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Capita Signs 10 Year Contract with HSE For New gas installer registration scheme

Capita has signed a ten-year contract with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to operate a new gas installer registration scheme in Great Britain from April 1 2009, with HSE retaining the option to terminate the contract after five years.

Around 250 CORGI employees are expected to TUPE transfer to Capita when the CORGI scheme, which has run for more than 17 years, ends on March 31. Capita will operate the scheme from Basingstoke and accept registrations and renewals for April 1 2009 from January 2009.

Geoffrey Podger, chief executive of the HSE, said: “I look forward to Capita bringing a fresh approach to gas safety. The new scheme should deliver added value for both consumers and gas installers through a reduction in fees and simplified registration procedures. Capita will be accountable for successful delivery through a challenging set of key performance indicators focused on delivering safe gas work and customer satisfaction with the scheme.”

Key performance indicators include raising installer and customer satisfaction with the scheme to 90 per cent by the end of five years, and reducing the amount of unsafe gas work found during random inspections.

The HSE is developing a new gas safety brand that it will hold in trust for installers. A marketing tool kit, including a new logo for use on stationery and advertising, will be distributed to companies once the branding is approved. Merchandising, such as vehicles stickers, will be discounted.

Pete Eldridge, managing director of Capita’s gas scheme, said: “Capita is delighted to have been chosen by HSE to run the new gas installer registration scheme. From April 2009, consumers and gas installers will have access to a responsive and efficient gas safety scheme.

“We’re looking forward to working in close collaboration with other industry bodies to raise standards and to continue to improve gas safety. We are committed to delivering an effective service that minimises the cost and administrative burden on installers and actively promotes the value of using registered gas installers.”

Capita intends to reduce the basic fee and other costs to installers by spreading registrations to the scheme, and the resultant administration costs, throughout the year, rather than renewing registrations only in April. Currently, installers have to pay an entire year’s fees if they register later in the year. Capita is expected to announce its fee structure in January.

Capita also has plans to increase the demand for registered installers by raising awareness among consumers of the need to use a registered installer when gas related work is carried out. It also hopes that this will help to combat ‘cowboy’ installers, along with breaking down the barriers to registration by reducing costs and administration, and investigating unregistered installers so that HSE can prosecute.

Andy Stoll, the designer of Capita’s scheme, said: “We want to give installers a pat on the back, not just a slap when they do something wrong. With this in mind, we will be concentrating inspections on those installers at the highest risk, and less on experienced installers with a proven track record. We will consider installers innocent until proven guilty after complaints and focus more on completed work and less on processes.”

Capita will carry out a full enforcement review in 2009, and a full review of the scheme’s competency requirements, including ACS. Both will be implemented in 2010.

Registered installers will be able to keep their current registration numbers but Capita will issue new identity cards that include the gas appliances the installer is qualified to work on. It will also introduce a facility for consumers to check identities via mobile phone, and a website listing registered installers in the area.

CORGI will continue to represent installers in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Picture: Andy Stoll

Contact the Health & Safety Executive on 08453 450055
www.hse.gov.uk/gas

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