Sheffield City Council workers are gaining or improving their digital skills through a partnership between general union GMB, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Barnsley College. 

The first cohort of learners to complete the Essential Digital Skills course were nine GMB members from the council’s civil enforcement team.

They completed five sessions on site in early 2023, with a sixth at Barnsley College on the day of the final assessment.

The nine included GMB Workplace Rep Dave Furness, who organised the course because he recognised that he and many of his co-workers were struggling with the transition to digital workflows.

There’s a massive need for digital skills within Sheffield City Council and probably a lot of other local authorities. It’s an ageing workforce – and I’m in that bracket.

Dave suggested the course to GMB Convenor John Wilson and Regional Officer Will Dalton, who put him in touch with Janet Johnson, the TUC Skills Development Officer for South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Everything really worked well with Janet. She has very good communication skills and she makes it all easy.

From the beginning, Dave knew that he and his colleagues in civil enforcement would learn best through an in-person course in the workplace.

I wanted the course to be face to face because I prefer that type of learning. It’s more personal, more hands-on, when the tutor’s there.

Dave and Janet decided Barnsley College would be the ideal provider, as they would be able to offer the flexibility they needed and deliver the Essential Digital Skills course onsite.

Dave then negotiated paid release for a total of nine civil enforcement staff (including himself) for the five Monday morning sessions onsite in spring 2023, plus a refresher at Barnsley College before they took the test.

After initial assessments to identify their current digital skills, the learners were able to take the course in the Moorfoot Learning Centre, one floor below where they are based in the Moorfoot Building (the former headquarters of the old Manpower Services Commission).

Dave added:

I couldn’t have done everything without Gillian Johnson in Moorfoot Learning – she helped me straightaway.

Sheffield GMB member Dean Willoughby enrolled on the course as he’d recently started a desk job in parking services (after more than a decade in enforcement) that meant these were exactly the skills he needed. Dean recalls:

I thought it can only be a step in the right direction because most things are going digital these days. And I thought I’d be able to learn something and be able to use it.

Barnsley College tutor Jade Hepworth pitched the course perfectly, structured the time very well and was always supportive of all the learners, Dean says.

Jade was there for everybody and she explained very well what everything meant and what we needed to do – the way she talked just clicked for me.

Learning with his co-workers was also a plus, Dean reckons.

Nobody got embarrassed and thought, ‘This is a daft question’ – people asked the question whether they thought it was daft or not, and nobody had a go at them or said it was obvious.

Vicky Moore had been looking for a basic computer course when she heard about the opportunity through Dave.

I’d done courses on Word and Excel before but I needed something more basic. I kept running into problems at work and having to ask people how to do things all the time – I wanted to a do basic course so I could become more independent.

Like the rest of the learners, Vicky enjoyed Jade’s approach to teaching. 

Jade was brilliant – she was really patient. If we didn’t get something at first, it didn’t matter – she made sure we did in the end!

With everyone successfully completing the course, Dave and Janet organised a celebration event for the presentation of their certificates, with cakes baked by Vicky.

Both Dean and Vicky have been putting their new-found skills to use in their work and home lives. Vicky added:

There are still things I don’t know obviously, because it’s a basic course. But left to my own devices I can get around a lot more than I could before.

It’s a similar story for Dean. 

Each time we learned something in a lesson, I was going back and using stuff almost straightaway. Just about everything I learned on the course I’m using now.

Dean is also very happy that Dave was able to set up the course through the union and get it delivered onsite.

I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Having Dave put on the course made all the difference.

Dave is casting his net wider to find more potential learners for future courses, reaching out to the council’s markets and anti-social behaviour teams and city centre ambassadors, as well as parking services.

To get numbers on courses, just putting a poster up won’t do it – you’ve got to talk to people face to face. There’s one of the ladies in parking who was umming and ahhing and I said to her, ‘My head was busting but we enjoyed it’ and in the end she’s turned round and signed up for the next course.

Dave is passionate about promoting learning to more of his co-workers at the authority. 

I can’t tell you the enthusiasm it gives me when I’m learning myself and helping other people. I’d like to look at all the council departments, knock on their doors and have a meet with them.