Allocation of duty of care responsibilities:
Recruit ratios
ARMY
"Duty-of-care"—known as Supervisory
Manpower
Supervisory care is defined as providing a Military
pastoral care regime, supported as appropriate by voluntary agencies,
that is capable of supervising trainees during training, especially
out-of-hours. It is separate from Duty of Care, in that out of
hours supervision is not a legislative requirement and stems from
a moral obligation. Duty of Care, on the other hand, is a legal
requirement on the ATRA to provide a minimum level of care/safeguard
commensurate with the activity being undertaken.
ATRA's study into Supervisory Manpower was concerned
purely with those trainees at Phase 2 establishments. Phase 1
(initial training) establishments are manned in the main by military
staff who can cover out of duty hours. It is, therefore, only
at Phase 2 establishments, where instructors are often largely
civilian, that the issue of covering for out of duty hours is
an issue.
In conducting its initial review of the requirement
for Supervisory Manpower, ATRA staff conducted a modelling exercise
that attempted to identify the ideal ratio of supervisory cover
for out-of-hours supervision. Out-of-hours was considered to be
the time when young trainees were at most risk; this is because
during the working day (0830 to 1600 approx—Monday to Friday)
they are in class under the direct instruction of military and/or
civilian staff (civil service and or civilian contractor). The
model assessed a number of factors such as the length of the working
week, the down time (ie the length of time not in class (including
weekends), the length of the working year, and the number of hours
that a `supervisor' could be expected to work. Nine options were
considered and then outcomes identified ranging from one extreme
a requirement for 389 out-of-hours supervisors to a low of 212
at the other.
The final result of the base analysis recommended
that a ratio of 1 supervisor to 38 trainees should form the basis
of further work. The model assessed (based on a silent hour base
of 84 hours, on a max working week of 48 hours over a working
year of 46 weeks) the ideal out-of-hour supervisory cover requirement
and concluded that the requirement was 280 supervisors at LCpl/Cpl
rank. (set against an anyone time average Ph 2 trainee population
of c 5,200).
Although the headline requirement was 280 supervisors,
when actual established direct out-of-hours supervisory staff
was deducted the identifiable gap between what was available in
units and the requirement was for an additional 150 posts. The
initial findings were then tempered through a multi criteria analysis
of subjective factors. The multi criteria analysis which was based
on proximity to local amenities, in barrack facilities, guarding
regimes, course typology, size of female population, size of Foreign
& Commonwealth population, out-of-hours private study and
double hatting of supervisory duties that enabled the ATRA to
target the manpower requirements to where it was most needed.
While the initial modelling work identified
and confirmed the LCpl/Cpl out-of-hours supervisory requirement,
it was recognised that additional Command and Control staff were
also required, and this led to a further 41 C2 (civil service)
staff and additional staff for the Phase 2 Instructors School
at Catterick. The total number of staff required was therefore
198. During FY 2003-04 ATRA was granted 179 of these supervisory
staff, leaving 19 still to be funded. Of these 19 posts, two were
withdrawn, leaving 17. These will be funded and approved this
FY 2004-05.
In concluding it must be stressed that ATRA's
work considered out-of-hours supervision as being the area of
greatest risk. All subsequent work was based on the need to provide
a minimal level of out-of-hours supervisory care.
RAF
Duty of Care
Ultimate responsibility for duty of care towards
the trainees at a training establishment rests with the Commanding
Officer (CO). The CO will delegate specific areas of that duty
of care to his subordinates, depending on the post they fill and
taking into account the subordinates individual attributes (eg
experience, ability, maturity).
RAF Instructor/Recruit Ratios
The RAF has never believed that numerical ratios
can assure adequate supervision. The number of permanent staff
supervising students must be appropriate to the circumstances
prevailing at each location and will vary depending on a large
number of factors including: the type of training, calibre of
student, local environment, geography of training establishment,
configuration and quality of domestic accommodation and the siting
of supervisory staff. The RAF has, therefore, worked with DG
T&E and its sister Services to produce guidelines for Commanders
to assist them in making risk assessments of local conditions
to ascertain appropriate supervisory requirements.
Improving RAF Instructor/Recruit Ratios.
Following the DOC Audit, all RAF training units
rechecked and reported on their supervisory staff establishments.
We are satisfied that staff levels meet duty of care requirements
and the RAF is not seeking any additional supervisory staff.
NAVY
Duty of care lies primarily within the Divisional
System through the Chain of Command. However, since the DOC Appraisal
of Initial Training, instructional staff and others who come into
contact with trainees (eg Duty Watch) have been reminded and are
consequently more aware of their responsibilities. DOC Appraisal
prompted significant work on the analysis of instructor recruit
ratios, which resulted in an agreement that there was little value
in establishing arbitrary "ideal" ratios over and above
the broad guidance contained in BR1992 and elsewhere, as many
variables come into consideration. Thus the supervisory policy
was developed. This sets out the essential activities to be provided
and the factors for consideration in establishing supervisory
regimes during training, in the silent hours and in the periods
in between. A number of gaps in supervisory provision were identified
during this work and a bid made for some 85 posts in March 2003.
Subsequent reorganisation and prioritisation refined this to 42
essential posts. Funding has been provided to establish the 15
most urgent of these posts.
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