NATIONAL


NEWS


PARKING MUST BENEFIT TOWNS


A new report into car parking in town centres and high streets shows no conclusive evidence that parking tariffs are influencing decline in locations across the UK. The report,


entitled Re-think! Parking on the High Street, has been produced by the Association of Town & City Management, the


BPA, Springboard Research and Parking Data & Research International. It finds no clear relationship between charges and the amenities on offer in a location, and suggests that further research is needed. Research in 2012 showed that 94 per cent of all parking acts – including those at home – are


free. Of the remaining six per cent, more than 82 per cent cost less than £3, and 50 per cent cost less than £1.


Increasingly, local authorities have to maintain a balance between the conflicting needs of stakeholders, while developing accessibility and transport strategies. Concerns have been voiced that


parking charges are being raised to levels that stifle local trade, or that funds are being diverted away from car parks. It is unlawful for local authorities to generate income as an


objective of parking management. Any surplus generated is ring-fenced by law and the restrictions set out how that surplus must be used. To view the


report, go to www. britishparking. co.uk/Parking- Reports


ROAD SIGN TAKES PRIDE OF PLACE AT RCA


Margaret Calvert, co-designer of the UK system of traffic signs, was invited to submit a full-size sign as one of the definitive artworks illustrating the achievements of Royal College of Arts (RCA) alumnae over the last 175 years. For the RCA’s 175th anniversary exhibition ‘The Perfect Place to Grow’, at its Kensington home in south west London, Calvert commissioned a new sign based on one of her original cardboard and gouache ‘maquettes’, originally produced for the Worboys Committee on traffic signs in 1963. Calvert had worked with the late Jock Kinneir to produce the modern system of traffic signing for the Worboys Committee. Since its introduction into the UK in 1964, the system has been acclaimed as the ‘corporate identity of Britain’ and widely copied around the world.


The sign was recreated for the exhibition – with minor adjustments for historical authenticity – by Simon Morgan, chairman of Buchanan Computing, using Buchanan’s SignPlot sign design software. The firm is a leading supplier of geographic information systems and other traffic and highway computer applications, and associated training. The sign was manufactured by


www.britishparking.co.uk


RICHARD REVIEW WINS SUPPORT


The findings of a review of apprenticeships in England, recently commissioned from entrepreneur and former star of BBC2’s Dragons’ Den Doug Richard by the government, have been endorsed by industry skills body Asset Skills. Richard’s review, carried out for the Department of Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), canvassed employers of all sizes, academics, experts, apprentices, colleges, learning providers and sector skills councils. His resulting report calls on the government to improve the quality of apprenticeships and ensure that they are focused on the needs of employers.


His recommendations include: ■ Redefining apprenticeships by


targeting them only at staff who are new to a job or role that requires sustained and substantial training


■ Focusing on the outcome of an apprenticeship – specifically, what the apprentice can do when they complete their training – and freeing up the process by which they get there. Trusted, independent assessment is seen as key


■ Having recognised industry standards as the basis of every apprenticeship


The newly created road sign, above its original maquette from the early 1960s, in the RCA exhibition


Route Signs using materials appropriate to the time.


‘It has been very exciting to work again with Margaret,’ said Simon Morgan, ‘and to realise that traffic signs are treated as serious art by experts at the RCA, fit to be exhibited alongside Lutyens’ architectural drawings and works by Tracey Emin and David Hockney.’ Margaret Calvert is a royal designer for


industry, along with such illustrious names as Thomas Heatherwick, Sir James Dyson, Eric Gill and Sir Terence Conran.


■ All apprentices reaching a good level in English and maths before completing their apprenticeship


■ Government funding creating the right incentives for apprenticeship training, with purchasing power for investing in them lying with the employer


■ Greater diversity and innovation in training – with employers and government safeguarding quality


The Richard Review is available to download from the BIS website at: www.bis.gov.uk/news/


topstories/2012/Nov/richard-review- of-apprenticeships


FEBRUARY 2013 9


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