People working in the parking sector now have two paths to qualifications. The existing City & Guilds qualifications will be provided in partnership with Alpha Parking, while an alternative set has been launched by the British Parking Association (BPA) in partnership with a new awarding body.
Alpha Parking is operating alongside City & Guilds to offer a full suite of parking qualifications as part of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and accredited by OfQual. Alpha will be providing both the Level 2 Award for Parking Enforcement Officers and the Level 3 Award for Notice Processors.
The BPA is now partnering with WAM ITAB (the Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board). Since 1 January, approved training centres have been able to offer two parking qualifications approved by Ofqual. These are a Level 2 Award for Parking Enforcement Officers, a qualification that has a specific focus on conflict management, and a Level 3 Award for Notice Processors, a qualification that provides essential training for office-based, information management and administrative roles.
Patrick Troy, chief executive of the BPA, added: ‘WAMITAB has the expertise to be our awarding organisation partner because for many years it has been developing qualifications for sectors that share the same challenges as the parking profession. The BPA, its membership and the parking profession can benefit greatly from WAMITAB’s experience.”
Chris James, chief executive of WAMITAB, said: “There is a clear convergence between the content of WAMITAB’s current qualifications and the parking profession in terms of conflict management, customer care, health and safety, management and leadership, together with soft skills such as literacy, numeracy and communication skills. In addition, there is a common requirement to meet the needs of the built environment and facilities management in areas such as pollution control and congestion management.”
While the BPA is working with WAMITAB, the partnership between City & Guilds qualifications and Alpha Parking will continue to provide Level 2 for civil enforcement officers and Level 3 for notice processors.Alpha Parking also offers additional accredited courses like Parking Supervisor and Management training, aimed at local authority parking managers and team leaders, as well as Traffic Order Training, NVQs and specialist training in the use of ParkMap software.
Penny Winder, director of Alpha Parking, said: “Working with City & Guilds is a best fit for Alpha Parking because it is an internationally recognised brand, which has developed a specialist knowledge of the requirements of the parking sector. That long-term relationship is something that we value and wish to continue and develop.”
City & Guilds remains committed to the parking sector, said Yolanda Peck, senior business manager at City & Guilds:
“Alpha Parking has been a City & Guilds training centre for nearly a decade,” she said, “so we know they are fully committed to providing high quality training and assessment services to all public and private sector parking suppliers. Specifically, City &Guilds has been supporting local authorities’ workforce development strategies for many years, across all occupational sectors, and parking remains high on our agenda.”