Before we get deeper into this subject, we feel the need to clarify our current agenda. This is in part, a response to email we have received following the ACS Appeal.

The new ACS regime which we have dubbed ACS II, arrived on August 1 2003. Whatever your views on the subject – and by all means feel free to air those views – we (not necessarily you) are principally focused on the implementation of ACS II. That has to be our first priority as many people are affected.

We repeat we have no quarrel with the changes insofar as the need for Work Experience is required.

It is widely recognised that some people were accepted as Registered Gas Installers with negligible experience in the real world of construction. We do not by the way suggest that Training Providers were in any substantial way responsible for that situation. Certainly someone left the back door open for a while but that was done by people who should have known better. The HSE have now closed that door, like it or not but inevitably it has impacted upon some it was perhaps not intended to.

Interestingly, there is a diverse population that has been attracted to the gas industry. Actually it could hardly be more diverse. Broadly speaking (our view) the population includes people arriving from:

1. Unskilled background.

2. Academic background but no evidence of practical skills

3. Skilled but not allied trade background

4. Highly skilled (Technical / Engineering) hands-on background unrelated to construction

5. Skilled but allied trade background

In years to come, history may show a pattern emerge of who ended up where.

I know highly skilled plumbers who no one could touch for expertise but some of them would not stand a chance with modern (electrical / electronics) technology. Those people were not trained for modern technology which could not have been envisaged when they were training. Some will of course but some will not.

I have no doubt that some of the highly skilled people (No 4) will make a hugely important contribution to the subject of modern boiler diagnostics and controls etc , which should be good news for consumers. I say the industry needs those people.

Lines have to be drawn somewhere and no doubt the lines that have now been drawn reflect a compromise of sorts. Of those population groups shown above, 1 and 2 fall firmly into Category III. It is likely that 3 and 4 may also fall into Category III but it can become a bit blurred at the high end. Number 5 falls clearly into Category II but there may be some individuals in 3 and 4 who fall into Category II.

One thing they all have in common is the need or requirement for Work Experience. It now seems clear the Work Experience requirements are seeking to reflect, as far as possible, conditions in the real world of construction. Conditions which could never be duplicated in a Training Centre. Unless you have had substantial construction experience in the widest sense, this point will be lost on many, including some Training Providers.

Corgi are the currently approved gas safety watchdog. The HSE their master, has of course a much wider mandate and there seems to be little doubt that the wider construction interests have played a key role in shaping the changes we now see. I repeat, unless you have had substantial construction experience in the widest sense, this point will be lost on many, including some Training Providers.

Gas Safety is only a small part of the equation and it is hoped that the required Work Experience will provide a useful introduction to other risks and problems that will be faced in day to day working. Having said that much will later depend upon where you live and work. Much will also depend upon what work you undertake. No experience can meet every contingency but the foundation skills will help considerably.

There are of course thousands of gas appliances and installations that will seem alien to many new entrants and cause them to freeze in despair. Not everyone we know but lines cannot be drawn to suit everyone. There is also the question of speed. Combining skills with a reasonable throughput of work catches many out and it is the stress of productivity expectations that will put many at risk.

I remember delivering NVQ (Building Technology) and one student complained that much of what was taught he considered irrelevant. He added that he was only interested in basic joinery skills so he could supplement his income at weekends on ‘foreigners’. Most of his classmates had a career in mind. All highly motivated but by the way, as someone pointed out recently, motivation alone is not enough.

Some doing ACS may well see Work Experience as irrelevant because their own ambitions may be focused on starting a boiler breakdown service or whatever. Unfortunately, it would be unworkable to draw a huge number of lines to cater for personal tastes. A compromise has to be reached and one has been declared. That compromise has to assume most will or could take on the broadest possible role of a Registered Gas Installer.

I know a qualified plumber / gas installer who joined a company on the understanding that he would only undertake plumbing work. They needed a plumber and took him on but he will not touch gas as he finds ‘it all too much’. He is still a good plumber. Becoming a Registered Gas Installer does not make anyone a plumber by the way. Far from it.

All that said, the good people in Category II and Category III are fully entitled to know in advance what is expected of them. On that point I remain firm and resolved to get full and complete information. I am learning that there may be instances where it is undecided which Category some people fall into. There needs to be a formal mechanism for addressing that before a Trainee or Training Centre embark on a course of learning that is destined to fall on lack of Work Experience at the ACS assessment. That surely is common sense ?

Events have now overtaken all this as far as my own new prospective trainee is concerned. He is certainly Category III (No 3 above) and no argument about that. I contacted an Independent Training Provider today and they were keen to push him towards NVQ. They do not have any Category III people. They added ‘It takes too long”. How long is too long I asked. They could not answer. I suggested one year or two years. Under one year was the reply. Not unreasonable I thought. The cost for training cited at £360 and they are now interested.

What about work experience I asked. Quite firmly I was told that students have to make their own arrangements. The small matter of the details of required Work Experience was confidently addressed and they said they could supply details required (which seems to shoot down in flames some of my earlier arguments). Fair enough I said, we’ll go for that. All I have to do now is arrange for him to be interviewed and I’ll go with him. Telephone call made.

We do know that not everyone is so confident about Work Experience. There is a need for clarity and openness on the issue. Once I have sight of details as referred to above I will decide then what can be done. To be fair, we must give that opportunity a fair hearing and take it from there.

One option I wish to explore and have mentioned it before, is the possibility of starting work experience now on the lead in to training, providing I follow a recognised format. I told the Minister I had not asked Corgi about work experience in my letter but in fact I did, in some depth. They refused to answer that but that was from a position of perceived invincibility. Not the answer I would have been offered in (say) an open public forum.

As someone wrote to me today, the authorities perceive the industry as fragmented and therefore easily put on. Those days are hopefully drawing to a close and the worm is turning.

Expect good news.