A presentation at the 2015 National Road Safety Conference will consider the benefits and challenges of outsourcing road safety services.
The presentation will be delivered by John Spencer, team leader of road safety and sustainable travel services delivered by KierWSP, the private sector joint venture delivering transport and highways to Northamptonshire County Council.
The full integration of Northamptonshire’s highways and transport service, together with the transfer of staff to this private sector provider, took place two years ago. John Spencer and his multi-disciplinary team were part of this transfer process from Northamptonshire County Council from where he had managed the county’s Casualty Reduction Partnership since 2006.
Northamptonshire County Council is in the process of outsourcing all services and will move away from direct delivery to a ‘Next Generation Model’ where a core council of around 150 staff will commission private sector expertise to provide services. This represents the biggest transformation of services in Northamptonshire since the creation of the council 125 years ago.
Northamptonshire Highways was established in 2012 at the beginning of the outsourcing programme and all the key functions of transport and highways, including road safety, were brought together in a joint venture involving Kier Group and WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff.
This presentation will provide a road map of how the integration took place, the benefits and challenges for road safety delivery and the impact on his team moving from public sector to a private sector provider.
John Spencer served for 30 years as a police officer with Northamptonshire Police, mainly within the realms of road policing, before joining Northamptonshire County Council in 2006.
In addition to his road policing commitments John was appointed as lead officer to manage the police collaboration element within the Casualty Reduction Partnership with Northamptonshire County Council when it was established in 1999. The Partnership made outstanding progress in reducing road casualties in the county and, in 2006, was awarded government Beacon Status for road safety excellence.
John’s motivation for reducing road casualties stems from having to deal with, and investigate, countless collisions involving death and serious injury during his police career.
2015 National Road Safety Conference
More than 200 people have already registered to attend the conference, and 22 companies will exhibit alongside the conference, which is being organised by Road Safety GB East Midlands region and co-sponsored by Colas, AA DriveTech, Vysionics and Pepsico. The event is being held at the East Midlands Conference Centre on 18-19 November 2015.
Click here to register to attend as a delegate.
Click here for more information about the exhibition and/or to book to participate in the exhibition.
Click here for more information about sponsoring the event.
For more information contact either Sally Bartrum (delegate registration and exhibition) or Nick Rawlings (agenda/speakers and sponsorship). Both are available on 01379 650112.
Personally I think it was a downward slide from a time when the police were a force majeure in RS. Nowadays, by comparison, they seem to have very little real interest in the subject, in my view. I suppose a lot of it is down to the loss of resources and consequent reduction in manpower. Which ever way you run it, you can no longer rely on police standards of driving being the shining light for others to follow.
Nigel Albright
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