Special treatment license?

[PamieD]

If believing that makes you feel better go right ahead And for your information, the NVQs (originally called NVCQ) were based on those private courses you demonise. They were and are only meant to be a way for the Government to know which courses they can fund, they were never supposed to replace industry quals. There are good and bad courses everywhere.

To anyone lurking, if you think your council is being too heavy handed or unfair then challenge them, don't just take it lying down. They have the discretion to change things if you can state your case. And if you have been paying large amounts for several years then you may be able to get a waiver if you are struggling financially. Write to local office and see what they say. You are welcome to PM me if you want some advice.

 

[willowrose]

For total clarity on my position I do not "demonise" private training.

I think it is absolutely crucial that therapists attend private specialised courses that develop & further their skills. I think resting on the laurels of NVQs alone is unlikely to result in a therapist reaching their potential & there are some fantastic learning opportunities which can only be experienced via private courses.

However, I think all therapists should hold NVQs. They are the building blocks which provide fundamental & necessary knowledge. As a bare minimum it is the qualification I expect someone treating the public to hold & I am reassured that local councils in London check that this is the case.

 

[PamieD]

You don't understand or don't want to understand. Flooding the market with minimum standards hasn't helped anyone.

 

[willowrose]

You don't understand or don't want to understand. Flooding the market with minimum standards hasn't helped anyone.

Emotionally charged hyperbole is not persuasive.

 

[PamieD]

Yes I am emotional about therapists being told to retake all their qualifications simply because they move their salon to another borough. I am emotional about therapists spending hundreds of pounds they can't afford for a piece of box ticking that gets filed away. I am emotional when four CIEH members tell me this license scheme is an utter failure and they don't actually know how many beauty businesses there are in their area. I am emotional about perfectly good courses shutting down because they couldn't compete with NVQ factories. I am emotional about the massive conflicts of interest at the decision making level of issues that affect us all. I have spent every spare minute I've had in the last 4 1/2 years going through everything I could find about this issue and everything related to it. See that link I posted? I've read through every document in it, all the transcripts, all the consultation responses that came before it, all the pre consultation literature. I've lost count of how many FOI requests I've made, how many letters I've written with the Depts of Education and BIS respectively, how many times I've gone to the National Archive, how many journals I've read, how many people I've tracked down to get hold of information because it's not freely available, how many doors I've had slammed in my face. And I managed to rectify a massive oversight that you wouldn't even begin to understand, which I know has saved people money and is helping to raise standards in at least one area of beauty therapy. So yes, I'm emotional and VERY angry about it. Gosh I hope I didn't put any spelling mistakes in this post, heaven forbid!

 

[miss_Mbeauty]

hey guys, we are newly opened hair and beauty salon in London,the lady from special treatment license come today and brought is the documents for the Special Treatments license. I was on the middle of pedicure She told me to call her later. I call her and pretend that I didn't know we need a licence for doing the nails.
She said to apply for the licese it takes at least 1 month,during time we are not allowed to do the treatments. Now, I don't know what to do?! I don't know if she will come back to check or not.But I'm scared to not catch me I'm doing treatments during we wait for the license. Is anybody had some king of experience and do you know what can happen if they catch you doing treatments during waiting for the licese? Thats is Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Thank you

 

[BannerPenguin]

hey guys, we are newly opened hair and beauty salon in London,the lady from special treatment license come today and brought is the documents for the Special Treatments license. I was on the middle of pedicure She told me to call her later. I call her and pretend that I didn't know we need a licence for doing the nails.
She said to apply for the licese it takes at least 1 month,during time we are not allowed to do the treatments. Now, I don't know what to do?! I don't know if she will come back to check or not.But I'm scared to not catch me I'm doing treatments during we wait for the license. Is anybody had some king of experience and do you know what can happen if they catch you doing treatments during waiting for the licese? Thats is Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Thank you

I very much expect her or someone from the department will be checking up on you now you have your 'card marked' so to speak. Remember it was your responsibility to check what was required before opening. The council won't really put up with any excuse as I didn't know isn't a valid excuse.

I'd strongly advise following their rules and not carrying out whatever treatments come under the special treatments license. I know the license costs quite a bit of money but you really don't want to see the fines they'll impose if you don't follow the rules. Plus it's not a simple case of just filling it the paperwork, they may want to audit the business and make sure all the Health & Safety is up to their satisfaction before granting it so they will be back.

I'd apply for it online. At least that's quicker than posting forms off more than likely.

 

[AcidPerm]

BannerPenguin is correct in that 'ignorance of the law is no excuse' is a common rule in English law. Plus, you've now been made aware of the licensing requirements of the local authority.

Presumably, if they discover you operating without having secured the licence, they could refuse to issue one at all, precluding you from operating in that borough for the future.

I'd also query whether your insurance cover will be honoured if your insurers discover you are operating without a licence.

I don't think it's worth the risk, to be honest.