The Greater Manchester Communities on the Move project

The Greater Manchester Communities on the Move (GMCOTM) project was born out of the shared objective of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and the Community Transport Association UK (CTA UK) of combating social exclusion.

The project would build the capacity and capability of community transport operators, enabling them to make a sustainable contribution to a strategic approach to transport.

Transport for Communities staff were commissioned by CTA to deliver the project at its inception in 2002, and continued to do so until the project came to an end in March 2006.

RENEW award

The GMCOTM project was awarded Exemplar Learning Status for 2006, by the government-backed regeneration best practice agency, RENEW Northwest, backed by the Government Office for the North West and the North Western Regional Development Agency.

Key achievements of the project

The project developed and delivered support to the sector in diverse ways. These included:

Practical help & advice for operators

• Provision of professional, practical, hands on help and advice, for every operator who needed it, about all aspects of operation, administration and service delivery
• Provision of model policies & procedures, and help with tailoring these to suit individual operators’ requirements

Practical help with development

• Development of business plans and funding applications
• Professional help, for CT operators requiring it, with incorporation as a company limited by guarantee, and subsequent registration with the Charity Commissioners. Along with financial assistance to cover the costs of incorporation & registration

The Greater Manchester Community Transport Operators’ Forum

• Development of the Greater Manchester Community Transport Operators’ Forum (GMCTOF).
• Assisting the forum to become the CT operators’ own representative body, acting as a voice for, and link to, the CT sector. The forum has recently been incorporated and is shortly to be registered as a charity

The Greater Manchester CT Trust

• Establishment of the Greater Manchester CT Trust, which has so far provided over £250,000 in direct funding to Greater Manchester CT operators

Training

• Training provided for key personnel of every operator to enable them to attain a professional competence qualification in passenger transport.
• Training provided for key members of the management committee of every CT operator to develop competence in, and understanding of, the governance of voluntary organisations
• Training provided for CT operators in developing fundraising strategies
• Training provided for key staff of each CT operator to enable them to attain a nationally recognised qualification as a Driver Trainer
• Participation in pilot projects to integrate services operated by a range of Social Needs Transport providers.

Baseline standards

A “one size fits all” approach to community transport would stifle the differences that enable each operator to respond to the needs of its community. However, both users and funders need to be sure about the professionalism and probity of the organisation they are dealing with.

In conjunction with members of the Operators’ Forum, GMCOTM Project Staff developed and implemented minimum standards in Community Transport operation in three key areas:

Constitutional status

Incorporation (as a company limited by guarantee or equivalent) and registration as a charity (or equivalent).

This gives individual management committee members of local CT organisations the protection of limited liability, as well as ensuring common minimum standards of financial and administrative accountability for members and funders.

Professional competence

One staff or committee member to hold or obtain the Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) in Passenger Transport.

The CPC is a nationally recognised qualification in transport management. It requires an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of operating a passenger-carrying transport organisation. Having a CPC-qualified member of staff is a pre-requisite to obtaining a Public Service Vehicle Operator’s Licence. Does not exclude voluntary-based operators

Driver training

Members should train all drivers to MiDAS standards

By becoming a member of the forum, an operator agrees to attain or exceed the above minimum standards.

Resources and funding

Provision, via GMPTE, of refurbished ex­-Ring & Ride vehicles for CT operators.

All of the above has been provided at no cost to CT operators

A strategic role

• GMCOTM project staff and Forum officers have represented the sector at a strategic level to health & local authority officers, private sector operators and GMPTA members.
• A key achievement has emerged from involvement in consultations about the development of the Greater Manchester Local Transport plan – the role of community transport is now recognised within this document

The sector now operates over eighty per cent of local demand-responsive transport services.

The Community Transport Trust

GMPTE had long recognised the potential for CT organisations to play a part of an integrated transport strategy for the whole county of Greater Manchester - – this was of course one of the primary motivations for the establishment of the GMCOTM project.

In 2004, GMPTE recognised the need for longer-term support of the sector by the establishment of a trust deed to provide additional funds to the CT sector for support of practical service delivery.

The second round of funding was completed in March 2006, with a total of £250,000 having been awarded to the sector thus far.

Greater Manchester Community Transport Operators’ Forum (GMCTOF)

GMCTOF is the representative body for all organisations involved in the provision of community transport within the Greater Manchester conurbation. It is the key link between the CT sector, GMPTA/E and AGMA.

It has a specific remit to “consider the range of transport and related plans produced by the ten district authorities and county based authorities including Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority and its Executive, and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, and also regional & national policies in so far as they affect community transport in Greater Manchester.”

Project staff, working on behalf of the forum, produced a detailed response to the provisional LTP2 on behalf of the CT sector in Greater Manchester.

Membership of the forum provides a number of advantages to community transport operators:

• Opportunities to tender for GMPTE contracts
• Ability to apply to the CT Trust for funding
• Ability to apply for funding via the CT strategy
• Endorsement by GMPTE

The link here will take you to the GMCTOF website, which (amongst other things) lists CT operators in Greater Manchester who are members of the Forum.

Other operators may not comply with minimum standards and are therefore not endorsed by GMPTE