AHPP

Dan. Check your messages.

Just Sailor bringing joy to all he meets, with his comedy stick routine.

At least nobody's dog got shot.

One argument @kevinjohnsonmbe had with the taxman was something like benefit in kind tax due on logs he got for early jobs. Come back and tells us a story, Kevin.

Could easily be actors.

Yeah. More serious than I can be arsed with either if I'm honest, Mick. We've no doubt had the discussion on here before, once or fifty times.

Right. Such as if these qualifications were a moderately useful yardstick for establishing baseline competence? But they're not. Total jokers pass them, routinely, not as exceptions. Everyone you speak to has a story of the guy that had the ticket but literally couldn't get off the ground. I do get what you're saying, that it's not a binary thing. Think of it like a balance-of-probabilities standard of proof though. They don't meet the standard. Then it is binary. Industry trust in them is well below the 50% it would have to be for them to be even in the running. Don't make me start a poll...

I'm being open minded, Mick. Humour me.

No and no. Comfortably off and doing the exact opposite of lashing out. I've considered my position on these things pretty carefully. If I say it, it's because I really mean it.

Go on. Such as?

OK. Anyone who thinks NPTC and LANTRA qualifications have sufficient integrity, step forward.

Which would be argued against by pointing out they aren't worth a wank and the whole industry knows they aren't worth a wank. Particular paper qualifications are there for contractual obligations to insurers and clients who want those particular paper qualifications. Beyond that, they're not proof of competence. Which you know: Nothing protects you from being sued. It might help make a lower value claim go away but something juicy will warrant lawyers delving deeper. And they won't have to look for long. I'll repeat it becasue it's worth repeating. The whole industry knows NPTC and LANTRA qualifications are a joke. (EDIT: Actually they're not a joke. They're basically fraud). People who don't meet the standards, pass the courses. Anyone who says otherwise is unqualified to tie their own shoelaces and walk on a pavement, let alone run the operations side of a tree business, where you have to ongoingly assess whether your guys are doing the job well enough. They're not untrained though. They're trained by you. You train them and write records of how you trained them. 22nd January 2025. Had a slow afternoon so let the youth have a go climbing for the first time on a 10m ash. I set three climbing systems up for him, a VT + rope wrench on SRT, a zigzag on DRT and a DRT three knot system. I demonstrated each one and then let him weight them at ground level and then ascend and descend up to 2m with and without the aid of a short set of steps. He did it all fine and rightly pointed out that SRT is basically impossible without a foot ascender and/or spikes. Then we talked about spikes, including the dangers of stabbing his own legs and the climbing ropes with them. Then I let him put spikes on and let him flipline up and down 4m of trunk stem, protecting progress and retreat with the main climbing systems. He did it fine. I asked him some questions about which climbing systems he preferred and why. I told him some pros and cons of each and asked questions to check that he understood. He answered them competently and seemed to understand. Total time 90 minutes. 23rd January 2025. Driving between jobs at 11:00. Chatted in the van with the youth who had his first go at climbing yesterday. He could remember the name of the friction hitches and climbing devices and could explain the difference between SRT and DRT. He said he'd been on youtube to look at different types of mechanical friction device since he'd found the zigzag most enjoyable to use yesterday. We discussed the pros and cons of mechanical devices vs hitch based systems for 25 minutes. 29th January 2025. Had a morning job cancel so did more training with youth x at the afternoon job, a 10m oak to be dismantled. Talked about previous learning. He showed recall and understanding. Set the same gear up as before. He did the same things as before, competently. I showed him how to set the three climbing systems up.... and so on and so on and so on. <more> 28th March 2025. On a wet afternoon with high winds, we chose not to go out. Youth x sat a written exam about his climbing learning so far. Document appended.

There’s no requirement for paper qualification full stop but there’s also a particular bit somewhere in the ticketing industry bumf for trainees working under direct supervision.

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, Clutchy, it could be said (from the other thread you're posting in at the moment, about recouping training costs from departed employees) that you want to employ them like they're children but sue them like they're men. One might argue that you're not all-in enough on being an employer. Devil's advocate remember. I personally would, as king for a day, just put employment law in the bin and let people bargain freely.

Depends what you want in your men, worker bees or thinkers. But yes, I follow. I was thinking more from a worker's point of view.

(Semi) playing devil's advocate here, is this not a rare occurence where topping a conifer might be a good move? The client wants the screening. Top it and let it grow back like a massive pineapple (or die trying). There's not a lot round it so a future, bigger removal wouldn't be much more of a problem.

Common question on here. Summary is most people have found them worse than useless.

Now the OP here being a stroppy woman, that I called with certainty.

I did wonder whether that Alex Arb was a fiction of some sort.

What's unbusinesslike about being in control of your own business spending and tax affairs?

Or not pay it and leave.

Do the can first. Then when you need the pump reauthorised for the car, it’s a car and they’re never going to say no.

Needs waldorfs.

I'd invented some tenuous way to apply it here but it's gone as quickly as it arrived. Have you got a legal background or do you just know a bit?

It's a problem as old as time itself. The reality of recouping anything is that they'll have nothing worth taking and you'll be at the back of a queue of disgruntled landlords, child support, drug dealers etc for any incoming cash. My sympathies but that's business.