.....a cynical view from Tom! I look at the wider view. We have got these codes and associations springing up all over the place which not only confuse the customers but we in the trade have to pay for them. The question we have to ask is why is it all necessary? We are not alone in this. Plumbers, builders, electricians etc have all got their myriad of associations and codes. We are all aware of how generally our profession is viewed in the publics eyes and this was illustrated not long ago in a "Which" magazine report. We have probably seen programmes such as "Rogue Builders", "Rogue Traders" and Watchdog etc. So despite the plethora of schemes covering all trades, we still have problems in our respective trades. Coming back to my original question of why is it all necessary? The answer is simple. If trading standards was properly funded and given more powers I do not believe there would be a need for all this extra bureaucratic nonsense. Trading Standards is a Government Agency and is patently not up to its task.

Regards

Pete M