support police efforts to tackle moped crime and I’m eager to see the results of applying a similar model to vehicle theft.

The determination and common purpose at this morning’s meeting was encouraging and I’m confident the taskforce will significantly strengthen our response to vehicle theft.

The taskforce’s work includes:

• improving vehicle security standards across the industry
• ensuring robust measures are in place to prevent criminals exploiting the motor salvage process
• reviewing whether further measures are required to stop devices that may be used to commit vehicle theft falling into criminals’ hands

Attendees for today’s event included representatives from:

• National Police Chiefs’ Council Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited
• Thatcham Research
• Retail Motor Industry
• Motorcycle Retail Industry Association
• Association of British Insurers
• Combined Industries Theft Solution
• Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
• West Midlands PCC
• West Midlands Police

Published 15 January 2019

Delivered last week and assembled over 4 days, the 66 metre high crane will be the first of 3 in the Euston area and comes a week after the completion of the station’s new taxi rank, which opened to the public on Sunday 6th January.

Together, this progress allows HS2 to push ahead with the demolition of One Euston Square and Grant Thornton House, which stand above the entrance and exit to Euston’s old underground taxi rank.

Expected to take around 10 months to complete, their removal will be the biggest change to the Euston skyline for almost 50 years. HS2’s early works contractor, a Costain and Skanska joint venture (CSjv), working with expert subcontractors McGee, are already hard at work, stripping out the interiors and erecting the scaffolding that will support acoustic screening around the buildings.

The screening, designed to limit noise and dust, will cover the 2 1970s towers, with 93% of the material from the building set to be recycled or reused. The deconstruction itself will happen floor by floor, with waste material removed via the building’s lift shafts.

HS2 Ltd’s London Programme Director, Rob Carr, said:

HS2 will transform Euston, delivering much-needed extra capacity and better journeys for the 44 million people who use the station every year. We are already hard at work, delivering essential pre-construction work, including archaeology, utility diversions and of course, the demolition of the 2 Euston towers.

The opening of the new taxi rank and the delivery of the project’s first tower crane is a significant milestone for HS2 and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it happen.

CSjv’s Programe Director, Peter Jones, said:

Costain and Skanska have successfully delivered many major infrastructure projects and are pleased to be delivering the HS2 enabling works programme in London. Our work continues to gather pace and constructing this temporary taxi rank to replace the underground taxi rank is vital to allow us to demolish the 2 large office towers at Euston.

Over the last 8 months, HS2 has also been working with TfL and Network Rail to deliver a new taxi rank in front of the station.

The new rank, which has capacity for around 40 vehicles, has been designed to incorporate as many of the existing trees as possible, with special measures including permeable pavement and root protection in place.

The taxi rank will be in use while HS2 construction work at Euston is ongoing. Taxis will ultimately move to a new location once construction is complete.

HS2 will more than double the number of seats out of Euston during peak hours and free up space on the west coast mainline for more local and long distance commuter services to places like Watford, Northampton and Milton Keynes.

Work to transform Euston station and deliver extra capacity as part of the HS2 project took a very visible step forward with the arrival, on the London skyline, of the project’s first tower crane.