I have a license but should we all have 1 or not

[P4dstar]

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. ... The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c.53) of the UK Parliament enables some criminal convictions to be ignored after a rehabilitation period. Its purpose is that people do not have a lifelong blot on their records because of a relatively minor offence in their past.

We have to rehabilitate people or they would never get a job and just continue to commit crime.

Yeah to be fair most would be spent after a few years but some are never spent and I was just pointing out the fact that sometimes being self employed as a Gardner, a plasterer, a window cleaner etc is a way for someone who has truly been rehabilitated and want to turn their life around to do it. It’s a much better result than someone spending a life on benefits if they have the drive not to. If people with certain crimes on their record are an issue they should be policed directly not the entire industry.

There are other factors to think of. What if the person in charge of dishing out licenses is your ex partners brother... say you cheated on her and he despises you. What if it’s someone you used to bully when you were a stupid immature school kid?? This is not a business that needs regulation

 

[P4dstar]

You HOPE? There's nothing stopping these people from picking up the tools and chapping doors. Is every customer going to do a background check on there unlicensed cleaner?

I used it as an example but it's easy to translate to other criminals. Licencing is a good idea like I said but needs to be policed and public knowledge.

So why do industries like ours need to be policed instead of the people. My point was a person who is a danger to society needs to be policed... If these regulations already exist then licence or not people will be able to pick up the tools and chap doors as you say.

Customers will never check licences, how many people ask to see your insurance? Joe public just wants clean windows.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Nearly every job one must hand in a Discloser Scotland Certificate and pay £25 before you can work for them. Majority of crimes are not included after 5yrs has elapsed so a guy told me.

You will find that everything is run by lawyers now and that's why all the regulation is coming in. It will be great for our industry and the honest professional, will strive. The dishonest will eventually be finished, that's what I am witnessing up here in Glasgow. 

 

[Iron Giant]

The licence is a good idea if policed correctly. Most of you are looking at this all wrong. Would you like a paedophile to be cleaning your windows and working around your children?

The licence pays for itself overtime. ID is such a good investment. It gives customers a sense of relief or security. Although most don't know you need one.

No mate I am looking at it as someone who made a stupid mistake fighting at the age of 16-17 years old and being stupid at the age of 24, so 19-20 years ago not serious at all.

I then met my wife literally weeks later sacked of the idiots i knew and turned my life around bought a house and got married, Built a very successful business and a comfortable life for my wife and me, a CRB won't show my last 18 and half years but some jobs-worth could potentially having me selling my business and house and stacking shelves on minimum wage 

 

[P4dstar]

Nearly every job one must hand in a Discloser Scotland Certificate and pay £25 before you can work for them. Majority of crimes are not included after 5yrs has elapsed so a guy told me.

You will find that everything is run by lawyers now and that's why all the regulation is coming in. It will be great for our industry and the honest professional, will strive. The dishonest will eventually be finished, that's what I am witnessing up here in Glasgow. 

My experience comes from the industry I am leaving (finance), the conservatives changed the regulating body (the FSA) to the FCA. They are much stricter and charge a higher licence fee. All companies had to apply to be goverend by them and paid handsomly for the privilege. The change came about in 2014 and it was the beginning of this year they finally gave the company I work for a licence. The company profits were down 95%, ariund 15% of the company Locations closed and all company cars were removed just to stay out of the red and away from going bust...

Don’t get me wrong all of this is on a much larger scale than we run but forgive me for being sceptical about licences and government regulation.

 

[P4dstar]

No mate I am looking at it as someone who made a stupid mistake fighting at the age of 16-17 years old and being stupid at the age of 24, so 19-20 years ago not serious at all.

I then met my wife literally weeks later sacked of the idiots i knew and turned my life around bought a house and got married, Built a very successful business and a comfortable life for my wife and me, a CRB won't show my last 18 and half years but some jobs-worth could potentially having me selling my business and house and stacking shelves on minimum wage 

I’m with you here mate. I think you would be alright to be fair but it’s a worry no one needs.

If the worst case scenario happened you could “sell” the business to your wife and “work for her”. They can’t stop a company “employing” someone regardless of their background.

 

[Gazz]

It's not just the business owners who need a licence. It is also all employees. 

On the topic of iron giant. Yes you get a police background check but you would only get rejected if you were a harm to the public. So you will be fine.

 

[P4dstar]

It's not just the business owners who need a licence. It is also all employees. 

On the topic of iron giant. Yes you get a police background check but you would only get rejected if you were a harm to the public. So you will be fine.

That’s ridiculous though Gazz. That’s even stricter than the FCA’s regulation. Earlier in this thread I mentioned a guy the company I am leaving fired. The FCA require the company to declare a policy on employing ex offenders and then stick to it, they don’t take details of any employees directly.

So if you had a lad working for you and he got himself in a scuffle on a weekend, went to court and ended up with a suspended sentence you would have to get rid of him? Even if you were comfortable you could keep him in check!!

I’m not against a licence, I’m against regulation the way our government brings it in!! I’m not opposed to paying a £25 registration fee, I’m against the way fees increase ten fold over a few years!!

 

[Gazz]

That’s ridiculous though Gazz. That’s even stricter than the FCA’s regulation. Earlier in this thread I mentioned a guy the company I am leaving fired. The FCA require the company to declare a policy on employing ex offenders and then stick to it, they don’t take details of any employees directly.

So if you had a lad working for you and he got himself in a scuffle on a weekend, went to court and ended up with a suspended sentence you would have to get rid of him? Even if you were comfortable you could keep him in check!!

I’m not against a licence, I’m against regulation the way our government brings it in!! I’m not opposed to paying a £25 registration fee, I’m against the way fees increase ten fold over a few years!!

The background checks I assume are strictly for people who are unreliable to work with the public. 

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing but it's the price we pay for being in Scotland and I'm happy known that my company is professional.

 

[P4dstar]

The background checks I assume are strictly for people who are unreliable to work with the public. 

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing but it's the price we pay for being in Scotland and I'm happy known that my company is professional.

Well I don’t agree with it but if they brought in a licence I would get one... Just don’t Like having things forced upon me

 

[steve garwood]

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. ... The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c.53) of the UK Parliament enables some criminal convictions to be ignored after a rehabilitation period. Its purpose is that people do not have a lifelong blot on their records because of a relatively minor offence in their past.

We have to rehabilitate people or they would never get a job and just continue to commit crime.

Thank god for that. If they look at mine or watch some football hooligan videos from the eighties, I might have to change my job ?

 

[P4dstar]

Thank god for that. If they look at mine or watch some football hooligan videos from the eighties, I might have to change my job ?

just tell them its a clip from Green Street haha

 

[Neilmnwc]

The licence is a good idea if policed correctly. Most of you are looking at this all wrong. Would you like a paedophile to be cleaning your windows and working around your children?
 
The licence pays for itself overtime. ID is such a good investment. It gives customers a sense of relief or security. Although most don't know you need one.

I can see pros and cons about this system, I could imagine something like a licence system coming in with the right intentions such as safeguarding and reassurance etc & it would certainly weed out cowboys, but so much legislation has been misinterpreted and abused by the authorities, sometimes through lack of understanding but with something like this I could see it being used primarily as another easy revenue source.

I’m all for mandatory CRB/DBS and Insurance taken out by the individual business but not a meaningless administrative system managed by local authorities.

In the case of Sex offenders (convicted) They are subject to already stringent licence conditions that prohibit them from carrying out work which places people at risk & are monitored for years.





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[Paramount Cleaning Service]

I've been speaking to my licence officer about the licence why do window cleaners have to have it but gutter cleaned power washes don't. My company are working with our local licencing office to bring aware ness to them of unlicensed cleaners. I think is about working together more. Than against


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[Incheck]

Why does everything have to be so regulated in modern society? Its as if an iron curtain is forming. Theres enough red tape everywhere as it is & as if we haven’t got enough problems without people willingly wishing this on us. You cant even buy piece of woodland and build a log cabin on it in this country as a permanent dwelling. So you cant get out of the housing crisis and are trapped in the rat race paying astronomical mortgages/rents. There’s a lot to be said for the old days and the ways of life in rural united states, canada, alaska etc. As you can tell been watching too much discovery channel.
Just one more bit of paperwork we could all do without and more faffing about with renewals and fees and queues to get through on the phone only to be answered by a stupid automated system that passes you through 2 wrong departments before you get through to the right department only to be answered by someone who couldnt care less. An idiot will always be an idiot with or without a license, look no further than drivers.


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[Nicky]

Thank god for that. If they look at mine or watch some football hooligan videos from the eighties, I might have to change my job ?

Same here in the eighties loved it. On a serious note I hope they bring a license out for the rest of the uk it will set us apart from the odd jobbers, if your above board and insured just claim it back off the tax bill

 

[Redditch windy]

Personally I think it’s a compleat waist of time who will enforce it ????? No one , if it were enforced and dole claimants and ones not paying taxes were dealt with harshly then yes Ime all for it as there isn’t a level playing field at the moment , however I feel that the house holders who have these dole claimed doing a cheap poor job are never going to be good customers anyway as all they are intrested in is a cheap job not a quality job , no one who is claiming benefits and working is going to invest in good equipment or offer a professional service they generaly don’t last or they get a bad name and fade away seen loads come and go over the last 20 years and they arnt a threat to a well established professional uniformed sighn written van out fit , Ime sure there will be loads crawl out of the wood work over the next few weeks and disappear by September as usual [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

i dont wear a uniform, my vans not signwritten; yet my quality of work is as good as anyone's.my customers employ me for my services,not for a brand spanking new van and and neatly pressed uniform.
I've seen flashy van harry doing shocking work,its the person not the kit,sometimes it really is "all the gear and no idea"

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[jgrayson11]

I think this is a total matter of opinion (at this point...)
Your customer employs you - they're not contractually or legally bound in any way, thus they don't legally require ID unless they personally want some. I don't wear uniform or have a sign written van, I just have sign written fliers, envelopes and payment slips. My customer base is solid, established and trusted, and ever building. If we are required to legally hold a licence in the future, there'll be no problem getting a hold of one. In fact, I'd be happy to do so to keep the people at the top happy. Doesn't affect me or anyone else in any way. I'm not too sure why this would strike a nerve with anyone though, if anything it'd seem to be a half decent thing...wouldn't it? Yes it means more to pay out, yes it's another thing to abide by, but it's at least another form of commitment to the industry which we claim to harvest a living from.

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[Pjj]

i dont wear a uniform, my vans not signwritten; yet my quality of work is as good as anyone's.my customers employ me for my services,not for a brand spanking new van and and neatly pressed uniform.
I've seen flashy van harry doing shocking work,its the person not the kit,sometimes it really is "all the gear and no idea"

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Yes i hear what you are saying but there are a lot of fly by nights who start window cleaning as they think it’s a quick buck do a poor job and claiming benefits doing cash in hand jobs getting the professional cleaner a bad name : by being uniformed,  Sign written van , looking smart comes over as professional, I accept not all are though , but I know who I would employ if they knocked on my door 

 

[Part Timer]

Unfortunately I'm old enough to have been driving heavy goods vehicles just as the Tachograph was first brought in. The old log book users were promised that the "spy in the cab" would never be used in a criminal conviction unless you were actually caught offending by the Police. Now you can be prosecuted months later by a machine. Whilst I have no personal issues about a licence, on the basis it will get rid of the cash in hand Brigade, what I would worry about is how much will it cost and how well will it be policed 

 

[Pjj]

I think this is a total matter of opinion (at this point...)
Your customer employs you - they're not contractually or legally bound in any way, thus they don't legally require ID unless they personally want some. I don't wear uniform or have a sign written van, I just have sign written fliers, envelopes and payment slips. My customer base is solid, established and trusted, and ever building. If we are required to legally hold a licence in the future, there'll be no problem getting a hold of one. In fact, I'd be happy to do so to keep the people at the top happy. Doesn't affect me or anyone else in any way. I'm not too sure why this would strike a nerve with anyone though, if anything it'd seem to be a half decent thing...wouldn't it? Yes it means more to pay out, yes it's another thing to abide by, but it's at least another form of commitment to the industry which we claim to harvest a living from.

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I agree agree with you but what’s the point if it’s not enforced you have a licence and joe bloggs doesn’t both of you doing the same job it seams pointless to me without someone checking everybody has one