Latest News - Activity Update, March 2006
ENERGY COMPANIES AND CO AWARENESS
All Party Group Vice-Chairman, Barry Sheerman MP, hosted a meeting including representatives of the energy sector, victims of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, and other interested parties, to discuss how to take forward plans for an energy-company funded campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of CO poisoning. The concept of an industry-funded campaign has attracted a great deal of support amongst stakeholders with an interest in improving gas safety, and was recommended by the HSE in its last Fundamental Review of Gas Safety.
The Group has therefore written to the Chief Executives of the main piped-gas retailers, along with representatives of the oil-heated and LPG sectors, requesting further information so a full assessment can be made of the contribution that these companies have made to CO awareness activity. The Group will convene a further meeting on this issue in due course.
European Services Directive
On 16 February 2006 the European Parliament agreed to major amendments to the Directive, removing the controversial ‘Country of Origin’ principle which could have seen installers from other EU member states being able to legally offer gas work without the high levels of training or knowledge of the particular technical standards of British gas appliances that installers have.
The compromise deal voted for in the European Parliament was good news for gas safety in the UK, safeguarding the high standards that have resulted from the mandatory registration scheme. The All Party Group worked closely with interested parties and the Government to address these concerns and pressed for a wholesale revision of the Directive.
Registration Fees (VAT)
The gas registration scheme has historically been exempt from VAT. However, following a recent European case in this area, the tax regime has now altered. As a result, Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC) has determined that all registration fees are now subject to VAT. CORGI has undertaken a number of steps to ensure that the ruling will in fact have a positive financial impact on most CORGI-registered installers whose businesses are VAT registered, whilst also having a minimal impact on consumers.
Competent Persons Schemes
The Government is extending self-certification – currently available to registered gas installers for gas work – to other types of building work. From April 2006, vetted and approved people (Competent Persons) will be able to self-certify for electrical, ventilation, and plumbing work.
Competent persons will have the opportunity to register to self-certify for these different types of work with one body, reducing confusion for the consumer and therefore enhancing their ability to easily make safe choices when looking for people to do work in the home. The ability to self-certify for a range of services will also reduce bureaucracy for installers. CORGI will issue consumers with a certificate once work is done, creating an on-going safety record for use in the Home Information Pack which will be introduced in June 2007. To ensure that consumers can easily recognise the type of work that an installer is approved to carry out, CORGI has created simple logos which will appear on installers ID cards from April.