THE “SKILLS FOR SECURITY” NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS REVIEW SECTOR MEETING 2 - HELD AT WORCESTER ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9. 2009
Report to WAPI Members & eGroup Subscribers
I attended the above Review Meeting on Tuesday last, September 8. 2009 - representing both WAPI Members and our eGroup/Non Aligned Subscribers. Also present were Representatives from the ABI and IPI. There were other Delegates present including Chris Brogan (DPA Guru).
At the original Meeting a few months ago, the Issue arose as to whether or not the existing NOS for Process Service should remain within the Suite for Investigations, or be removed in total (on the basis that Process can be served by anyone, it is not an investigative function or the Courts should deal with it)
I then proposed and set a Survey of 5 questions which were circulated by all the UK eGroups including the ABI.
The results in general terms all agreed, with one exception, being question (4) Do you agree that those who may desire to formalise their skills in a recognised Exam or Assessment should be able to do so?
The ABI Survey suggested that 91% of their Membership disagreed!
What was that question again?
“Do you agree that those who may desire to formalise their skills in a recognised Exam or Assessment should be able to do so?”
Why, I ask - would anyone object to a PI who wishes to be assessed/examined as to his Process Serving ability – Perplexed!!
Even more perplexed to see that the ABI Survey Results were pretty much the same results as all the other Responses?
It seems that the vast majority of England & Wales based PI’s undertake Process Service to a greater or lesser degree, and over a quarter of Respondents derive 50% or more of their revenue from Process!
Over three quarters of all Respondents agreed that Process Serving should be considered as part of, or aligned to the Investigation Sector.
Yet amazingly - when we all sat down at the Review Meeting yesterday, the ABI submitted that it did not agree to the Process NOS remaining within the Investigation Suite of Standards.
So, there it is, no Process Service Standards - meaning that those who elect to take examinations or assessments to demonstrate their competence will no longer have the option of demonstrating their knowledge in so far as Process is concerned.
In a few more years there will another updating (Statutory) Review of the National Occupational Standards. This is now a legal requirement for all recognised occupations in the UK and EU!! - Maybe by that time, Process Serving will have moved across to the Enforcement Agents Sector to the detriment of most Practitioners in the Investigation Sector.
What does it matter I hear from time to time?
What are the NOS really for? Often asked, and difficult to explain…..
The NOS is a set of defined standards – They are set and agreed at Meetings of the Sectors involved, and define to what standard a competent Investigator (in our case) is expected to adhere too. Once the Suite is agreed, and approved by the Gov. Department concerned, they are then placed as a list of items (standards) Various Awarding Bodies can then decide which of the various standards available they wish to incorporate in their curriculum - they can then set their exams or assessment levels based on the standards selected.
Some standards are designed to apply to all Sectors (such as Health & Safety etc) others are for particular qualifications – such as the NVQ or BTEC.
The SIA who will (eventually) set the criteria to be licensed as an investigator, are obligated to decide if Licence Applicants are to be put on a Course and/or take an Exam to determine Competence, their Options include. Running their own Training Course (using the NOS as the measuring stick) or to accept that those of us who have an NVQ or BTEC or similar Sector based qualification, are in fact competent, because those Exams/Assessments were based upon those same NOS.
Furthermore, the NOS as a yardstick links across the entire range of related occupations, Police, Army Investigations, Local Government etc – this enables “sideways” movements between Sectors, as all have achieved and qualified against the same NOS standards!
Despite our best efforts to retain Process Service within the Investigation Suite of the NOS, at the Meeting, it was announced that Tony Imossi (ABI) had communicated with Skills for Security to the effect that “The ABI do not support the retention of a NOS for Process Service in the Suite of NOS for Investigations” IPI (David Palmer concurred, as did all others present – so it was a whitewash!
Perplexed? – Yes, I am perplexed as to how the Representatives of Associations could do the very opposite of what their Membership had clearly indicated on the Survey?
Ian (D. Withers) UK/EU Regulation WAPI - Past Chairman
www.WAPI.com Ian@PILimited.com T: +44 79 7064 5420
Category: Industry News