ANOTHER training deadline on the horizon, another potential disaster looming.
With thousands in the trade due to renew personal licences by September 1, 2019, it seems the exact renewal requirements are as clear as mud.
Personal Licence Holders (PLHs) affected must submit their application and training certificate between September 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019. But there’s still a distinct lack of clarity on the training required.
Will PLHs have to complete refresher training? Or a full SCPLH course again? And, with the Scottish Government now reviewing the renewal process and the SQA liaising with the government to update SCPLH qualifications, how long will licensees have to wait until the ‘new’ course is ready?
The Scottish Government told SLTN it will “seek to ensure that any concerns about the operation of the ten-year point are effectively addressed”, adding that the “ten-year point will be reached some 17 months from now in September 2019”.
With all due respect, the ‘ten-year point’ isn’t really the issue here.
The issue is the thousands of PLHs whose livelihoods depend on a personal licence and who, with just four months to go until the renewals window opens and 12 until it closes, are still very much in the dark about what is required.
Licensing lawyers have issued repeated calls over the past year for clarity on the renewal process.
The Scottish Government must act immediately on this. Otherwise it looks like another fiasco, much like the refresher training debacle of 2014, is on the cards.
