By Gillian McKenzie
IT has all the makings of a perfect storm… another one.
Now that the inaugural refresher training deadlines for the first ‘batch’ of personal licence holders (PLHs) to have obtained a licence under the 2005 Act – the tens of thousands whose personal licence was issued on or before September 1, 2009 – have passed and every day is effectively a deadline, demand for refresher courses is, understandably, more evenly spread. It follows, then, that there are fewer courses running – certainly than the glut in the weeks leading up to that first deadline of August 31, 2014.
Worryingly, however, it seems PLHs have yet to take heed of repeated warnings from trade groups, licensing lawyers, training providers and, indeed, SLTN on the importance of completing the refresher course sooner rather than later.
The message coming to SLTN last week was that the refresher training timebomb is still ticking.
The difference is that while some licensing boards offered those who missed the inaugural November 30, 2014 notification deadline a period within which to surrender their licence and, therefore, avoid revocation and a five-year ban on applying for a new one, such a measure is highly unlikely to be repeated.
And nor should PLHs expect it to be. The law states that boards must revoke a licence if the deadlines are not met.
It is imperative that PLHs now ensure they are fully aware of the two deadlines with which they must comply and meet them.
There really are no more excuses.
