Relationship with the renewable energy sector.

The request was successful.

peter k. roberts

Dear Blackpool and the Fylde College,

Please could you tell me what existing links you have to the renewable energy sector, what efforts you have made to educate students to help them acquire the skills required to work in this sector and what courses you currently offer to enable employment in the much needed renewable energy sector.

Yours,

peter k. roberts.

peter k. roberts left an annotation ()

Acknowledgement received.

DataRequest, Blackpool and the Fylde College

Dear Mr Roberts,

Further to your request under the Freedom of Information Act (below), please find below response on behalf of B&FC.

B&FC has co-created curriculum through partnerships with the energy industry and continues to do so. Current curriculum includes nuclear, materials science and heating & ventilation systems with new developments planned in wind, tidal, process engineering and data science (for utilities management).

Industry partners include the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), Westinghouse Springfield Fuels, BAE Systems (Air), BAE Systems (Maritime Submarines), Centrica (Spirit Energy), Atlas-Copco and British Independent Utilities (BIU).

B&FC works with a range of industry partners to effectively prepare students for secure and sustainable employment, this includes a range of external industry placements in the energy sector, including extended placements of up to 45 days. B&FC continues to provide internship opportunities in the energy sector as a successful preparation for long term employment.

We have trained employees from across the sector to work safely in the energy industries and to understand their responsibilities. Our trainees include employees from Atlas/Petroskills, NSAN and EDF Energy.

B&FC offers the following courses to support students into employment in the energy sector:

• Levels 1 & 2 Certificate in Renewable Energy (Levels 3 coming soon!)
• Hybrid safety training to support the electric vehicle industry
• Introductory and awareness-raising sessions for safe working across the energy industry
• Level 3 engineering qualifications to enable students to work in the energy sector

Yours sincerely

Data Protection Office
Blackpool and The Fylde College
T 01253 504 064
E [Blackpool and the Fylde College request email]

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peter k. roberts left an annotation ()

Again the contents are under scrutiny.

peter k. roberts left an annotation ()

Still investigating.

peter k. roberts left an annotation ()

I'm still investigating this matter.

peter k. roberts

Dear Blackpool and the Fylde College,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Blackpool and the Fylde College's handling of my FOI request 'Relationship with the renewable energy sector.'.

My reason being that despite several requests by email and today in person to the Energy College and via telephone to Bispham Campus I have been unable to identify any full or part time Renewable Energy specific courses on offer for 2019/2020 or completing this Summer 2019.

This directly conflicts with the claims made by your Data Office in replying to this Freedom of Information Request. What I did find today was a green notice board in the Energy HQ reception offering NCFE Level 2 Diploma Introduction to Renewable Energy Engineering and NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Preparing to Work in Renewable Pathways in Wind, Tidal, Wave and Solar. On phoning 01253 352352 Course Enquiries as instructed I was told no such courses or even similar courses were in existence or due to commence any time soon.

This lack of opportunity on offer to study specifically in the renewable energy sector I find extremely worrying not to say surprising as the Energy HQ on Squires Gate Lane, Blackpool opened with massive publicity just a few years ago since when the public attitude to Renewable Energy generally has become much more positive to combat Climate Destruction. Situated on the windy and sunny Irish Sea coast between two river estuaries our area is Ideal for all forms of green energy creation so to have to delve so deep into matters to discover the truth about this omission I am also disturbed by.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

Yours faithfully,

peter k. roberts.

DataRequest, Blackpool and the Fylde College

Dear Mr Roberts

Thank you for your email below. I am sorry to hear you are unhappy with the response to one of your two recent Freedom of Information requests.

The information was provided by the Head of Curriculum who deals with Energy. I have now asked the same Head to clarify why there is confusion between the information you have received from different sources. I will write to you again as soon as I receive a response.

If you are still not happy with the response, you may wish to raise a complaint internally or raise the matter with the Information Commissioner. I will explain how to do that if you decide you want to.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again should you have any further queries.

Regards

Data Protection Office
Blackpool and The Fylde College
T 01253 504 064
E [Blackpool and the Fylde College request email]

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Linda Smith, Blackpool and the Fylde College

Dear Mr Roberts

Further to your emailed complaint below, your original FOI request asked about courses we offered and the information provided was true at the time of the response. However, not all of the planned courses are available to members of the general public and, unfortunately, a suite of NCFE qualifications are now being withdrawn by the awarding organisation, NCFE. So, to clarify

1. In respect of Levels 1 & 2 Certificate in Renewable Energy ....
B&FC ran the Level 1 Certificate this year with a group of adult students and we had planned to offer the level 2 and, some time later, the level 3. However, both are being discontinued by the awarding body, NCFE, who are removing these qualifications from their catalogue on 31st July 2019. Therefore, we have been forced to remove them from our curriculum offer very recently and have removed them from our website. This is unfortunate but we are looking at alternative qualifications that meet the needs of the industry.

We apologise that these courses continued to be displayed on one of our noticeboards at LEHQ. This is an oversight and the information will now be removed.

2. In respect of Hybrid safety training to support the electric vehicle industry ....
B&FC runs several Hybrid vehicle training courses. These are available commercially and are advertised on our website. Traditionally run at Bispham, we are starting to offer them on a commercial basis at LEHQ as well.

3. In respect of Introductory and awareness-raising sessions for safe working across the energy industry....
This is a specific training programme we developed to run with one of our employer partners. Whilst we offer it to employer partners upon request, it is not generally available to the public and would not normally be mentioned during a general course enquiry.

4. In respect of Level 3 engineering qualifications to enable students to work in the energy sector ....
Several of our engineering programmes include modules or content built specifically to relate to the energy sector. However, the title of the course may not specifically mention the term "renewable" or "energy". Whilst our Call Centre can find general information about our courses, detailed course content would need to be provided by the subject specialists themselves.

We are currently undertaking some really exciting projects at LEHQ linked to the renewable energy sector and it is very much a focus for our future development in this industry. However, the sector is still relatively new and, has been seen with the awarding body NCFE, the qualifications are rather changeable. The majority of jobs in the renewable energy sector do not currently require specific renewable energy qualifications but rather more general engineering qualifications which we do offer and which certainly prepare students for the opportunity of working in the renewable energy sector.

We are sorry that you feel you were misled and we hope this information helps to clarify the situation.

Regards

Data Protection Office
Blackpool and The Fylde College
T 01253 504 064
E [Blackpool and the Fylde College request email]

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peter k. roberts left an annotation ()

I have finally received the full and detailed response to my request.

I accept the apologies from the college and accept there was no deliberate attempt to mislead.

They have made ammendments to their procedures.