impact report 2017breaking barriers, building impact

welcome to our impact report

Dear colleague

At HCT Group, we are relentless in pursuit of greater social impact. This drive informs our direction, our decisions and our day-to-day concerns. Measuring that impact and understanding the difference we make in our communities is an essential component of what we do. Set out across these pages are the data and the stories of our impact over the past year. I am intensely proud of what our team has achieved.

I am often asked if the impact we have in our communities makes us more attractive to those who commission transport contracts. People are surprised when I reply that, in almost all cases, it has made no difference whatsoever. This is not the travesty it might at first seem. Even though we are passionate advocates for commissioning on social value, competing for work on a purely commercial basis has been the crucible that has forged our approach.

To compete head-to-head with the multinational giants of our industry, we have had to learn to operate at the highest standard – and to create commercial as well as social returns. Put simply, we’ve had to get really good at buses.

Perhaps counterintuitively, this journey has been actively supported by our values as a social enterprise. A drive to serve our community translates well to formal quality, genuine empathy inspires our customer service and listening to our community provides a constant source of innovation. That these values are often shared by our commissioners also helps us to create lasting, effective partnerships – critical to our continued success.

The drive for operational excellence and expertise has also had a further effect. The skills required to compete in the market find a natural application in the core community services at the heart of our social mission. Deep expertise in road passenger transport logistics, skill in financial management and cost control, strength in engineering, robust systems and so on all mean that we can do more with the resources we have, more sustainably.

A model – where our commercial services are informed by our social mission and our community services are run with commercial rigour – does lend itself to a blurring of the lines. This year we have asked ourselves ‘what is the social impact of a mainstream bus service when it’s run for public benefit?’, conducting a major study of the social impact of our Jersey operation. We are also exploring how to disseminate our commercial expertise to organisations that share our mission.

Even though commissioning for social value is rare in the extreme, we are seeing the first glimpses of a change. Some commissioners are asking what social impact they can get for their resources. Others are seeking better quality services for the most vulnerable. Others still are looking at the new powers available under the Bus Services Act and ask what could be achieved if transport was run for public benefit. In this new world, I believe that HCT Group is well positioned to continue to grow its impact. We have learned that you need not make a trade-off between values and value – now we can take that to the world.

Best wishes

Dai Powell OBEChief ExecutiveHCT Group

2

you need not make a trade-off between values and value

contents

Welcome to our impact report 2

Measuring impact 3

Our year in business 5

Our social mission 9

What we do 12

Access to local services 15

Physical and mental health 21

Family, friends and relationships 25

Citizenship and community 29

Employment, training and education 33

A focus on Jersey 39

Income and financial inclusion 43

Conservation of the natural environment 47

Promoting safety 49

Innovation and learning 50

Staying accountable 53

Our social impact scorecard 54

3

measuring impact

HCT Group is a social enterprise, aiming to make a difference to our communities through transport and training. We deliver a wide range of transport contracts, reinvesting profits into community services in line with our mission.

It is not sufficient to say that this is good in and of itself, just because. We have both the aspiration and the responsibility to demonstrate the difference we are making. We do this each year by measuring and reporting our social impact – the positive change made to people’s lives as a result of what we do.

creating change

To understand the difference we make, we go beyond the simple counting of passenger trips through detailed research with our service users – seeking to understand what might have changed in people’s lives as a result of our services.

To measure these outcomes in a rigorous manner, our research applies the Big Society Capital (BSC) outcomes matrix – a model of how to look with clarity at complex social impacts in a way that establishes some shared approaches for their measurement.

continuous improvement

Good practice in social impact measurement is constantly evolving. As a consequence, we continuously review our approach. Each year, we revise our methods in three ways:

pp exploring what new practice in impact reporting we can usefully implement

pp ongoing work to improve our data accuracy across all regions and services

pp applying what we have learned to improve our research questions, creating an ever better window onto the change we have made.

4

our year in business

At HCT Group, we believe that the best way to be a sustainable social enterprise is to be an effective enterprise. Our commercial success enables our community impact. Whilst the rest of this report will concentrate on what our commercial performance enables – the delivery of our social mission – this section sets out our year in business.

about our business

HCT Group is in the transport business. We compete successfully in the market for transport contracts, often against the global giants of the bus industry. We operate a fleet of 625 vehicles from 12 depots with 1211 staff and safely deliver well over 23 million passenger journeys on our buses every year. Our track record spans:

red bus servicesWe deliver 14 London red bus routes under contract to TfL.

mainstream bus servicesWe deliver the bus services in Jersey and Guernsey and contract bus services in Leeds.

school/college transportWe deliver both mainstream and special educational needs (SEN) school transport up and down the country.

We also deliver contracts for services closely aligned to our social mission:

adult social care transportA strong track record in delivering adult social care transport of all types.

Dial-a-RideWe deliver a range of contracts providing demand-responsive transport for local authorities.

travel trainingWe provide training to enable young people with SEN to travel independently on public transport.

innovation and novel solutionsA huge range of novel and bespoke transport solutions to meet the needs of specific commissioners.

We have grown and succeeded for three reasons:

ppwe work in genuine partnership with commissioners to improve services

ppwe offer a huge range of cost-effective transport services at a high quality

ppwe can innovate to find new ways of service delivery in challenging times.

our business in 2016/17

HCT Group has seen strong growth in 2016/17, with turnover increasing from £44.02m in 2015/16 to £49.57m, representing 12.6% growth over the past year. Our growth has been driven by the start of several new Transport for London (TfL) red bus routes – Routes 26, W11, W16, 397 and W19 – and the start of our SEN transport contract for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

increasing profit

HCT Group has also seen growth in profit, recording a trading surplus of £508k in 2016/17 as compared to £440k in 2015/16. Positively, this 15.5% increase means that profits have grown marginally faster than turnover.

The profit figures, though positive, mask a much stronger business performance at operational level across HCT Group. Like many other businesses for which fuel is a primary input, our profitability has been seriously affected by the decline in the value of the pound and subsequent increase in the cost of diesel.

5

HCT Group fleet

2015

/16

2016

/17

551 62

5

HCT Group turnover grew by 12.6% in 2016/17

12.6%

HCT Group profit grew by 15.5% in 2016/17

15.5%

HCT Group provided 23,780,510 passenger journeys in 2016/17

23.8m

set for the future

A defining characteristic of 2016/17 has been a very strong performance in business development, with a series of contract wins that point to significant, profitable growth in 2017/18. Most notable has been the award of three TfL red bus routes – Routes 397, W11 and W16 – and their full-year impact will be felt in 2017/18.

We have also successfully retained six TfL red bus routes that were up for retender – Routes 309, 385, 394, 388, W12 and W13. Each contract runs for up to seven years, providing a strong platform for future growth. In addition, we have won a contract to provide specialist SEN transport for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

We have also made significant progress in the ambitions for our Bristol operation, set to bear fruit in 2017/18. We have been awarded a contract by Bristol City Council to operate four mainstream bus routes in under-served areas of the city.

Our community transport operation in Bristol has also secured a grant to maintain our high impact services – which can only increase as Social Access, Bristol’s other major Community Transport operator, joined HCT Group in March 2017.

new horizons

In the very last moments before the dissolution of Parliament in advance of the June election, the Bus Services Act passed into law. This provides commissioning authorities with a whole host of new options to make their public transport genuinely meet the needs of their communities, unlock innovation and create social change. These options range from full partnerships that coordinate services and ticketing to franchising to improve passenger services.

HCT Group has played a significant role in supporting the Act, sharing our positive experience of franchising in Jersey with legislators, commissioners and other stakeholders. As a consequence, we enter this new era well placed to work with authorities as they consider which options will best enable them to meet the needs of their community.

We are increasingly convinced that a public bus service run for public benefit, not private profit, can make a significant difference to people’s lives. To test this hypothesis, we have conducted what we believe to be the largest study on the social impact of a mainstream bus service undertaken anywhere, ever, looking at the difference our mainstream bus service work in Jersey is making. These results, summarised on page 39, will help us as we continue to campaign for positive change.

We have also taken the next steps to improve the independence of disabled young people through travel training. 2016/17 has seen us take our innovative Social Impact Bond for Travel Training from the drawing board and into practice. Our first Impact Bond-funded programme is now active in the London Borough of Lambeth, with further local authorities coming on board. We believe that this approach is high impact, entirely scalable and financially sustainable for our commissioners, our social investors and ourselves.

When we combine our strong current business performance, our positioning at the forefront of progressive regulatory change and our innovation in service design, HCT Group is approaching the future with genuine optimism.

6

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

HCT Group turnover in £m

45.4

44.0

49.6

HCT Group profit in £000k

2014

/15

2015

/16

2016

/17

642

440 50

8

7

our scale of operation

13cars and vans

7coaches

199minibuses

1211employees

65double decker buses

341single decker buses

8

99

our social mission

HCT Group exists for an explicit social purpose. Our mission is:

To enhance people’s lives, provide opportunities and bring people and communities together through transport and training.

Our mission guides our decisions and how we run our business, providing us with both map and compass. We take every opportunity to have a positive social impact, in everything that we do, to maximise the good that we do.

transport makes a difference

The key to our social impact is access. It is our abiding belief that transport helps bring down the barriers faced by the most vulnerable in our society. Too often, transport’s role in improving access is overlooked or understated, yet it makes an amazing difference to people’s lives. Transport is the means by which the most marginalised in our society can access jobs, education, healthcare – or even the simple freedom of getting out and about, things others take for granted and central to our quality of everyday life.

not just transport

We also believe in the impact of access to opportunity – providing training for people who are long-term unemployed and creating jobs in areas of high economic and social deprivation.

access matters

The most vulnerable in our society are the most likely to be affected by poor access. In 2015, people with mobility difficulties made 38% fewer trips than people with no mobility difficulties.1 Each of these missed journeys represents a needless curtailment of disabled people’s lives – opportunities missed, friendships eroded, leisure foregone, horizons closed off. Disabled people cite issues with transport as the second most common barrier to getting a job.2

In study after study, research on social isolation and loneliness amongst older people shows its impact on mortality – those who suffer from social isolation are 29% more likely to die than those who do not.3 Yet 975,000 older people in the UK say that they are often or always lonely.4 Supporting people to get out and about saves lives.

The connection between long-term unemployment, mental health and lower life expectancy is also well established.

So access matters. By providing transport for older and disabled people, and by providing training for people who are long-term unemployed, we can make a real difference.

Each passenger journey for an older or disabled person represents a change – an opportunity to get out of the house, to feel part of a community, to access services, to see friends or family, to retain a sense of freedom and independence – to connect with others. Each Learning Centre graduate who finds work, escaping long-term unemployment, gains not just a livelihood but also health and esteem benefits and better life chances.

This is why we do what we do. Transport and training are not solutions on their own, but they are an essential part of any measure to address these issues.

975,000 older people in the UK say that they are often or always lonely

975k

likelihood of death

older people in the UK who are lonely are 29% more likely to die than those who are not

+29

%lonely

journeys made

people with mobility difficulties make 38% fewer journeys than people with none 1

– 38

%

planning for impact

To plan our services and understand our impact, we systematically examine our approach using our theory of change, first introduced in 2014. This involves exploring the link between:

pp an activity we doeg providing a community bus for older people

ppwith our outputseg passenger trips to a local supermarket

pp to our desired outcomeseg people can access the services they need to live as independently as possible.

To make this assessment of our impact as rigorous as possible, we use the comprehensive outcomes matrix developed by Big Society Capital. In this system – and as set out in our theory of change opposite – the key areas of impact we are seeking are:

access to local facilitiesThe extent to which our services are supporting their users to live as independently as possible and to have the ongoing support needed to maintain their independence.

physical and mental healthThe extent to which our services are supporting their users to maintain a sense of physical and mental wellbeing.

family, friends and relationshipsThe extent to which our services are supporting their users to have a positive social network that provides love, belonging and emotional and practical support.

citizenship and communityThe extent to which our services are supporting their users to be active citizens and feel a part of their community.

employment, training and educationThe extent to which our Learning Centre is supporting its learners into employment, education or further training.

income and financial inclusionThe extent to which our actions as an employer and purchaser have an impact in their own right.

conservation of the natural environmentThe extent to which our actions as a provider of public transport have had a positive environmental impact.

how we measure our impact

The passenger trips that provide our outputs are tracked through our booking and logistics systems and collated to monitor our impact every month. Each year, we review our data collection methods to improve our accuracy. Our outcomes are measured using a rolling annual cycle of focus groups and user surveys, with survey questions continually under review to gain a deeper insight into our impact.

Our Learning Centre data is gathered for returns to our partners such as the Skills Funding Agency, colleges and others.

Environmental data is collected and analysed as part of our day-to-day transport operations and economic data is generated by a monthly analysis of payroll and supplier information.

10

1 Department for Transport (2016) National travel survey: 2015, ONS2 Office for Disability Issues (2011) ODI Life Opportunities Survey wave one results3 Holt-Lunstad J et al (2015) ‘Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality’ Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol 10, issue 24 ‘TNS survey for Age UK, June 2016’ cited in Later life in the United Kingdom (2017), Age UK

our theory of change

activity output

mission

enhance people’s lives, provide opportunities and bring people and communities together through transport and training

outcome

access to local facilitiesService users are able to live as independently as possible, and have the ongoing support to maintain their independence.

physical and mental healthService users have a sense of physical and mental wellbeing.

family, friends and relationshipsService users have a positive social network that provides love, belonging and emotional practical support.

citizenship and communityService users are active citizens and feel part of the community.

employment, training and educationLearning Centre alumni are in employment, education or further training.

income and financial inclusionOur actions as an employer and purchaser have an impact in their own right.

conservation of the natural environmentOur actions as a provider of public transport have had a positive environmental impact.

individual transport

group transport

travel training

organisational behaviour

Learning Centre

1111

suppliersSpend with suppliers in disadvantaged areas.

friends and familyService users meet regularly with friends and family.

facilitiesService users have access to local facilities including shops, post office, bank, council services.

soft skillsLearning Centre students develop the necessary soft skills and attitude through education and training.

qualificationsLearning Centre students gain professional qualifications through education and training.

non-health servicesService users have access to non-health support services (eg day centres).

health servicesService users have access to local health services (eg doctor, hospital, chemist).

employment and educationService users have access to employment, training and education.

community activitiesService users attend cultural, sport, recreational and faith-based events and activities.

CO2e emissionsReduced by individuals trained to drive in an environmentally friendly manner.

employeesJob creation and remuneration in areas of disadvantage.

car journeys savedThrough group transport member travelling together.

what we do

In addition to our commercial work, HCT Group provides high social impact services across the country.

12

people travelling independently in 2016/17

For many young people with special educational needs, a lifetime dependent on specialist transport hampers access to everything needed to lead a full and independent life. Travel training equips these young people with the skills and confidence to travel independently on public transport, providing a step change in life chances. We deliver travel training in two London boroughs – one under a regular contract, the other financed by our new Social Impact Bond.

Leeds and London

travel training

68

passenger journeys in 2016/17

YourCar is an accessible community car service aimed at those who find public transport difficult to use. Delivered partly by volunteers, YourCar is subsidised directly by the profits of commercial services.

Leeds and London

YourCar

5425

passenger journeys in 2016/17

Bristol Community Transport provides a car club service ensuring wheelchair users and their families can get out and about. It includes England’s first on-street wheelchair-accessible car, bookable online in a partnership with Co-Wheels Car Club.

Bristol

Bristol Car Club

408

passenger journeys in 2016/17

We support a wonderfully diverse range of community groups by providing group transport – the subsidised, accessible minibuses we have operated since our inception in 1982. They provide transport that allows community group members to travel together for their common purposes. The social impact of community groups is extraordinary and each has a story to tell. By providing transport we are a part of these stories, acting as a critical enabler for the social impact of others. Most of the groups we serve have little or no other means of getting their members out and about.

In 2016/17 we have continued our JoinBookDrive project in Bristol, Leeds and London. This aims to bring traditional group transport right up to date in a first for the UK. Minibuses are parked on-street in convenient locations for community groups, booked online and opened with smartcards using the latest car club technology.

Bristol, Leeds and London

group transport

101,018

passenger journeys in 2016/17

Bristol Community Transport provides a series of community bus services, helping older and disabled people reach a variety of essential local services. The routes are flexible, collecting service users from their doors and varying drop-off points – really meeting individual needs.

Bristol

Bristol Community Bus

59,517community bus Route 812

Bristol Car Club

Bristol Community Bus

group transport

Dial-a-Ride

Bristol

13

passenger journeys in 2016/17

Developed in partnership with Transport for London, Capital Call connects people with mobility difficulties to quality-assured minicabs in those parts of London where regular black taxis are scarce – supplementing the London-wide Taxicard scheme.

London

Capital Call

16,461passenger journeys in 2016/17

We provide a wide variety of Dial-a-Ride services in London and Bristol supported by local authorities and other agencies – making use of everything we have learned about accessible transport to meet the needs of more people in our communities.

Bristol and London

Dial-a-Ride

111,116

passenger journeys in 2016/17

Focussing on the needs of older and disabled people – but open to all – this timetabled ‘hail and ride’ bus route in Islington connects people with the key services, shops, doctors’ surgeries and day centres that they identify as important. Described as a ‘lifeline’ by its service users, Route 812 is funded by the London Borough of Islington, Transport for London and by profit reinvestment from our commercial contracts.

London

community bus Route 812

22,229 unemployed people who successfully gained jobs in 2016/17

Our Learning Centre’s primary goal is to support people who are unemployed in building the skills and confidence to move into sustainable employment, creating a step change in their life chances.

London

Learning Centre

132

Capital Call

community bus Route 812

YourCar

Dial-a-Ride

group transport

travel training

Learning Centre

ScootAbility

London

passenger journeys in 2016/17

Mobility scooters and powerchairs provide users with greater independence, improving their quality of life – but they are expensive and often impractical to store at home. ScootAbility, developed in partnership with the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, enables members to borrow scooters or powerchairs for free – and we deliver and collect the vehicles directly to and from service users’ homes.

London

ScootAbility

925

group transport

travel training

YourCar

Leeds

14

15

access to local services

access matters

The ability to access services is central to our quality of life – being able to go to the shops, the post office, the doctors’ surgery or the hospital, being able to participate in sport, recreation or faith-based activities. Yet these services might as well not exist if people can’t get to them.

Not being able to access the things we take for granted can have chilling consequences. Previous research has shown that 19% of those aged 80–84 and 60% of those aged 90 find it hard to get to the shops.1 A recent Public Health England impact assessment 2 has highlighted exactly this issue as an important factor in malnutrition, which affects 1.3m older people in the UK.

The ability to access services also affects disabled people with 44% of those with physical disabilities saying that they had difficulty just getting to their GP’s surgery 3 and 48% of all disabled people saying that they had missed a hospital appointment due to poor transport links 4 – these are major barriers to accessing healthcare.

Research from the UCL Institute of Education 5 has highlighted the impact of disadvantaged young people accessing after-school activities – finding that participation could close two fifths of the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children at Key Stage 2. Yet study after study cites transport as a real barrier for participation.

Transport has a clear role to play in breaking down barriers between the most marginalised in our society and the services needed to lead an independent life.

what we do

HCT Group provides a huge range of transport to connect people with the services they need.

We provide individual transport from community bus to Dial-a-Ride, all aimed at the most vulnerable in our society who find public transport difficult to use.

We also provide minibuses for community groups that share these objectives. The groups we work with provide access to a huge range of activities – from encouraging youth participation in sport to providing high quality day centres for older people.

attending day centre, lunch club, etc

going to shops, post office, etc

going to cultural/sport/recreational/other activities

accessing health services

accessing training/education

individual transport

group transport

all services

18%26%

13%

21%53%

34%

53%

6%12%

9%

11%

why service users who completed our survey said they use us

3%

4%

1%

2%

difficult to get to GP

44% of physically disabled people have difficulty just getting to their GP’s surgery

44%

hard to get to shops

19% of those aged 80–84 and 60% of those aged 90 find it hard to get to the shops

60%

90 yrs

our impact

We explore our impact with service users using booking data, focus groups and surveys. In 2017 our survey data revealed just how important access to services has been, with 21% reporting that their trip was for accessing basic services that most people take for granted – going to the shops, post office and so on. This figure rises to 53% for users of our individual transport services, showing how important these are for providing access for vulnerable people. A further 18% of survey respondents use our transport to access services at day centres, with 11% of individual transport users accessing healthcare.

Our services have made a real difference. Survey data shows that 48% of our service users who completed the survey feel that their access to shops, culture, sport, and recreation activities has improved – a figure that jumps to 73% of individual transport users.

This translates into positive changes to people’s lives, with 69% of individual transport users saying their independence had improved and 65% saying their confidence had improved as a result of using our services. A full 82% of all our service users said that using our transport has improved their ability to get out and about.

16

access to shops, culture, religion, doctors % improved

independence % improved

confidence % improved

ability to get out and about % improved

individual transport

group transport

all respondents

48%73%

33%

45%69%

30%

43%65%

29%

82%82%82%

outcomes reported by service users who completed our survey

improved access

73% of HCT Group individual transport users who completed our survey said their ability to access local facilities had improved

73%

more independence

69% of HCT Group individual transport users who completed our survey said their independence has improved

69%

get out more

82% of HCT Group service users who completed our survey said they can get out and about more

82%

1 http://ageukblog.org.uk/ 2012/07/08/barriersto-food- shopping-forolder-people/2 Helping older people maintain a healthy diet: a review of what works (2017), Public Health England3 Popplewell NTA, Rechel BPD, Abel GA (2014) How do adults with physical disability experience primary care? A nationwide cross-sectional survey of access among patients in England, BMJ Open4 Gore E and Parckar G (2010) Rights and reality: disabled people’s experiences of accessing goods and services5 Chanfreau J et al (2016) ‘Out of school activities during primary school and KS2 attainment’ NatCen Social Research, IoE

17

Taking children in Bristol to Forest School with our JoinBookDrive service

The Rosemary Nursery School and Children’s Centre is a nursery and early years provider in Easton, one of Bristol’s most diverse and deprived areas.

The school is focussed on the wellbeing and involvement of children aged 0–5 years and their families, providing services beyond simple nursery provision, including parenting classes, events, family support – even pre-natal services – everything possible to ensure that children develop into well-rounded individuals.

The school also follows the Forest School model, first developed in Denmark but now used increasingly across the UK. This involves creating a ‘classroom without walls’ by taking a class offsite to Leigh Wood in Bristol for outside play two days each week.

‘Most of the children at our school live in social housing with little or no access to outside space,’ explains Ian Powell, Forest School Leader. ‘For many, going out into a natural open space is a new experience, creating wonder.

‘At Forest School, children are empowered to choose what they do, giving them the freedom to explore and investigate – which is then supported by staff. This could involve anything from jumping in puddles, climbing fallen trees, looking for mini-beasts, exploring under hedgerows, playing with sticks – or just tearing about, getting good and muddy.

‘If this sounds like great fun, it’s because it is. It also encourages the development of invention and imagination, problem solving, confidence, self-esteem and resilience – alongside aspects of physical development such as agility, hand–eye coordination and managing uneven surfaces. All in all, Forest School has a hugely positive effect on the wellbeing and development of the children.

‘We use the new JoinBookDrive vehicles from Bristol Community Transport to take the children to Forest School at Leigh Wood. There is one parked just five minutes from the school. The service means it’s really straightforward to take children from the city into real countryside. When the children see the minibus parked up out front, they are always asking “Is it our turn to go to Forest School today?“‘

access to shops, culture, religion, doctors % improved

independence % improved

confidence % improved

ability to get out and about % improved

individual transport

group transport

all respondents

48%73%

33%

45%69%

30%

43%65%

29%

82%82%82%

Rosemary Nursery School and Children’s Centre

for many, going out into a natural open space is a new experience, creating wonder

18

Leeds Alternative Travel provides transport for the twice-weekly lunch clubs

South Seacroft Friends and Neighbours is a charitable organisation based in South Seacroft, Leeds. Founded over 30 years ago, they provide a range of services and activities for older people in the community, aiming to maintain independence though practical help, advice and support.

Leeds Alternative Travel provides transport for the twice-weekly lunch clubs run by South Seacroft Friends and Neighbours, bringing older people to their centre.

‘For many of our members, it’s their only chance to get out of the house,’ explains Kate Taverner, Scheme Coordinator of South Seacroft Friends and Neighbours. ‘Our members have made real friendships here and the lunch club allows people to get together.

‘We think that having a good laugh with friends is just as good as exercise for people’s health and wellbeing – a big part of what we do here is about reducing social isolation and tackling loneliness. We also find that, often, our members look out for one another, which helps with isolation. It’s not just our service users who benefit. Many of our volunteers are retired and they find that participating gives them a renewed sense of purpose and engagement.

‘Our lunch clubs are about much more than simply providing a nutritious meal. The club provides access to a whole host of services. They include external speakers, a hearing aid maintenance service, information sessions. The members can ask staff about household or heath issues – helping to maintain their independence – and take part in consultation exercises about services, supporting our users to have their say.‘

‘It’s good to meet new people,’ explains Margaret, who uses Leeds Alternative Travel to attend the lunch club. ‘I can now get out into the community and go on trips.’

South Seacroft Friends and Neighbours

a big part of what we do here is about reducing social isolation and tackling loneliness

19

20

21

physical and mental health

access matters

In the UK, 29% of people over the age of 80 report high levels of loneliness in their daily lives.1 Nearly four in ten (38%) of disabled young people feel lonely most days.2 Loneliness and social isolation are significant public health issues with a profoundly negative impact on people’s lives. One study concludes lonely people have a 64% increased chance of developing clinical dementia,3 another points to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.4

Transport has been shown to reduce isolation and improve wellbeing – for older people, it can even be the journey itself and the opportunity to travel with friends – rather than a given destination – that can be beneficial.5 There is also evidence that people who travel more regularly are more active, enjoying the health benefits associated with more active lifestyles.6 Getting people out and about can save lives.

what we do

HCT Group’s services aim to help people to get out and about, leading more independent lives. All of our transport services aimed at individuals – from our community buses that help older people travel together to our scooter loan schemes – aim to address the social exclusion of vulnerable people, tackling some of the underlying causes of poor health and wellbeing.

We provide transport for community groups that also seek to address these issues – either directly through access to healthy living activities, sport and exercise, or indirectly through addressing isolation and loneliness.

our impact

In 2017, our impact research has shown that services are having a genuine impact on our service users’ health and wellbeing. Almost two thirds (64%) who responded to our survey said that they feel healthier as a result of using our transport – getting out and doing some exercise, not just staying at home.

In addition to these direct effects, 59% of service users also reported an increase in life satisfaction as a result of using our transport – rising to 73% for users of individual transport services. Two thirds (65%) of individual transport users also reported an improvement in their ability to cope with life’s ups and downs – a reasonable proxy for asking about people’s resilience and mental health.

1 Thomas J (2015) Insights into loneliness, older people and well-being, ONS2 A right to friendship? Challenging the barriers to friendship for people with disabilities (2015), Sense3 Holwerda TJ (2014) ‘Feelings of loneliness, but not social isolation, predict dementia onset: results from the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (AMSTEL)‘ J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry

4 Shankar A et al (2011) ‘Loneliness, social isolation, and behavioural and biological health indicators in older adults’ American Psychological Association, vol 30(4), pp 377–855 Holley-Moore and Creighton (2015) The future of transport in an ageing society, ILC6 Ibid

feeling healthy % improved

life satisfaction % improved

coping with life’s ups and downs % improved

individual transport

group transport

all respondents

64%61%

68%

59%51%

73%

51%43%

65%

outcomes reported by service users who completed our survey

feeling lonely

29% of people over the age of 80 report high levels of loneliness in their daily lives

80+ yrs

29%

feel healthier and cope better

64% of HCT Group service users who completed our survey said they feel healthier and 65% of our individual transport service users said they cope better with life’s up and downs

22

Making sure students can take part in sport and excursions

Haggerston School use our group transport service in Hackney to take their students to sporting fixtures and extracurricular activities.

‘Taking our students off site to participate in a whole host of activities is really important for us,’ explains Harry James, Head of PE at Haggerston School. ‘It means we can have access to much better facilities – for example taking our GCSE students to a climbing wall – or taking part in external fixtures and competitions.

‘These external activities are a real priority as they have an important impact on skills development. This is not just in terms of sports skills, but also the development of teamwork, communications and all the important skills encouraged by sport. Without external activities and the opportunity to put learning into practice, we would see the speed of this development fall away.

‘For some of our students, those who face challenges with their attendance or behaviour, the opportunity to participate in these activities is a genuine motivator for learning.

‘We’ve seen some real achievements this year. Our Year 9 boys’ football team has been crowned Hackney League champions. We have two students who take part in Hackney’s borough table tennis team and won team of the year, and our dance group is through to the Step Into Dance London-wide show, performing at the Barbican Centre. All of these activities use the transport put on by Hackney Community Transport.

‘Not only do we see an improvement in the physical and social skills of the students, but we also see the impact that sports participation has on their health and wellbeing. Without doubt we see an increase in the fitness levels of students who participate in regular sport and without being able to travel to fixtures and events, it would greatly reduce students’ motivation to stay fit and healthy.‘

Haggerston School

we see an increase in the fitness levels of students who participate in regular sport

23

Out and about in Camden with our ScootAbility service

Derrick, 76 uses our ScootAbility service in Camden several times a week. The service enables older and disabled people to borrow scooters or powerchairs for free – and we deliver and collect the vehicles directly to and from service users’ homes.

‘I’ve been using the service for around six months now,’ explains Derrick. ‘Before, I literally hobbled around with a stick. I could only leave the house with the help of a carer – holding onto their shoulder with one hand and stick with the other. Really awkward.

‘With this service, I can go out on my scooter to the local shops, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose. I go out for coffee or even for a full-blown breakfast. The benefits are great – the scooter has good control and can get in and out of the shops quite easily.

‘The best thing is that I can get away from the flat, out and about – seeing people, talking to people – I’m a terrible chatterer. Without this, I would just sit in all day long, watching the TV, not much of a life. If you don’t go out, you’ll be talking to yourself. You’d go bananas, it’d be log cabin disease.’

Derrick’s story

if you don’t go out, you’ll be talking to yourself. You’d go bananas, it’d be log cabin disease

24

25

family, friends and relationships

access matters

Staying connected to our friends and family goes beyond simple quality of life. Research has shown that keeping socially active can reduce the risk of dementia in older people by up to 70%.1 Another study has shown that regularly seeing friends and family reduces the risk of death by 22%.2 It is at the heart of our wellbeing.

Not everyone enjoys these benefits – 200,000 older people in the UK have not had a conversation with friends or family for a month.3 Over a quarter (26%) of disabled adults see people they feel close to less than they would like – and 34% of adults with a learning disability have no more than yearly contact with friends. Ensuring friends and family can keep in touch – and bringing people together to form new friendships – is central to tackling loneliness and isolation.

what we do

HCT Group provides services that connect people to their friends and family – and bring people together so that our service users can meet new people and improve their social contact. Individual transport services such as community cars and community buses help vulnerable people to see those who matter most to them. Our group transport service enables community groups working to address social isolation and loneliness to help people feel connected to others. Independent Travel Training enables young people with SEN to do more than just get to school – it helps them to catch up with friends and lead active social lives.

our impact

Our impact research has shown the extent to which we are bringing people together. In 2017, 56% of all service users who completed our survey said that their ability to be sociable – able to physically meet with friends and family, go out for coffee, etc – had improved as a result of using our transport. This figure rises to 73% for users of our individual transport services.

Providing vulnerable people with the opportunity to spend time with those they care about has had substantial wider benefits. Close to three quarters (72%) of service users said that their feelings of connectedness to others had improved as a result of our transport. Most importantly, 59% of service users said that they now felt less lonely, rising to 71% of individual transport users. Our services are directly helping to tackle loneliness and isolation, making a real difference.

1 James B et al (2011) ‘Late-life social activity and cognitive decline in old age’ Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, vol 17, issue 62 Giles L et al (2005) ‘Effect of social networks on 10 year survival in very old Australians: the Australian longitudinal study of aging’ Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health3 ‘TNS survey for Age UK, June 2016’ cited in Later life in the United Kingdom (2017), Age UK

being sociable % improved

feeling connected to others % improved

feeling less lonely % improved

individual transport

group transport

all respondents

56%49%

68%

72%73%

70%

59%53%

71%

outcomes reported by service users who completed our survey

feel more connected and less lonely

72% of HCT Group service users who completed our survey said they feel more connected to others and 71% of our individual transport service users said their loneliness has decreased

risk of dementia

keeping socially active can reduce the risk of dementia in older people by up to 70%

– 70

%

active

26

Taking stroke survivors in Bristol on trips and outings

The Bristol Area Stroke Foundation (BASF) is an independent charity operating in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. They are specialists in understanding the effects of stroke and are passionate about helping people to make good progress after a stroke and rebuild a satisfying life. BASF uses Bristol Community Transport’s group transport service to take stroke survivors out on excursions, such as trips out for lunch.

‘These trips are really important for our users,’ said Pat Rowe, Group Organiser at BASF. ‘For many, the trips are their only opportunity to get out of the house, to see friends, to socialise. Our group of 20 people meets every week at our centre, but we try to take an outing at least six times a year. The outings provide a change of scenery and really add to people’s wellbeing.‘

‘I look forward to spending Thursday afternoons at the club, as it is the only time I am able to get out and meet other people,‘ explains Donna, a member of Portway Stroke Group. ‘I enjoy playing games and socialising with the other members. I particularly look forward to our trips out for lunch – the Bristol Community Transport drivers are always courteous and willing to help the members.‘

Bristol Area Stroke Foundation

for many, the trips are their only opportunity to get out of the house, to see friends, to socialise

2727

Helping Paul in Bristol maintain his independence

Paul is a wheelchair user in Bristol who uses the Dial-a-Ride and personal car services provided by Social Access in Bristol.

‘Getting out and about means I get to keep my independence,’ explains Paul. ‘I’m not having to constantly rely on other people to help me in my day-to-day life. Independence is very important to me, if I lost my independence I would feel like I have lost everything.

‘I mainly use the service for food shopping, which I do weekly, and occasionally I attend doctor’s appointments or make a trip to the bank or post office. I also use the personal car service on weekends and evenings to get me out socialising with my friends. I would not see them if I couldn’t get out.

‘I love to get out of my house and meet people. I enjoy keeping regular contact with the supermarket staff who I have got to know well over the years, and also meeting up with other shoppers who have also become my friends.

‘When I book transport with the call centre team, they are always very helpful and go the extra mile to help me, always making time to have a conversation with me about what I have been doing and how I am getting on. The drivers are always very cheerful, chatty and considerate. I feel safe when travelling as they are all very conscientious when securing my wheelchair in the vehicle and continue to reassure me throughout the journey.

‘If the transport wasn’t available to me I would lose my independence and have to rely on others to try and assist me. Transport would be almost impossible as wheelchair taxis are few and far between and offer nowhere near the level of service I currently get now.’

Paul’s story

I love to get out of my house and meet people

if I lost my independence I would feel like I have lost everything

28

29

citizenship and community

access matters

Feeling that you belong in your community – taking part and being engaged – is an essential part of social inclusion. This can be as active as regular volunteering or taking part in community events, or as simple as knowing a neighbour to say ‘hello’ to.

Nearly 4.9 million older people take part in volunteering or civic engagement, with 91% saying that the top benefit is the ability to meet people and make friends.1 Research shows substantial health benefits from volunteering – particularly for older people, who see a 12% increase in mental health as a consequence. Disabled people also benefit from volunteering, which has been shown to boost confidence, social skills and employability – 90% of disabled volunteers feel happier, more confident and gain new skills.2

what we do

HCT Group aims to help our service users connect with their communities, take part and gain the full benefits of that participation. Individual transport services such as YourCar and community bus services help older and disabled people get to volunteering and community opportunities. Our group transport services support the work of community groups that engage with all sections of our community, enabling people to volunteer, participate, campaign and make a difference to the issues that matter to them. Independent Travel Training enables young people with SEN to get out and about on their own, meeting friends, neighbours and taking part in community life.

our impact

Our impact research shows that our services are helping people to connect with their community. According to our survey data, over half (53%) of all group transport trips were to take part in cultural, sport, recreational and other activities in the community. Our survey also revealed that 41% of service users had used our transport to be active in their community, taking part in volunteering. Our services have also helped people to feel a part of their community, with 79% saying that this had improved.

1 Later life in the United Kingdom (2017), Age UK2 CSV annual report (2014), CSV

active in community

41% of HCT Group service users who completed our survey said they had become more active in their community

41%

part of community

79% of HCT Group service users who completed our survey said they felt more a part of their community

79%

feeling a part of community % improved

being active in community eg volunteering % improved

individual transport

group transport

all respondents

79%83%

72%

41%36%

49%

outcomes reported by service users who completed our survey

happier volunteering90% of disabled people feel happier, more confident and gain new skills from volunteering

90%

30

Bringing homeless guests to their accommodation with our group transport service

Hackney Winter Night Shelter (HWNS) provides a hot meal and a warm bed for homeless guests who would otherwise be out on the streets during the coldest winter months. It is a volunteer-led organisation, bringing together a network of over 700 volunteers and 50 coordinators to provide their service – which is often via local church halls.

They also support guests with more than a meal and a bed, with a team of paid advocate workers who offer holistic support all year round to help guests rebuild their lives. This could take the form of advocacy, supporting people to find more secure accommodation and to access appropriate services.

HWNS use our group transport minibus service on six nights a week between January and March, transporting their guests from their evening meal to a dormitory for a safe and warm night’s sleep.

‘The night shelter service has a huge impact,’ said Steve Mendel, volunteer minibus driver at HWNS. ‘Guests can use the safe place the service provides – along with structured help – to make plans good plans. I’ve seen scores of people helped to get off the streets of Hackney permanently – along with many others supported to move into more secure temporary accommodation. Having somewhere safe to go makes a real difference.’

‘Volunteers are at the very heart of the service,‘ explains Bri English, shelter administrator. ‘They come from all walks of life and are mostly based here in Hackney. Many people end up on the streets because of insecure housing, losing their job or issues with mental health – these are all things that most of us can relate to. The service is a shared experience between volunteers and guests, breaking down barriers between them, so that guests move from being on the streets to being part of our community.‘

Hackney Winter Night Shelter

volunteers are at the very heart of the service

31

Making sure older people have a great Christmas Day

The Battersea Park Rotary Club has been putting on its Christmas Day lunch and tea party for older people in Wandsworth for nearly 50 years. The event has grown over the years and now provides a truly memorable Christmas Day for over 450 older people.

‘It’s a free event that helps bring people together at Christmas,’ explains Liz Shaw, event organiser at the Rotary Club. ‘It provides an invaluable service for older people who might otherwise be stuck at home alone on Christmas Day.

‘The event is particularly important as most other people have somewhere to go at Christmas, out and about with their families. We find that the lunch boosts people’s morale and helps to tackle loneliness and social isolation.

‘The event is made possible by over 200 volunteers who help out on the day, making a real difference with their spirit and enthusiasm. We also find that the volunteers really enjoy the day too – it’s an event that everyone, older person or volunteer, looks forward to.‘

LaSCoT – HCT Group’s community transport provider in South London – and our CT Plus operation in Wandsworth each provide some of the many vehicles and drivers needed to bring 450 older people to the event and then take them safely home.

‘I want to thank the whole team for all their help and support with our Christmas Day lunch,‘ said Liz. ‘The organisation beforehand was really good and on Christmas Day the drivers were punctual, helpful and excellent with the guests.‘

Battersea Park Rotary Club

an invaluable service for older people who might otherwise be stuck at home on Christmas Day

the lunch boosts people’s morale and helps to tackle loneliness and social isolation

32

33

employment, training and education

our Learning Centre

The Learning Centre’s primary goal is to support people who are unemployed in building the skills and confidence to move into sustainable employment, creating a step change in their life chances.

what we do

The Learning Centre’s programmes are based on the employment and skills needs of the communities where we work, covering a wide range of subjects – in fact we now run more non-transport related programmes than transport related ones.

We work with a wide variety of agencies, partners and funders to deliver a rolling programme of accredited courses to people who are unemployed or classified as economically inactive. The courses are designed explicitly to achieve employment outcomes.

This year, we have introduced a range of non-accredited community learning programmes. These are aimed at harder-to-reach learners for whom a full course is not yet appropriate, developing their confidence and readiness to move onto further learning.

We also deliver commercial training in road passenger transport and, where appropriate, support the skills development of HCT Group as a whole.

addressing unemployment

For many of our learners, long periods of unemployment or other personal circumstances have sapped their confidence and self-esteem, eroded the skills and qualities needed to succeed at work and created real barriers to accessing the labour market.

Our range of courses and programmes not only helps learners to achieve qualifications or progression onto further learning, but also embeds the day-to-day skills needed to thrive in employment – by mentoring for confidence, by providing information, advice and guidance to highlight choices and options, and by ongoing job search support.

a wide reach

The Learning Centre aims to increase the participation of learners from a wider community and now provides programmes in 14 London boroughs: Bexley, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Hayes and Harlington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth.

The Learning Centre also aims to remove the barriers to participation for the hardest to reach. We seek out learning environments that will boost confidence and participation, avoiding traditional classroom settings. From a bus depot in Hackney, to a community centre where hard-to-reach learners already take their children for after-school activities.

progressed onto further study

81% of participants in our community learning programmes have progressed onto further study

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

unemployed people after training and education with HCT Group

gained qualifications

gained jobs

526114

446203

487132

the whole journey

We want to support our learners from wherever they start out on their journey to employment. In 2016/17, this has meant expanding our offer at different levels: from non-accredited community learning all the way through to introducing additional programmes at Level 3 – including Health and Social Care, Children and Young People’s Workforce and Business. We also work closely with employers to ensure our programmes are job-relevant, provide great placement opportunities and open up job vacancies for our learners.

Learning Centre results

The Learning Centre has had another strong year. Total learner qualifications have increased since 2015/16, rising to 487. The addition of non-accredited community learning has further expanded its reach, with an additional 204 learners participating. It is estimated that by the end of this academic (rather than financial) year, the Learning Centre will have supported close to 1000 learners.

Working with some of the hardest-to-reach groups in education, 98% of the Learning Centre’s learners at Level 2 completed their courses, with 96% attaining a qualification – reflecting our high standards of teaching and learning. In fact, retention and achievement on the Learning Centre’s different courses was close to or higher than the national averages.

We celebrate our learners’ achievements on these programmes, but the final outcomes are the true measure of success. In 2016/17, 132 learners found work as a consequence of our accredited programmes. Our new community learning programmes, aimed at getting the hardest to reach into further learning, had an 81% progression rate, with 165 learners taking the next step.

34

I feel positive about my learning

I am developing confidence in speaking

I am developing confidence in writing

I am developing my ICT skills

I am developing confidence in maths skills

I feel able to express myself and be listened to

I feel able to set goals for myself

I am more aware of equality and diversity

I am more aware of safety issues and reporting

I am more aware of common values and preventing radicalisation

% agree

96%

82%

86%

80%

72%

89%

94%

96%

97%

95%

outcomes reported by learners who completed our survey

35programmes delivered in 2016/17 include:

accredited qualifications

pp Road Passenger Vehicle Driving QCF Level 2

ppDriving Goods Vehicle (Van and Courier) QCF Level 2

ppSupporting Teaching and Learning in Schools QCF Levels 2 and 3

ppChildren and Young People Workforce Levels 2 and 3

ppCarrying and Delivering Goods by Road Level 1

ppBusiness Level 3

ppHealth and Social Care Level 3

approved non-accredited community learning

ppMinibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS)

pp Passenger Assistant Training Scheme (PATS)

ppManual Handling for Carers

pp Emergency First Aid

pp Paediatric First Aid

pp Effective Communication

pp Personal Behaviour for Success

pp Employability Skills

Driver CPC for Professional PCV Drivers

pp Reducing Accident/Incident and Threat of Terrorism

ppDisability Awareness and Equality

pp Road Safety and Regulations

ppCustomer Care Awareness

pp Emergency First Aid

pp In the Zone

ppDrivers’ Safety at Work

Learning Centre versus national average success rates

we achieved a 91% success rate for our Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools qualification, which compares well to the 88% national average rate

88%

91%

36

From our Learning Centre to commendations in his full-time employment

Patrick recently gained his Road Passenger Vehicle Driving QCF Level 2 at our Learning Centre before moving on to full-time employment as a London red bus driver at our Ash Grove depot.

‘I had been a bus driver before, passing my PCV in 2001 and then working for a few years. If I’m honest, I never thought I’d drive professionally again.

‘About 13 years ago, I suffered a series of pretty serious personal reverses, losing my job, my home and my health in short order. I also didn’t help myself, making what might be described as some pretty bad decisions. I was very much in the wilderness; it was like being at the bottom of a deep, dark well – and it ended up with me in hospital about four years ago.

‘It was in hospital that I resolved to turn things around. If you don’t decide to do things for yourself, then you can’t really be helped, but with that decision made, I could reach out and ask for support. I was put back on my feet by two organisations – SHP and Cranstoun – and was then introduced to the HCT Group Learning Centre.

‘I initially took the Road Passenger Vehicle Driving course but, with my background in bus driving, people at the Learning Centre pointed me at similar opportunities. They advised me on how to reinstate my PCV licence and supported me as I applied to the HCT Group red bus operation.

‘I’ve now been driving red buses at HCT Group for several months. It’s given me a real goal and I enjoy every day. I’ve got a real reason to come to work and every day is different. When I come in, I’m excited, raring to go.‘

Patrick’s enthusiasm has carried right across into his work. Since he joined HCT Group, we have received no fewer than six letters of praise for the quality of his customer service from the travelling public, leading to formal commendations – an extraordinary achievement in an industry that rarely gets any comments at all!

it’s given me a real goal and I enjoy every day

Patrick’s story

37

38

39

a focus on Jersey

HCT Group has been providing Jersey’s bus franchise – LibertyBus – since 2013. The service is delivered in partnership with the Department for Infrastructure, States of Jersey.

a better service

Providing an entire network allows us to explore what a service run for public benefit not private profit might look like. We’ve listened to islanders and made as many improvements as possible including new vehicles, an expanded network and introducing smartcards.

an accessible service

We want to reduce the barriers for disabled people. A fully accessible fleet is just the start, so we have launched a range of initiatives to improve access:

disability outreach projectWorking with the island’s charities to improve our drivers’ disability awareness.

1-2-1 programmeProviding one-to-one training for new wheelchair users or disabled people to travel independently.

AccessCardPassengers with ‘hidden disabilities’ – a stroke survivor or someone with a learning disability – use this card to communicate their needs to the driver.

confidence buildingJersey Mencap build their clients’ travel confidence by bringing them to the bus station to meet our staff. We also support Highlands College Life Skills students – vulnerable young people with learning difficulties – with training to travel independently.

spreading the wordWe also share what we have learned. We are now the only accredited trainer for Jersey taxi drivers in disability awareness and have trained airport staff too. We have provided training in customer service and disability awareness for inmates at HMP La Moye, preparing them for work on release.

more than growing ridership

And it’s worked. Since 2013, we’ve seen extraordinary bus ridership growth of 38% at a time when it is in decline in most parts of the UK – and last year we won for Jersey the Improvement to Bus Services award at the UK National Transport Awards.

We are proud of these achievements – but what difference did this actually make to people’s lives? What, in fact, is the social impact of a public bus service?

the Jersey Impact Survey

To assess the difference we are making, we have conducted the largest survey on the social impact of mainstream bus services undertaken, ever. We asked 1556 bus users what had changed in their lives as a result of using the bus.

The survey results were interesting, yet the real impact story emerged when we looked at the experiences of specific groups – particularly older people, disabled people, younger people and new bus users.

Close to four in ten (39%) older people said their social interaction had improved because of the bus service, showing our impact on social isolation. Nearly three out of ten (29%) disabled people said their access to services had improved and 40% of young adults said the bus service had given them more independence.

The findings confirm what we have long suspected. A high quality mainstream bus service brings people together, helps them access opportunities and brings down barriers for older and disabled people – a genuine social impact.

bus ridership on Jersey grew by 38% in 2016/17

38%

improved access29% of disabled people on Jersey said their access to services had improved because of the bus service

29%

more independence and social interaction

40% of young adults on Jersey said the bus service had given them more independence and 39% of older people on the island said their social interaction had improved

40

1556 bus users on Jersey completed our survey

1556

older people young adults disabled people

feel healthier26% of new bus users on Jersey – over a quarter – felt healthier as a result of using the bus

26%

feel healthierclose to a third (32%) of older people on Jersey said getting out and about using the bus had made them feel healthier

32%

access employment33% of young people on Jersey said that using the bus had allowed them to access employment eg they could not get to their place of work without it

33%

confidence improved30% of disabled people on Jersey said their confidence had improved – well over double the 13% of non-disabled people who said so

30%

saved money82% of new bus users on Jersey said they had saved money compared to 70% of more long-standing bus users

82%

mobility improvedone fifth (19%) of older people on Jersey said their personal mobility had improved because of the bus

19%

more confidence28% of young adults in Jersey – well over a quarter – said using the bus service had increased their confidence

28%

more independence29% of disabled people on Jersey said they had more independence because of using the bus service

29%

more independence32% of new bus users on Jersey said they had more independence because of using the bus service

32%

new bus users

Jersey survey findings

social lives improved

3 in 10 bus users on Jersey said their social lives had improved as a result of using the bus

access improved

1 in 5 bus users on Jersey said their access to essential services had improved as a result of using the bus

saved money

7 in 10 bus users on Jersey said they saved money as a result of using the bus

41

Gaining independence through using mainstream bus services

Matt now uses public transport regularly after completing travel training through the STEPS project and has gained confidence in using the bus service with the support of LibertyBus. Having an AvanchiCard has helped to make travelling much easier for Matt compared to counting cash, helping him to travel independently.

Using the public bus has enabled Matt to enjoy group projects such as Taking Part Making Art and The Pond Project with Jersey Mencap without relying on anyone to drive him there. His confidence has improved to the point where he has been involved with teaching support workers and clients at Jersey Mencap how to use the AvanchiCard.

‘I don’t have to wait for lifts now from my mum,’ explains Matt. ‘I use my pay-as-you-go AvanchiCard and just top it up myself. I always go to the counter and get them to check what is on the card then top up with £10 so I have enough to travel around. I like the drivers and I’ve taught loads of people how to use the AvanchiCard too.’

Matt’s mother, Sue, has also seen the difference that using the buses has made. ‘Matt is involved in Jersey Mencap and is now using the bus from St Helier to Trinity and back on a Tuesday to meet with his art class. My son now regularly uses the bus – it forms a very important part of his independence and makes a positive difference to his life.’

Matt’s story

Matt now regularly uses the bus – it forms a very important part of his independence and makes a positive difference to his life

his confidence has improved to the point where he has been involved with teaching support workers and clients at Jersey Mencap how to use the AvanchiCard

41

new bus users

42

43

income and financial inclusion

HCT Group is a social enterprise at scale. As a consequence, our actions as an economic entity affect everyone we encounter. This provides an opportunity to increase our social impact, making a real difference to income and financial inclusion – particularly as six of our depots are in areas of high economic deprivation.1

This means thinking about who our suppliers are, how we go about recruitment and what else we can do to have a social impact.

economic impact

Wherever practical, we aim to direct our expenditure to suppliers that are local to our operations or are in areas of high economic deprivation – these are often the same. We explicitly measure our spending in areas of deprivation.2 In 2016/17 29% of our supplier spend was in areas of economic deprivation – up from 23% in 2015/16 and representing a total spend of £4.18m.

HCT Group is focussed on growth, particularly in areas of high economic deprivation. This enables us to provide livelihoods in ever greater numbers. In 2016/17, 58% of our employees lived in deprived areas, ensuring that our day-to-day payroll helps with regeneration.

sharing our knowledge

Our journey began as Hackney Community Transport, a small community transport charity. As we have grown to become a social enterprise of increasingly national scale, we have learned a great deal about how to grow, how to succeed in new marketplaces and how to deliver on our social mission.

We believe that we have a responsibility to support our peers in the social enterprise movement, doing what we can to raise its profile, share what we know – and even campaigning to change its landscape. In 2016/17 this involved:

ppDai Powell, our chief executive, and other members of our executive and senior management teams speaking at a wide range of events and conferences, plus participating on the boards of Big Society Capital, the Community Transport Association and Social Enterprise UK

pp successfully campaigning for progressive measures during the passage of the Bus Services Act, sharing our positive experience of franchising in Jersey with legislators, commissioners and other stakeholders

ppworking with leading lawyers Bates Wells Braithwaite, creating a plain English guide that sets out The art of the possible in public procurement (pictured below), helping commissioners as they try to procure more progressively.

1 Most deprived 25% of Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) based on the 2011 Census in the index of multiple deprivation 2015.2 This calculation excludes supplier spend in the Channel Islands as there is no equivalent dataset to the IMD for comparison.

HCT Group paid £4.18m in 2016/17 to suppliers or subcontractors in areas of disadvantage 1

£4.18m

total spend in areas of disadvantage

29% of total spend by HCT Group in 2016/17 was in areas of disadvantage,1 an increase on 23% and 24% for the previous two years

29%

The art of the possible in public procurementFrank Villeneuve-Smith and Julian Blake

buying social

We also recognise that our spending can have a further social impact – by buying social ourselves. In 2016/17 we have continued to identify and procure from social sector suppliers, moving this on from a project to an established procurement practice.

We actively seek out suppliers that share our values, procuring from social enterprises, B Corps, cooperatives and the broader social sector wherever possible. We have also exceeded our target of maintaining over 50 commercial relationships with social sector suppliers over the course of the financial year, with more than 60 now in our supply chain. The social sector provides us with a wide range of goods and services, from website building to events, from recruitment to finance.

In 2016/17 our aim has been to increase the significance of our trade as well as the number of suppliers – cooperatives now provide our telecommunications and our energy, a B Corp provides our legal advice and a fellow social enterprise provides our largest staff development programme.

We will be continuing our search for cost-effective, high quality suppliers that share our values over the year ahead – and continue to monitor and target our performance.

44

social sector suppliers

HCT Group works with more than 60 social sector suppliers

60+

employees in areas of disadvantage

58% of total employees at HCT Group in 2016/17 are in areas of disadvantage, an increase on 44% and 45% for the previous two years

45

46

conservation of the natural environment

caring for the environment

As both a social enterprise and a transport operator, we believe that we have a genuine responsibility to the natural environment. To that aim, we have been running a structured programme – Caring for the Environment – since 2009. The programme is comprised of three distinct but complementary strands of work, each of which enable us to reduce the impact we make on the environment.

measuring our environmental impact

We operate a fleet of 625 buses, minibuses and community cars across the country – a number that is growing all the time. This makes understanding the impact we have on the environment very important, as it enables us to work on actively reducing it.

We measure the organisation’s annual carbon footprint, allowing us to work out the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent 1 (CO2e) per kilometre driven and per passenger journey. Measuring and monitoring these allows us to take action to reduce our footprint and determine if we have succeeded.

We have continued working towards Green Mark accreditation, carrying out environmental audits in our depots and implementing an Environmental Management System for HCT Group. This is in line with the objectives of ISOs 14001; 2004 (environmental management systems), 14031 (environmental performance evaluation) and 19011 (environmental auditing).

maximising our positive impact

As a public transport provider, we support environmentally friendly choices. Where we operate mainstream bus services, we actively make the case to the travelling public to switch from car to bus.

In Jersey, we’ve grown annual ridership by 38% to over 4.3 million passenger journeys – with 74% of passengers having access to a car but choosing the bus instead. Guernsey has seen ridership growth of 9.75% to 1,650,000 passenger trips – the highest annual number of passengers recorded since data was first collected in this format in 1996.

It’s not just our mainstream services that can help the environment. One of the key activities we deliver as a social enterprise is group transport – accessible minibuses for a wide range of community groups. We deliver this in five London boroughs plus Leeds and Bristol. Enabling community groups to travel together saved over 46,000 car journeys in 2016/17.

Our community transport operations also provide MiDAS training – which includes driving in an environmentally friendly manner. During 2016/17 we enabled almost 500 community drivers to receive this training, reducing the carbon footprint for each minibus journey they undertake.

47

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

HCT Group emissions in kg CO2 equivalent

per passenger journey

per km driven

0.6060.889

0.5800.778

0.5500.866

1 To take into account the emission of other greenhouse gases when calculating the level of greenhouse gas emissions, scientists have devised an equivalent measure – CO2e (which literally means carbon dioxide equivalent).2 Well-to-wheel (WTW) is a value that includes all the emissions involved in the process of extraction/creation, processing and use of fuel in a vehicle to gauge the total carbon impact of that vehicle in operation.

HCT Group carbon footprint in tonnes CO2 equivalent

2014

/15

2015

/16

2016

/17

12,8

92

11,7

82

13,0

77

48 making change happen

Despite the positive choice represented by public transport and groups travelling together, our vehicles still burn fossil fuels. We have put in place a wide variety of projects to reduce the environmental impact attendant on running a bus company. This has included purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles, using ultra-low-sulphur fuels, a recycling project that avoids waste going to landfill, a maintenance schedule that maximises fuel efficiency and a policy of keeping our fleet age well below the industry average.

Over the course of 2016/17, we have taken a variety of additional steps, each aimed at improving our environmental performance. We have expanded our fleet of hybrids vehicles from 22 to 38, each applying stop–start control to reduce emissions.

In London we have invested in 41 new single deck vehicles that meet the exacting Low Carbon Emission Buses (LCEB) standard. These use smarter, battery powered vehicle systems instead of components known as ‘parasitic ancillaries’ – energy hungry systems that use power taken directly from the engine. An LCEB-rated bus reduces ‘well-to-wheel’ 2 emissions by over 30%.

We continue to improve the environmental performance of our fleet across HCT Group. A decisive majority (63%) of our vehicles now meet at least the Euro V emissions standard – with 39% meeting or exceeding the latest Euro VI standard. At the same time, we continue to phase out older, more polluting vehicles.

We have continued to expand our project to modify cooling systems on buses with e-fans, installing the new technology on an additional 27 vehicles. This provides a fuel efficiency (and corresponding emissions) saving per bus of 6%. We have also invested in our first electric vehicle, which serves as our engineering support van. The idea is to not only reduce our emissions but also use it as a means of learning about the operation and maintenance of electric vehicles.

This year we have made significant progress in developing a group-wide approach to telematics, helping to reduce fuel use. Telematics provides drivers with a real-time display that shows the environmental impact of their driving. This feedback helps to reduce harsh braking or accelerating, overrevving and so on, leading to a reduction in emissions.

our environmental performance

Key performance indicators for our environmental impact in 2016/17 show that our overall carbon footprint has increased by 11% since 2016, most likely due to the expansion of red bus services in London. Our carbon intensity in terms of CO2e per kilometre driven has also increased by 11.3%. However, our carbon intensity in terms of CO2e per passenger journey has decreased for the third year in a row, this year by 5.2%.

Average age of HCT Group fleet in years

2014

/15

2015

/16

2016

/17

7.8

12.0

6.7

HCT Group fleet by Euro emissions standard

Euro VI

Euro V

Euro IV

Euro III or lower

39%

24%

19%

19%

49

promoting safety

The safety of our staff, passengers, service users and the public at large is a clear priority for HCT Group.

At the heart of our approach is an organisation-wide safety management system. This covers the full range of safety practices across HCT Group, ensuring that all areas work consistently to the same high standard. This activity is also helping us to move towards ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management systems).

a safe workplace

We ensure that health and safety practices at work are consistent and rigorously monitored. Health and safety is a part of each staff member’s induction and regular briefings are undertaken to ensure that staff understand their responsibility to minimise risk in all areas of their work.

Instructions on safe working practices are included within our health and safety policy, which all operations staff are provided with and must sign as a term of employment. Staff supervisors are responsible for ensuring that all of their team members have read and fully understood all relevant health and safety policies and procedures. These are reviewed annually or on significant changes to our business, and modified to ensure effectiveness. To support this, we carry out a rolling programme of activity, including:

pp carrying out risk assessments and reviewing them when necessary – providing resources to maintain and improve standards of health and safety

pp providing and maintaining work systems that are safe and without risk to health

pp ensuring all equipment, machinery and plant is maintained in a safe condition, amongst many other measures.

building a safety culture

During 2016/17 we have taken a number of steps to further embed a safety culture across HCT Group. Each of our four operating regions now has at least one manger holding the full NEBOSH Diploma. This is a globally recognised qualification aimed at health and safety professionals, strengthening HCT Group’s safety expertise.

We have also maintained our externally accredited SAFEcontractor status and continued the use of external health and safety audits, gaining further insights into how we can improve our performance. We also subscribe to CIRAS – the confidential safety reporting system in London. We are members of the British Safety Council, helping us to benchmark HCT Group against other industries and ensure we are fully up to date with best practice.

We have maintained our practice of regular ‘toolbox talks’ across HCT Group. These are a rolling programme of bitesized training sessions, each covering a different aspect of the system and safe working practices.

our safety performance

Data from 2016/17 shows that our rate of collisions has remained almost exactly the same since last year. However, we believe that our collisions rate is still too high and we need to do more to improve our performance. As a consequence, every collision involving an HCT Group vehicle is investigated with a view to putting further measures in place to reduce on-road collisions. In 2016/17 we have recruited a full-time accident and insurance manager to help us redouble our efforts.

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

number of collisions involving HCT Group vehicles per million miles

93.9

91.3

91.7

HCT Group is constantly seeking new ways to make a difference and maximise impact. From projects that increase the social impact of our everyday work to new services that help our communities, every area of our operation aims for innovation. We capture the learning from each new project – whether a success or a failure, sharing the lessons across HCT Group and beyond.

50

innovation and learning

We have been operating a diesel-hybrid electric research bus in partnership with University College London since 2013. The vehicle is fitted with sensors to test the impact of its movement on passenger comfort and safety, leading to design improvements. The vehicle is also used to test the efficiency of hybrid engines with real-life data and the aim of balancing and improving the performance of different elements of the hybrid-drive system.

London

research bus

Working with Bristol City Community Trust, Bristol Community Transport has provided an accessible shuttle bus for Ashton Gate stadium, home of Bristol City FC and Bristol RFC, since 2014. The service picks up disabled fans from the main car park and takes them to the stadium and back. The service helps around 50 disabled people each home game to cheer on their team!

Bristol

Ashton Gate stadium shuttle

London

Jack Tizard SEN transport

Jack Tizard is an outstanding school in west London for pupils aged 3–19 with a range of severe learning difficulties. The local authority commissioned us to take over Jack Tizard’s specialist transport in 2016 after parents and teachers reported a serious lack of trust in the existing provider. To turn the service around, we combined our deep operational expertise with the innovative, stakeholder-led approach natural in community transport. Our work is now based on strong and trusted relationships with the school, parents and the local authority, and the provision of a closely tailored, high quality service.

Our Bristol operation works in partnership with the Bristol Supported Internship Programme, to provide a work placement on the Sixteen16 project. The idea behind is to give young adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities work experience as a part of a structured programme to build the skills they need to thrive in life and work.

Bristol

Sixteen16 project

Jack Tizard SEN transport

The Amazing Journey project

Guernsey

Sixteen16 project

Bristol

Ashton Gate stadium shuttle

51

The Amazing Journey project in Guernsey aims to help young people build the skills and confidence to travel independently on public transport – getting out, meeting their friends and family and enjoying Guernsey. Developed initially with Guernsey’s Amazing Club – a mixed group of young people with autism and their friends – the programme has how been taken into some of the island’s schools. The project provides an induction into safe bus travel for children and young people with special education needs, which may mean support with journey planning, boarding and arranging for a carer to meet them at their destination.

Guernsey

The Amazing Journey project

Our Learning Centre is working in a Groundwork London-led partnership with ten other organisations to support unemployed Londoners aged 25 and over with disabilities and long-term health conditions to make the transition into sustainable employment. Funded by the Building Better Opportunities fund (which combines money from the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund), we are providing tailored help to prepare participants for work, followed by supported work placements – with ongoing help after the placement in getting and keeping a job.

London

ACE Project

Our Yorkshire operation has been helping to raise awareness for the Fuel for School campaign – an innovative project that aims to provide young school children with breakfast, ensuring they attend classes ready to learn. We provided a specially decorated bus for the Tour de Yorkshire publicity caravan, which drives ahead of the riders. The bus promoted the campaign and provided information to spectators. It is estimated that 2.2 million people watched the event on the streets of Yorkshire over the three days of the race.

Leeds

Fuel for School

LibertyBus, our operation in Jersey, launched a folding-bike hire scheme in 2016/17 – LibertyBike. As a social enterprise we’re keen to encourage cycling but there is currently no room for bicycles on Jersey’s buses. The answer is simple – folding bikes that people can hire by the day from lockers at the bus station, booking online. LibertyBike is a partnership between HCT Group and Brompton, the world’s leading folding-bike maker. It’s a great way to help reduce congestion and its corresponding environmental harm – and it’s also a brilliant way to stay healthy!

Jersey

LibertyBike

Fuel for School

Leeds

Jack Tizard SEN transport

research bus

ACE Project

London

Jersey

LibertyBike

52

53

staying accountable

As a social enterprise, it is imperative that we deliver on our mission, creating the greatest possible long-term impact. This requires the relentless pursuit of our social mission, combined with financial and operational excellence to make our goals achievable. To accomplish this, it is critical that we remain accountable to our stakeholders: our beneficiaries, our service users, our employees and others – engaging with them at every opportunity.

Board of Trustees

HCT Group has put in place an experienced Board with a very broad range of sector- and profession-specific skills. The Board meets regularly and has a maximum of 12 members, each on a three-year rolling cycle of membership.

direct stakeholder outreach

In order to keep the social mission at the forefront of our business decisions, we have a rolling programme of direct stakeholder outreach in each of our operating regions. We meet regularly with local community leaders, elected officials and heads of community groups to understand local priorities. To further support this, our community operation in Bristol also has a local Board of Trustees.

We also conduct direct outreach with service users to better understand their needs – through surveys, focus groups and open service user or passenger meetings. These enable us to remain accountable, take feedback, listen to concerns and explore new ideas.

asking our staff

HCT Group conducts an annual staff satisfaction survey, giving our colleagues a stronger voice. The survey explores how employees feel about their role, the organisation and how communication and dialogue might be improved. The results for 2017 have been shared across the organisation, with regions developing action plans to address staff feedback.

Social Enterprise Champions

Effective two-way engagement with staff about our mission is vital if we are to achieve our potential as a social enterprise. Our Social Enterprise Champions programme works with a cross section of our staff who learn all about social enterprise, HCT Group’s social impact and why it’s a good idea. Our fourth intake of champions started their programme in spring 2017 and will join previous intakes in getting the message about our social mission across to colleagues and helping with staff inductions.

external accountability

As well as remaining accountable to ourselves, our employees and our service users, we must also remain accountable to our social investors, commercial customers and grantmakers. Regular performance measurement for both operational activity and social impact has been built into our systems to monitor our progress in delivering our mission, to better inform our management decisions, to help us improve our performance and to provide information to our partners.

I enjoy undertaking my role with company

7%

14%

79%

my job gives me a feeling of personal satisfaction

9%11%

80%

my job makes a difference in people’s lives

results of HCT Group staff satisfaction survey

agree

neither agree nor disagree

disagree

10%

83%

7%

our social impact scorecard

54 social impact 2015/16 2016/17

Community transport Passenger trips provided to community groups 123,716 1 101,018

Passenger trips provided to disadvantaged individuals 242,960 232,841

Access to local facilities Access to shops, culture, sport, recreation % improved 62% 48%

Independence % improved 49% 45%

Transport service has enhanced ability to get out and about % agree 84% 82%

Physical and mental health

Confidence % improved 51% 43%

Feeling healthy % improved 32% 64%

Life satisfaction % improved 32% 59%

Ability to cope with life’s ups and downs % improved 30% 51%

Family, friends and relationships

Frequency of social interaction, including meeting family or friends % improved 51% 56%

Feeling connected to others % improved 53% 72%

Feeling lonely % decreased 42% 59%

Citizenship and community

Feeling like you have a stake in your own community % improved 31% 79%

Became more active in community, including volunteering or helping out % agree 27% 41%

Travel training Individuals trained to travel independently 126 68

Education and training Individuals not working for HCT Group gaining qualifications at our Learning Centre 497 691

Those who were previously unemployed 446 643

Those who were previously employed 51 53

Learners developing soft skills

I feel positive about my learning 92% 96%

I am developing confidence in speaking 80% 82%

I am developing confidence in writing 82% 86%

I am developing my ICT skills 63% 80%

I am developing confidence in maths skills NA 72%

I feel able to express myself and listened to 2 91% 89%

I feel able to set goals for myself 86% 94%

I am more aware of equality and diversity 93% 96%

I am more aware of safety issues and reporting NA 97%

I am more aware of common values and preventing radicalisation NA 95%

External job creation Unemployed people who obtained jobs outside HCT Group as a result of training and support provided by HCT Group

203 132

55economic impact 2015/16 2016/17

Financial performance Current revenue £m 44.0 49.6

Operating profit £m 0.4 0.5

Employment Number of employees 941 1211

Remuneration to employees 3 £m 26.5 30.3

% of employees in areas of disadvantage 4 44% 58%

Job creation full-time equivalent jobs created at HCT Group 8 19

% of those created in areas of disadvantage 4 13% 32%

Suppliers Payments made to suppliers or subcontractors £m 16.35 14.40

% of total spend in areas of disadvantage 4 23% 29%

environmental impact 2015/16 2016/17

General Car journeys saved through the use of community group transport 46,394 5 37,882

Individuals trained to drive in an environmentally friendly manner 591 482

Average age of fleet years 12.0 6.7

Emissions GHG emissions 6 tonnes of CO2e 11,782 13,077

CO2e per passenger journey kg/journey 0.580 0.550

CO2e per km driven kg/km 0.778 0.866

diversity monitoring 2015/16 2016/17

Management diversity Proportion female 32% 41%

Proportion ethnic minority 13% 20%

Employee diversity Proportion female 20% 25%

1 2015/16 restated in line with improved methodologies.2 Previously ‘I feel able to express myself‘.4 2015/16 restated for all years: total salary costs including NIC, pension and agency costs.4 Areas of disadvantage defined as lowest 25% neighbourhoods (IMD 2015), excluding CI. 5 2015/16 restated.6 Emissions calculated for all depots with own meters/independent access to meters.

about HCT Group

HCT Group is a social enterprise in the transport industry, safely providing well over 20 million passenger trips on our buses every year. We deliver a range of transport services – from London red buses to social services transport, from school transport to Park and Ride, from community transport to education and training.

We reinvest the profits from our commercial work into high social impact transport services or projects in the communities we serve, and into providing training opportunities for people who are long-term unemployed – making a real difference to people’s lives.

For more information, please see www.hctgroup.org

HCT Group1st floor141 Curtain RoadLondon EC2A 3BX

tel020 7275 2400fax020 7608 8969e-mailinfo@hctgroup.org

HCT Group is a company registered in England and Wales. Company number 1747483. Registered charity number 1091318. VAT number 805311274. Our registered and main correspondence address is: 1st floor, 141 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3BX

Written by Frank Villeneuve-Smith, Neha Chandgothia, Sajni Shah and Tracey Vickers

Design: David Shaw

Cover illustration: collage of an original artwork by Society Media © 2009

Photography: © Barbora Jancíková (page 2), © Alex Grace (pages 3, 4, 8, 14, 20, 23, 24, 28, 30, 32, 36, 37, 42, 46, 51 and 52), © Chris Bahn (pages 19 and 27), © HCT Group (pages 51), © Peter Trenchard Photography (pages 38 and 41), © Rosemary Nursery School and Children‘s Centre (page 17), © Maria Burton (page 18), © Haggerston School (page 22), © Bristol Area Stroke Foundation (page 26) and © Battersea Park Rotary Club (page 31)

Printer: Blackmore Ltd

© HCT Group 2017. All rights reserved