(13 Dec 2021, 9:31 am)omnicity4659 I was told by GNE that the DVLA were sorting out their licence applications within 1-2 weeks, because of a fast-track system they have in place.

(13 Dec 2021, 10:35 am)54APhotography There is a backlog after the pay settlement, last statistic was 31,000 . It won't be cleared easily and quickly, staff are still not working overtime.

(12 Dec 2021, 11:12 pm)Andreos1 Day to day management within the operators have led to a high turnover of staff for years and years. 
That's been brushed over by the MSM too or turned in to a political football when strike action is brought up.

(13 Dec 2021, 11:23 am)54APhotography Does seem to be very conflicting, how a fast track can happen when there is a backlog...

(13 Dec 2021, 6:56 pm)DeltaMan Most drivers only want to work early shifts and don't want split shifts. So maybe if all operators finished at 1730 with no extra buses for schools or peak time, that will sort it the problem! No lates, no splits

(13 Dec 2021, 5:10 pm)Adrian This is something we don't look at or talk about enough. It's always the fault of external factors, whether that be congestion, the speed of getting applicants through the DVLA and so on, but as you say, there's been a high turnover of staff right across the industry for years. 

I thought there was an interesting line from Martijn on Politics North at the weekend: "Because there is such competition for employment at the moment, people weren't prepared to wait. They didn't need to wait. A better job in another sector was coming along before they had their start dates."

I'm sure it wasn't intended to be the case, but it almost sounds like a defeatist attitude. There's a lot that operators could do to improve the working environment and make people want to come and work from them over competing sectors. Pay of course has a lot to do with it, but the working conditions are another big part of it. You start valuing people instead of a constant focus on cutting overheads, then you start to get loyalty from your workforce.

Also noticed a reference from Cllr Gannon on the same programme, that "the Government needing to make more money available for "what is called" public transport" - only it's not. As operators are keen to remind us, it's a business that needs to make profit. You can't keep requesting that the funding tap be switched on every time you need to top the margin up.

(14 Dec 2021, 12:17 pm)Andreos1 A whole portion of the sector is dedicated to recruiting and training new members of staff. 
Hundred of thousands of pounds a year is spent on recruitment, training, advertising for new staff and the associated admin costs, for a business which is constantly consolidating and reducing fleet sizes to save on overheads... It's genuinely baffling.

Yet they're arguing about giving drivers a few quid more on their hourly rate and the impact it will have on fares. 
Now they're finger pointing at the DVLA for not processing applications quick enough. 

The problem lies closer to home and until they look to stem the flow, nothing is going to improve.

(14 Dec 2021, 12:54 pm)Chris 1 Fully agree.

In terms of the money spent on recruitment and training, I notice the recent trend towards 'apprentice' bus drivers.  Presumably the likes of GNE make use of the apprenticeship levy?  In which case it's probably an efficient way to get their contributions back.... 

(14 Dec 2021, 1:49 pm)Andreos1 It's a no-brainer as far as the levy goes.
Fool to do otherwise.
Not sure on the funding levels, but can't see it covering everything.

Edit: £6k max funding.
https://findapprenticeshiptraining.apprenticeships.education.gov.uk/courses/189

(14 Dec 2021, 2:09 pm)Adrian £6k funding per applicant, but I think an organisation can access all of the 0.5% of their wage bill that they are levied and on a use it or lose it basis. 

Whilst I think its sensible of any organisation to use the funding, it does present another challenge; I'm not sure they can put the financial burden on drivers, post qualification, if they choose to leave before a certain period of time with the company. Or at least if they do, it'd have to be minus that £6,000 per applicant funding - and the figures I've seen quoted previously is that it costs no more than a third of that to train someone up.

(14 Dec 2021, 7:41 pm)Keeiajs Seems Omicron is having a impact on GNE services. With Deptford being hit badly recently. Park lane was full of parked up buses.

(14 Dec 2021, 8:12 pm)Adrian Wouldn't put that down to Omicron particularly. That sounds like most days at Washington Galleries.

(14 Dec 2021, 8:45 pm)Dan Throughout the staff shortage, Deptford has had very minimal lost mileage. Whilst cancellations at Washington have always been higher, and is more noticeable due to it being spread across a smaller number of services with a much lower PVR, I think the previous poster is correct that the recent spike in Coronavirus cases has impacted upon service delivery over the last few days.


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(14 Dec 2021, 8:45 pm)Dan Throughout the staff shortage, Deptford has had very minimal lost mileage. Whilst cancellations at Washington have always been higher, and is more noticeable due to it being spread across a smaller number of services with a much lower PVR, I think the previous poster is correct that the recent spike in Coronavirus cases has impacted upon service delivery over the last few days.

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