After winning Gold in the UK Bus Awards’ coveted ‘Bus in the Community’ category for their Drive On scheme, HCT’s Dai Powell talks to Madaline Dunn about the social enterprise and its award-winning initiative
Founded in 1982, Hackney Community Transport (HCT) began as a voluntary sector organisation providing transportation for elderly and disabled people. A total of 30 local community groups in the area gathered their vehicle resources to contribute to the cause. After receiving a grant from the London Borough of Hackney, HCT expanded its efforts with the introduction of car and group transport schemes, helping those who couldn’t use mainstream transport stay mobile.
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Speaking about how the company evolved from there, Dai said: “We did that for the first eight to nine years and then in the early 1990s we decided that we wanted more control for ourselves and for the enterprise. We had been providing vital services for the local community, but we had to apply for grants, which slowed us down, and inhibited us a bit.
“We thought that if we could generate income then we would have security to provide those services, and so we turned the business model into what’s now called a social enterprise. We wanted to trade for social purpose, and that’s what we’ve been doing ever since. HCT is a charity, so there are no shareholders, meaning everything is locked in and all the profits we make just get ploughed back into the services.”
The heart of the community
When I asked Dai about the role that HCT plays within the community he responded: “Transport is an enabler – be it commercial or social, so our community transport side enables a lot of other organisations to do the good that they do. Obviously on the other side, we’re providing door-to-door service for marginalised and disadvantaged people, empowering them to do what they want to do.
“We are very much embedded within our communities, wherever we work – its part of the value and the ethos of our organisation. We’re very close to our communities; in essence that’s why we exist.”
HCT has an array of social programmes which have benefited communities all over the UK, including its learning centre which has helped 506 learners achieve 729 positive learning outcomes, 379 qualifications and helped 178 of those learners find jobs.
HCT now employs 1,500 individuals, with more than a dozen depots across London, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, the South West, North West and the Channel Islands, and has a fleet of 732 vehicles.
Its turnover in 2018 was £62.9m, and it has seen a 20% growth year-on-year for the last decade. I asked Dai how HCT as managed to maintain its core beliefs and ethos as it has expanded.
“Well,” said Dai, “there’s always a tension between the commercial and social – and I think that will always be there. It’s more than likely the reason you get up in the morning. However, it’s our communities that support us, and we work hand in glove with them. It just wouldn’t work for us if we didn’t. We’re a very devolved organisation – and we devolve everything we can to the local depots. Everyone is in power to work within the company.”
Making a difference
Drive On is a scheme which functions as a form of rehabilitation for ex-offenders, reintroducing them back into society and providing them with sustainable employment.
Statistics show that 75% of prisoners are released to unemployment and 60% go on to reoffend within one year. Contrastingly, employment was found to be the biggest factor in reducing this percentage.
The Forward Trust has additionally estimated that for each ex-offender in work for six months, the taxpayer saves £18,600. Reoffending currently costs the UK £13bn a year.
Through working with Blue Sky – part of the Forward Trust, and specialists in working with ex-offenders, HCT was able to create a scheme which considered the requirements of the job and matched them to the abilities of the ex-offender.
“We knew Blue Sky as an organisation after some work we had previously done with them,” said Dai, “they work primarily at the prison gate and their job is to employ ex-offenders, so they’re almost like an employment agency. We went into talks with them, and created Drive On. It all came together through working with the organisation that has the skillset to understand the client group and the needs of ex-offenders. It’s quite small scale now, but we hope to roll it out later this year and employ a few people internally full-time on the project.”
The scheme works through Blue Sky initially selecting the appropriate candidate and then referring the individual to HCT Group where they conduct an interview, a driving assessment and a medical. When the ex-offender passes, they receive the theory and the practical elements of bus driver training at the HCT learning centre. After completing this, the individual undergoes a workplace induction. This is followed by a three-month review, and thereafter the ex-offender is confirmed in their post. HCT then provides the ex-offender with a full PCV licence.
Changing perceptions
When I asked Dai about his concerns regarding the perceived controversial nature of the project, he responded: “We were obviously aware of people viewing the project as controversial, and to be honest, most of the concerns revolve around perception, which you accept. We just have to understand what everyone’s perception is, including the people coming through the scheme – because of course they are going to feel vulnerable entering the workplace as well – so you have to take that into account.
“There’s also the perception of ‘an ex-criminal is driving my bus,’ but in all honesty, there’s probably quite a lot of ex-criminals driving buses. They just haven’t been through the same process. We obviously check if the ex-offenders are suitable for the client group, and there are of course some offences we wouldn’t take. Once the stories get out, the media will have a pop, so we have to be careful. But in general everyone’s been very supportive.”
Prior to the pilot of the scheme, HCT worked with stakeholders with expertise in justice and reoffending, officials at the Department of Justice (DoJ) and other social sector organisations with previous experience of programmes like Drive On.
In addition to this as a safeguarding measure, HCT consulted its cohort of ‘Social Enterprise Champions,’ who expressed that if the project was discussed openly and honestly, staff’s perception and reception of the project would be better – and indeed it was.
Success and growth
Discussing this support further, I asked Dai how it felt to win Gold at the UK Bus Awards in the ‘Bus in the Community’ category: “It has been good for us; we’re not a household name yet, so it’s good to get the recognition,” he replied, “it’s also good for the people working directly in it, as they can see there’s scope for this. Plus, it shows other operators which have had the same idea that this can work. There’s a pool of talent, and every bus company is always looking for good committed drivers.”
Dai remains enthusiastic about the future of the project and there are plans to roll it out further later in the year: “We want to expand it inside and outside of London; I think we’d be mad not to,” he said.
The results of the pilot are a testament to this. After Blue Sky referred the candidates, of the 16 that completed the training and case study training, 15 passed, which is a 42% increase on the national average. Of these individuals, 13 completed training and 11 passed the assessment which a success rate of 85%, in comparison to the national average of 48%. In total, 10 of the candidates moved onto the induction stage, and of those 10 all but two still work for HCT. No individual on the project has reoffended.
With a constantly expanding repertoire of social programmes, I enquired as to whether HCT have any plans for future projects.
“Everyone in the organisation and all the managers in the depots are encouraged to maximise the impact they can have on their community, so we do everything no matter how small. We look for what is needed and what works in each area. There will be more projects,” Dai noted: “Watch this space.”
