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WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS Energy & Utility Skills initiative to generate required workforce capacity. S tate-of-the-art sensors are being installed by Amey into gullies in Hampshire in a trial aimed at preventing the ooding of roads. Amey is installing live sensors into gullies that will give data that will inform whether a gully is in need of a cleanse. These sensors measure the level of silt and the water level inside, feeding the information instantly back to a control centre managed by Amey via web-based, mapped, visual- isation so• ware. This so• ware couples weather forecasting with silt levels to inform if a gully is likely to ood over the next few days. A cleanse of that particular gully can then be instructed at a low cost, avoiding the need for subsequent emergency attendances. If the technology works well, then these gullies will only need to be cleansed when they are actually at risk of ooding, a more e cient and cost-e- ective approach. Utilities pledge commitment to new Skills Accord NOVEMBER 2016 Volume 22 • Issue 11 CECA: Look at Brexit in- frastructure procure- ment impact T he Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) is urging the government to take a fresh look at the impact that Brexit might have on infrastructure procurement. For the past year, CECA carried out research to look at the way that work in the UK is procured, and how this can build up unnecessary cost and waste for industry. It is due to publish the outcome of this research next month. CECA wants immediate action to look at the impact Brexit might have on procurement. Its head of external a- airs Marie-Claude Hemming said: "Civil engi- neering contractors are primed to deliver a substantial project workload over the coming years. Yet their ability to deliver these projects in the most e cient way is increasingly being stymied by burdensome procurement processes on projects large and small." "…even now each project still has to be argued on its merits" David Smoker, ACO Water Management. P4 "The time is now for looking at new solutions to age-old problems" Mark Hodgens, Talis UK. P7 News+ National Risk Assessment will separate out fluvial and surface water flood risks, and enable a more targeted approach to planning for and managing the risk. P4 Onsite: Renewable energy Wastewater treatment plant Billund Biore‰ nery anaerobically co-digests domestic and industrial organic waste. P12-13 Insight: Flow and level monitoring While measurement solutions have moved with the times the problems they address remain the same? P15, 16 Amey trials sensor to prevent road floods N early 30 companies, including Thames Water and Amey, have pledged their commitment to the new and innovative Skills Accord, created by Energy & Utility Skills to help strategic work- force renewal. The Skills Accord is a new way of advancing the energy and utilities sector and their supply chain to generate the required workforce capacity and capability. Amey, National Grid, SSE, Thames Water, and UK Power Networks, along with 22 key supply chain companies have signed up to the initiative, and Energy & Utility Skills will be encouraging more asset owner partners to sign up. The energy and utilities sec- tor is now poised to deliver its commitment to skills through the supply chain for years to come – leading to a future sus- tainable workforce Energy & Utility Skills said the new accord is one part of the utility sector's new approach to strategic workforce renewal, and will ensure mar- ket contractors remain competi- tive whilst embedding relevant skills development in their organisations through their commitment to an annual con- tribution to the sector's overall training target of 5%, and encouraging the same through their supply chain. Jan Ward, chair of Energy & Utility Skills, said: "This Skills Accord is one of the key priori- ties of the new sector partner- ship now underway, and I applaud these companies for testing the art of the possible..." Keith Waller, senior advisor at the Cabinet O ce and HM Treasury's Infrastructure and Projects Authority, said: "One of the key challenges stated in the 2015 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills was how to incentivise skills investment through procurement. This requires innovative approaches to encourage the retraining and up-skilling of the workforce to meet future skills demands. "The fact that employers within the energy and utilities sector were already working towards this remit in conjunc- tion with Energy & Utility Skills through the management of the Procurement Skills Accord Pro- ject is very much welcomed." Five asset owning compa- nies have driven the develop- ment of the Skills Accord as a pilot initiative over the past 12 months, supported by a further 22 supply chain companies, to address the sector's workforce challenge. Nick Ellins, chief executive of Energy & Utility Skills, said: "The Industrial Partnership Council of utility sector chief executives originally set the Skills Accord project as a prior- ity, so that procurement compe- titions can help to enhance skills development through the supply chain." Ellins said: "All of the par- ticipating utility companies have pledged to embed the £ ve commitments that make up the Skills Accord into their busi- ness, and also to undertake an annual review of performance to calculate their contribution to an overall sector training tar- get of 5%." REALITY CHECK • One ‰ fth of the energy and utilities sector's skilled workers is approaching retirement • 36% of vacancies are proving hard to ‰ ll in the sector, higher than any other UK industry • 14% of all employers are reporting skills gaps amongst their existing workforce • Around 46,500 employees work in the water sector • About 9,000 water sector employees will retire over the next ten years, and nearly 4,000 of those are expected before 2020 Protecting Our Environment With Double Containment From IPS IPS Flow Systems Tel: 0191 521 3111 www.ipsflowsystems.com For further details or a copy of our handbook please contact our sales team. Freephone: 0800 975 7971 New Poly-Flo PE and PP double containment for quick and easy installation. Agrusafe PP, PE and PVDF double containment for critical process applications. Duosafe® PVC-U and PVC-C double containment systems are designed for ease of installation. Duosafe ® Flex Ideal for chemical dosing.

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