Petition on Prime Ministers website

[croydoncorgi]

There's a new & relevant petition on the PM Petitions website which everyone, especially workers in gas plumbing and electrics, should have a look at and (I hope) sign.

See http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Certification/

The reference to the Construction Industry is a bit misleading - inadequate training and ludicrously ineffective and wasteful certification processes affect a far wider slice of UK workers and business than that!

 

[Softus]

The requirements for workers in the construction industry to prove competence through exams and registration via bodies such as CORGI has not significantly improved safety or removed the illegal workers (ie those who cannot prove competency) from the marketplace.

Without seeing figures that support this view I can't agree or disagree with it.

The increased time and financial contraints placed upon construction businesses to meet these ever increasing certification and registration demands is creating a deeper divide between registered and non-registered workers which is having a direct and detrimental effect upon legitimate business as well as putting the public at risk.

Er, ditto.

Home information packs (HIP's) are both deeply unpopular and can never bridge this problem. Therefore, we ask the Prime Minister to review the entire registration and certification process to reflect the real needs of the industry and an effective way to promote competence and safety without further encumbering legitimate businesses.

Nobody wants to read the words "review the entire...", as they reveal a ridiculously idealistic intent. Since no government will overturn something that has only just been implemented, this petition is doomed to failure.

I'd like to see a petition that prevents people from creating time-wasting petitions.

All IMHO, of course.

 

[kevindgas]

so softus you are obviously happy being shafted by the volume of training we are expected to Pay for and attend just to continue doing the jobs we have done for 20 years
wish i was as rich as you that i could sit back and belittle the efforts of others!
and yes i have signed the petition.

 

[croydoncorgi]

Must confess I had similar doubts about some of the wording.

There is absolutely no doubt, however, that the ACS system cooked up by CORGI and its 'industry and training cronies' is NOT delivering competence. Nor, actually, is it supposed to! ACS is supposed to 'demonstrate competence', NOT actually provide skills training as such. As a consequence, we have in effect training aimed SOLELY at ensuring people pass the assessments. The assessments CANNOT really examine 'competence' in a meaningful way. Hence the need for a review.

 

[Softus]

so softus you are obviously happy being shafted by the volume of training we are expected to Pay for and attend just to continue doing the jobs we have done for 20 years

I don't know who "we" is, and I don't know why you regard as obvious something that is far from obvious.

wish i was as rich as you that i could sit back and belittle the efforts of others!

I don't think that what I did was to generally "belittle the efforts of others" - it's my observation that there is a category of people who are prepared to put nil, or the minimum, effort into working out what's wrong with the status quo and how to put it right most efficiently. An "entire review" isn't called for, and would be a waste of the country's resources. To care about those resources is a more responsible approach than bleating and whining on the Internet about 'what the government/council/Queen/police/your mum' should do about the situation.

Oh, and what is the petition if it isn't an inherent belittlement of the efforts of the people who created the current legislation, hmm?

and yes i have signed the petition.

In that case either you have at hand all the facts you need, or you didn't make your decision based on all the relevant facts. I think I know which one it is.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Well, I've signed it in the vain hope that some good might occur - but I'm cynical enough to know it won't; and young enough to hope it will.

 

[Agile]

Be aware that Softus unlike everyone else above is NOT registered with CORGI and does not have personal experience of the costs involved and of the apparent futility of renewing all the gas ACS qualifications every five years.

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

Doesn't stop him being RIGHT though.

Though I might agree with the thrust of the point the author tries to make, I wouldn't really want to endorse the words chosen. If there were 10,000 names on the list it might achieve something useful I suppose.

 

[chrishutt]

Does it really matter what the exact words are? As everyone says, it's unlikely to achieve much it itself, just another drip on the stone. It's not as if we're writing the Law of the Land here, so let's just support the general thrust of it, if we agree with that.

 

[Softus]

Be aware that Softus unlike everyone else above is NOT registered with CORGI

...and I have never pretended that I was, or am. However, this topic is not about only gas, viz:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Review the effects of increasing 'Training/Competence' requirements for Construction Workers.

...and does not have personal experience of the costs involved...

That is incorrect.

...and of the apparent futility of renewing all the gas ACS qualifications every five years.

Even if that were correct, which it isn't, this topic isn't [only] about gas ACS, it's about running a business.

After all, the petitioner believes that the House of Commons can handle the concepts involved, and I doubt that many of them are CORGI registered.

So, Agile - do you have an opinion on the matter, other than sharing in the general belief that your qualifications are futile, hmm?

 

[Softus]

i have signed the petition.

Are you the "kevin baker" (sic.) who thought the petition was so good that he signed it twice?

 

[Nige F]

Does it really matter what the exact words are? ...........support the general thrust of it, if we agree with that.

I`m all for thrusting.......in fact I did 2 minutes of it this morning wish it was longer