The Plumbing and Heating Industry Alliance (PHIA) campaign to highlight the increasing number of complaints from people who have paid large sums of money for so called "e;Fast Track"e; Training to become Plumbers, Fitters and now Electricians continues.
It is distressing to have to report that the trend of Rogue Training has now moved into the Electro/Technical Sector.
There appears to be no let up in the ‘Glorification"e; of these issues by the media who include with their articles pages of rogue advertisers and regrettably no reference to those organisations who represent legitimate and competent trades-people.
With this in mind the following organisations under the aegis of the PHIA and aligned with City and Guilds of London Institute have produced a joint letter to be used against any Newspaper, Publisher, Article writer, Television or Radio programme.
This letter which has already been used against the Daily Mail"e;s article on the 10th July, expresses considerable concern about the credibility given to organisations offering Training Courses in Heating, Plumbing, Electrical wiring installations and other Allied Engineering Services extending over merely weeks and at a cost which is not representative of value.
The Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (IPHE)
The Heating and Ventilating Contractors Association (HVCA)
The Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC)
SummitSkills (The Sector Skills Council for the Industry)
City and Guilds of London Institute
The Worshipful Company of Plumbers
The Plumbing and Heating Industry Alliance (PHIA)
The Electrical Contractors Association (ECA)
The Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation (SNIPEF)
The Joint Industry Board for Plumbing and Mechanical Engineering Services in England and Wales
British Plumbing Employers Council Training L (BPEC)
Chris Sneath, Chairman of PHIA, said "that it was extremely disappointing to hear that Government ‘cannot legislate against what they call free market practice"e;.
They do not condone such organisations for what is seen as immoral though not an illegal activity.
Therefore, we have to take our responsibility very seriously in taking action against these organisations with any means at our disposal.
It beggars belief that the media fail to alert the purchasers of this type of training nor the general public who may engage the services of non-qualified persons to carry out unsuitable and possibly illegal work on their property.
Such organisations do irreparable damage to those legitimate and competent trades-people who have trained over a period of years to achieve accredited qualifications.
We are currently working with the Trading Standards Institute to explore additional ways to defeat this problem".
The recognised industry standard is a National Vocational, or Scottish Vocational Qualification (NVQ/SVQ) at level 3.
These training programmes are the only qualifications recognised by the sector and Government to prove competence as qualified trades-persons.
The Industry and Sector must continue to spread this message to the widest possible audience.
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