Just what we need

[Perryb91]

 

[Part Timer]

Us window lickers should be ok then, joking aside who the hell thinks training sex offenders to climb up ladders to look in peoples bedrooms is anything but stupid. 

 

[Perryb91]

@Part Timer it's basically entrapment ? 

 

[dmw]

I think the sex offenders may have trouble if it was to happen  in Scotland, in certain regions where accreditation is required.

I've always been in favour of the permit system throughout the UK, it might help flush out the scallies.

 

[Perryb91]

100% @dmw couldn't agree more. End of the day we are entering someone's property that could potentially be a vulnerable adult atleast a registered address and basic DBS cert with an ID card would help to sort the splash an dash from professional services.

 

[Iron Giant]

100% @dmw couldn't agree more. End of the day we are entering someone's property that could potentially be a vulnerable adult atleast a registered address and basic DBS cert with an ID card would help to sort the splash an dash from professional services.

One of the biggest piles of ? I have read on here to a point, moving away from the original post content, what your reply says to me is a sweeping statement of all people that have strayed from the righteous path and have a some point being in trouble with the law, unfortunately we didn't all grow up in the land of sugar plum fairies and candy floss trees. 

Some of us as I know there are successful well respected members on here that have a past, but I will use myself as an example, I was a troublesome little sod growing up and once in while until I was in my 20's got myself into trouble and at a point my life spiralled out of control, to much partying and little self control got me in a state, most people who knew me were I grew up said I would be a wooden box by the age of 25, this someone told me years later, I managed 6 months past my 25th birthday and met my wife

Within the first 12 months of us meeting I had set up my business, we bought our first house and were then married, fast forward just over 20 years, I have continued to run a very successful business and done very well for us despite my past, I am far more capable than most of cleaning windows to the highest standard and I am far from slap and dash, I am very well known in my local area and one of the most visible and contactable windy's in my area with an excellent reputation,

my past isn't who I am and I don't need a DBS check or anything else to define who I am now and have been for over 20 years, nor do I need some do-gooder/self-righteous governing body or regulation, to drag up my past. do you ask every new client if they have a had run in with the law or ripped any other tradesman off in the past as a criteria to be signed up. 

Admittedly there are some people that should either be shot, or hung up via a public execution, this would save us all as a society a lot of money and oxygen 

 

[Perryb91]

I think what you have done is taken this massively to heart and assumed it was aimed at you which it wasnt! I know nothing about you personally and dont need too either.

Its was aimed at the types that should be as you say "shot, hung, publicly executed" 

 

[Pjj]

We have some jobs that require us to have DBS checks in place it’s no problem for me as I have one due to being in the Fireservice and one of my guys is a paramedic so he also has one ,the others I had to get sorted out , I agree with iron giant to a degree but I wouldn’t want some ex con or druggies working for me , and most of my customers wouldn’t either the reason we have some of the jobs we do is due to the fact that our history is known , we also do some work for a charity group that have vulnerable adults and another one dealing with vulnerable and disadvantaged youths/teenagers where without DBS you wouldn’t get a foot in the door , I do also agree that people CAN change from bad life styles but sadly from knowing ones that have gone back to there previous ways I wouldn’t employ someone with a chequered past we have keys and codes to some very well known wealthy people , should I employ someone and anything were to happen I would be held liable by the customer for sending someone onto there property , this would very quickly get around the local neibourhood and could put my good reputation in tatters straight away and put me out of buisness,so it’s just not worth the risk .

 

[Iron Giant]

I think what you have done is taken this massively to heart and assumed it was aimed at you which it wasnt! I know nothing about you personally and dont need too either.

Its was aimed at the types that should be as you say "shot, hung, publicly executed" 

I ain't taking it massively to heart at all, with respect you quoted a red top paper and they are about as factual as a fairy tale, what I took disliking to was this line below

atleast a registered address and basic DBS cert with an ID card would help to sort the splash an dash from professional services.

As I said previously what I got from the line above is that you have assumed that someone with a tainted past is incapable to carry out a proper job and would provide a poor service and anyone with a past could not change and be a professional, now I do also appreciate that on the whole there is no doubt a good many across the UK that can easily set up for quick money and would take advantage of any opportunity to swindle or thief without a conscious

This has been discussed in the past regarding licensing of window cleaners across the UK, which to a point I think would be a good thing for the industry, but if it was deemed that anyone with a tainted past would not be granted a licence no matter how long ago their last offence was this would be ludicrous  as some one like myself who has stayed on the right side of the law for over 20 years and has a long established business would be forced to wrap everything up, the consequences of this to myself and my family would of course be devastating

I am all for the industry on the whole to be improved, as a good few will know on here as I have said this in the past I was for around 10 years the only local windy to have a website and a fb page so a registered address , I am always fully uniformed and have a signed van, there must be around 30 window cleaners covering the area I cover yet only 2-3 of us have signed van's and everything else that you would expect  a modern day business to be, a visible, trustworthy professional who is traceable, 

You may not wish to know anything about me, but I wanted to be open and honest about who I am for a few to see, that people can make changes and put their past behind them, some will not like or agree what I have said, this forum has given me a lot, so at a time of reflection, I decided to give up a little something of myself. Best Regards I.G

 

[scottish cleaning service]

You need window cleaning in England and Wales to be regulated like us in Scotland. I was a prison officer and I am all for rehabilitating prisoners so they can get a job or otherwise they could become habitual. When a man reaches the age of 35 then he very rarely goes back into prison because he is usually mature and start's a family. I was shown the reoffending chart and age 35 was like a cliff edge. It shows that window cleaning is a growing industry. fwiw

 

[Guest]

We’re all DBS checked, or whatever it’s called, may have changed. 
We wouldn’t win the contracts without it.

All my convictions are spent????

Never believe anything you read in the tabloids.......

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I think Discloser Scotland only goes back 5yrs but some indictments can stay for 10yrs. fwiw

 

[dmw]

We’re all DBS checked, or whatever it’s called, may have changed. 
We wouldn’t win the contracts without it.

All my convictions are spent????

Never believe anything you read in the tabloids.......

Same here, a few (spent) minor misdemeanors back in my teens but without the DBS certificate which is a useful selling point on your van,  I couldn't do the care homes, or nurseries. 

It's the more serious convictions that should be disclosed, afterall as a customer would you want a prolific burglar or paedophile on your property?

 

[Pjj]

I ain't taking it massively to heart at all, with respect you quoted a red top paper and they are about as factual as a fairy tale, what I took disliking to was this line below

As I said previously what I got from the line above is that you have assumed that someone with a tainted past is incapable to carry out a proper job and would provide a poor service and anyone with a past could not change and be a professional, now I do also appreciate that on the whole there is no doubt a good many across the UK that can easily set up for quick money and would take advantage of any opportunity to swindle or thief without a conscious

This has been discussed in the past regarding licensing of window cleaners across the UK, which to a point I think would be a good thing for the industry, but if it was deemed that anyone with a tainted past would not be granted a licence no matter how long ago their last offence was this would be ludicrous  as some one like myself who has stayed on the right side of the law for over 20 years and has a long established business would be forced to wrap everything up, the consequences of this to myself and my family would of course be devastating

I am all for the industry on the whole to be improved, as a good few will know on here as I have said this in the past I was for around 10 years the only local windy to have a website and a fb page so a registered address , I am always fully uniformed and have a signed van, there must be around 30 window cleaners covering the area I cover yet only 2-3 of us have signed van's and everything else that you would expect  a modern day business to be, a visible, trustworthy professional who is traceable, 

You may not wish to know anything about me, but I wanted to be open and honest about who I am for a few to see, that people can make changes and put their past behind them, some will not like or agree what I have said, this forum has given me a lot, so at a time of reflection, I decided to give up a little something of myself. Best Regards I.G

Well done  you have done well and made permanent changes to your life , you are a living example that you can change but sadly the majority that have been to prison or young offenders detention centres learn whilst there how to be better in a life of crime this is proven by government  statistics , but i genuinely take my hat off to ones that do what you have done 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I seen an advert there showing a woman clean her outside window from a magnet she had inside. It looks easy and leaves a great job but inreality its rubbish. My neighbour bought one and the moment he moved it the outside one fell off and hit his wife on the head who was outside watering the plants. Needless to say it went straight in the bin so we are still in a job till something else comes out. ?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Aye, I could right a book about the new gadgets he has bought. He bought that expanding hose that you see in the back page of the Sunday paper magazines. One day he was showing it off to everyone and a gust of wind appeared from nowhere and banged his gate shut slicing right through his new expandable hose. One good thing he said it didn't take up much room in his bin when he flung it out. The other thing he bought was a 6 wheeled sack barrow for going up and down stairs. I never really understood why because he is all on the flat. He ended up giving it to me and it comes in very handy now and again when moving slabs about. Then there was the gazebo, the scouts over the fence ended up inheriting it when the first week of April showers appeared in ernest. The best one was his new barbecue one summer evening the fire brigade appeared. Apparently he fell asleep and all the conifers went up in flames because he placed the barbecue underneath them to shelter from the breeze. Never a dull moment living next door to Mr Ben. ?

 

[Iron Giant]

Same here, a few (spent) minor misdemeanors back in my teens but without the DBS certificate which is a useful selling point on your van,  I couldn't do the care homes, or nurseries. 

It's the more serious convictions that should be disclosed, afterall as a customer would you want a prolific burglar or paedophile on your property?

I am maybe somewhat similar to you, the last time I had a crb as they were then was around 10 years ago, now after getting into a fight when I was 16 this still showed up, I had cleaned the job already for some 2-3 years , the head teacher was totally fine and said some of the teachers were worse, I had the job for over 14 years until I decided to give it up earlier this year, what I did wasn't all that bad just minor  stuff, I stayed on the right side of law  like the vast majority of people and wasn't often out of work.

The village I grew up everyone knew me well enough to know I was a decent and trustworthy person all through my life, there fore they more than happy to have me clean their windows when I set up almost 20 years ago. 

 

[Iron Giant]

We have some jobs that require us to have DBS checks in place it’s no problem for me as I have one due to being in the Fireservice and one of my guys is a paramedic so he also has one ,the others I had to get sorted out , I agree with iron giant to a degree but I wouldn’t want some ex con or druggies working for me , and most of my customers wouldn’t either the reason we have some of the jobs we do is due to the fact that our history is known , we also do some work for a charity group that have vulnerable adults and another one dealing with vulnerable and disadvantaged youths/teenagers where without DBS you wouldn’t get a foot in the door , I do also agree that people CAN change from bad life styles but sadly from knowing ones that have gone back to there previous ways I wouldn’t employ someone with a chequered past we have keys and codes to some very well known wealthy people , should I employ someone and anything were to happen I would be held liable by the customer for sending someone onto there property , this would very quickly get around the local neibourhood and could put my good reputation in tatters straight away and put me out of buisness,so it’s just not worth the risk .

I agree with you, 20 years on and for a good number of years I have looked at people differently, I like you wouldn't want to risk my reputation and business, hence I have always stuck to been a sole trader as people choose me through recommendations form other client's 

 

[Chris33]

None of these permits/checks etc hold any value until they are adequate checked and monitored. 

Even in Scotland you'll be lucky if a quarter of all cleaners have a licence. Why? Because we have one man to cover a full region of taxi and cleaner licences. 

If they want to do this then they have to do it properly or not at all. 

 

[Pjj]

None of these permits/checks etc hold any value until they are adequate checked and monitored. 

Even in Scotland you'll be lucky if a quarter of all cleaners have a licence. Why? Because we have one man to cover a full region of taxi and cleaner licences. 

If they want to do this then they have to do it properly or not at all. 

I totaly agree with you but a DBS  cheak is different it means that a full cheak has been done on the persons criminal history backed up by police and other organisations and gives you peace of mind that the people you are employing haven’t been involved in any criminal activity and should be ok to work in environments where vulnerable adults or minors could be encountered we di work in some schools and although we arnt there when the kids are we still need tk have DBS certs .