We are committed to delivering the highest standards of Continuing Professional Development to improve outcomes for our customers. We aim to provide you with a positive learning experience and to facilitate this there is an expectation of mutual accountability engaging in training events between delegates, trainers and their managers.
We continually review our service and welcome any feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Access to the Learning & Development Gateway
Access is provided at the discretion of West Sussex County Council (WSCC), the status of your application is based upon the information you provide. Your account is regularly reviewed and may be updated to reflect any change in circumstance.
Event bookings
Your booking applications
If your application for an event is successful your place will be confirmed and we will provide you with relevant course information, primarily using the Learning & Development Gateway as well as by email.
The delegate and their Line Manager are both able to log on to the Learning & Development Gateway and see the progress of course applications at any time and are positively encouraged to do so to avoid non-attendance and cancellation charges.
It is assumed that course delegates and Line Managers have the authority to act on behalf of their employer in authorising applications and complying with these terms and conditions, by accepting them you are stating you are authorised to act on behalf of your employer and are liable for any costs and charges associated with bookings.
You are responsible for demonstrating that any prior learning or pre-requisites stated in the course description have been met. Your place will be cancelled if you do not meet the course pre-requisites and prior learning, and you may be liable for any cancellation fees.
Your personal details
All users must keep their account details up to date. For example, if you change your email address or employer. WSCC cannot accept responsibility for information that is sent but fails to arrive due to incorrect contact details.
Line Managers must inform the L&D Team when staff members leave, so that course bookings are cancelled. Failure to do so will result in non-attendance and cancellation charges.
L&D may securely share your email address with an internal or external Trainer. This enables the trainer to send resources, organise qualifications and certificates, or contact you about the event.
If your account is not up to date it will be suspended until the necessary corrections have been made.
Event handouts and materials
Course delegates are responsible for downloading any attachments and, if applicable, bringing them to the course.
Any handouts or materials provided may be subject to intellectual rights/copyright. As such, materials are provided for personal use only. Should you wish to reproduce or reuse, please contact the L&D Team to seek permission.
Event attendance
Course Delegates will be expected to make any arrangements necessary to attend the whole course as indicated in the event details or you will be asked to re-book for another event.
Events will start promptly at the advertised time. Delegates are advised to arrive at least 15 minutes before the course start time. It is at the trainer’s discretion to accept late entry up to 10 minutes after the start time; after this a non-attendance fee may be applied and the delegate may be asked to rebook. If the delegate is unavoidably delayed please contact Learning & Development.
You must sign the attendance register as soon as you can on arrival. If this is not done there is no evidence that you attended, which will trigger a non-attendance invoice and you will not be issued with a certificate of attendance.
Event evaluations and certificates
We will provide you with the opportunity to evaluate your learning via an online course evaluation. Your certificate of attendance will be available for download once the evaluation is completed if you have attended the full course.
Expectations and behaviour
All managers need to know about issues that affect service delivery so they can deal with the situation, act upon it, and facilitate changes and improvement. If a trainer or a delegate has concerns that arise during a learning event;
- Trainers have the authority to act on any issue/practice/situation/concern either about, or raised by, a delegate in a training context. Initially they will try and resolve this with the individual concerned. If this is not possible then the issue will be taken, via the Learning and Development Manager, to the delegate’s manager.
- Any such matters will be dealt with in a timely, factual way with the delegate being informed of the course of action to be taken.
- If inappropriate behaviour is demonstrated or is contrary to the agreed ground rules the delegate could be asked to leave the event, return to the workplace and their manager will be informed.
- If delegates have concerns about any issues they experience during the learning event they should discuss this with the trainer in the first instance. If not appropriate or unresolved then they should talk to their line manager who will contact the Learning and Development Manager. We welcome feedback as part of monitoring the quality of our learning and development activity.
Attendance charges
We have a sliding scale of charges that are continually reviewed. Our aim is to support West Sussex and to make the best use of public funding. Different charges apply to different sectors and Gateway users will be assigned a pricing band when their account is created. Discounts of up to 100% apply to partners and those organisations with which we have a Service Level Agreement.
Any charges that apply will be displayed on the relevant course details page. Some events have additional payment terms and conditions which will also be displayed on the course details page.
Delegate cancellation, late arrival and non-attendance
It is important to note that even though a course may not have an up-front booking or attendance fee, cancellation and non-attendance charges do apply.
Delegate cancellation
Confirmed places that are cancelled 10 working days (i.e. Monday-Friday) or less before the course takes place will be charged at the standard rate. This is currently £50 for a half day event, £90 for each whole day (i.e. £180 for a two-day event).
Delegate non-attendance
The same charge will also be made for non-attendance on the day without any notice, or late arrival or if a delegate has not completed the required pre-work. The charge is levied to recoup a proportion of the overheads incurred. The rates and notice period indicated are subject to continual review.
Delegate substitution
Should the original delegate not be able to take up their place on a course we can accommodate a substitute from your service, but this should be done prior to the start of the course. This can easily be requested by contacting the Learning and Development team.
Please bear in mind that the cancellation policy still applies if the substituted delegate subsequently cancels within 10 working days or fails to attend.
Any fees and charges will be invoiced to your employer and will be governed by WSCC debt recovery process. You employer is responsible regardless of any change in line management.
Account inactivity
Accounts will be irretrievably removed after 1 year of inactivity, for more information about how we handle your data please see our Privacy Policy.
All the Learning & Development team wish you a positive learning experience.