Lapsed awards
AALS Inspector Guidance Note - IGN 5.11 (was C/Int 48)
- Version No & date: 1: 19/01/2010
- Review date:
01/2013
Issue: When can a lapsed NGB award still be considered as evidence of competence?
Background
1. Some National Governing Body (and similar) awards, when used in conjunction with evidence of relevant experience, may still be used to provide adequate evidence of competence even when that award has expired. The aim would be to ensure that competent people are not prevented from offering licensable activities, without risking incompetent people from being allowed to do so. The aim is not to try to persuade the awarding bodies to change their existing policies but to use existing mechanisms within the licensing scheme to optimise on the provision of safe adventure activities, to minimise on duplication and to minimise on expense where possible.
2. There is an implicit requirement in the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations that providers must have evidence of the competence of their staff. Below are two examples of “awards” that have different principles.
3. Indefinite duration award – e.g. a driving licence. This assumes that the holder will not become less competent with time and further experience and so the licence remains as adequate evidence usually until the holder reaches 70 years of age.
4. Limited duration award – e.g. a first aid certificate. These remain valid for only a short period of time, in this example usually three years. After this time it should not be assumed that the skills have been retained.
Implications for providers
5. In terms of the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations, the publication ‘Guidance from the Licensing Authority’ (L77) says (on page 4 paragraph 22 onwards) that providers may demonstrate the competence of their instructors by:
- externally awarded qualifications (e.g. NGB awards), or;
- in-house training (page 5 paragraph 27 gives details about how this should be assessed), or;
- experience (page 5 paragraph 28 gives details about how this should be assessed), or;
- any combination of these.
It goes on to add that there may be other ways.
6. The Licensing Service will take into consideration the following when determining the need or otherwise for awards to be revalidated:
- if the cost of revalidating an award is clearly excessive compared to the increased safety benefits then this has a special meaning in health and safety terms and, as in the case of licensing, may permit the provider not to undertake a particular measure. See L77 paragraph 74 – 75;
- evidence of the upgrading of little-used rescue or emergency skills, or of ongoing instructional experience can be kept current by other means. Similarly, recent safety developments in the activity can be maintained in a variety of ways, including regular contact with professional associations or reading trade press, etc;
- some revalidation processes serve other functions, such as keeping the leader/coach up to date with current, non-safety related developments within the sport. It is difficult for the Licensing Authority to justify insisting on these in order to fulfil a safety requirement;
- the validity of some awards is renewed solely by paying the required annual subscription. Whilst this ensures that all award holders continue to be serviced by the awarding body, it would be unreasonable of the Licensing Service to make assumptions (negative or positive) about the competence of the individual coach or leader. In these cases, as with awards which are not revalidated, the Licensing Service will generally look for additional evidence of relevant on-going experience. In this context ‘relevant’ may include the revision of little used skills, etc.
7. The Licensing Service will normally expect a Technical Advisor to have a relevant and current national award.
Conclusion
8. In order to fulfil the requirements of the licensing regulations regarding competence, each leader will need to have:
Either:
- A current nationally recognised award which has a reappraisal of competence as part of its revalidation, or;
- A current nationally recognised award which does not have a reappraisal of competence as part of its revalidation, combined with evidence of relevant on-going experience, including seldom used rescue and emergency skills. It may be appropriate to refer to a Technical Advisor and/or an employer’s records, or;
- A Statement of Competence (or equivalent) from an appropriately experienced and qualified Technical Advisor, based on some form of assessment. Any restrictions such as venue, time of year or duration of validity etc. should be clearly stated, or;
- A lapsed national award plus evidence of on-going relevant experience, including seldom used rescue and emergency skills. It will generally be necessary for a Technical Advisor to verify this via a statement of competence that the nature and extent of the on-going experience is appropriate.
