NFPS Ltd will not be seeking accreditation under the new PI accreditation scheme that is due to come into effect in April 2020

NFPS Ltd will not be seeking accreditation under the new PI accreditation scheme that is due to come into effect in April 2020.

We were hoping that a second option to attain accreditation through UKAS would be available, but due to the restrictions that will be imposed on any agency seeking to become a UKAS accredited centre for the delivery of the new minimum standards, that option is now not on the table.

This has now left only one route to accreditation, which will be through BILD (The British Institute of Learning Disabilities) should they become a UKAS Centre.

The decision not to pursue the new accreditation is due to our opinion that there is no actual benefit in being accredited through this scheme. One concern is that it doesn’t actually accredit the physical intervention techniques, despite being called a “training standards” accreditation scheme.

Another concern we have is that we cannot see how the accreditation process embraces or compliments other current statutory and common law legislation with regards to the use of force that applies to all UK citizens.

In addition, the insistence that certain techniques that may be necessary to reduce risk, which (if honestly recorded) will result in failure to achieve the accreditation, means that we cannot adopt the new accreditation scheme on health and safety grounds.

There are a number of other factors that we have taken into consideration in coming to this decision, such as: the financial implications, the restrictions on how training can be delivered, and the lack of clarity on certain areas such as the qualifications and experience of the individuals who may be tasked with inspection.

As a result, NFPS Ltd will not be seeking to become accredited under the new scheme.

To find out more about our reasons behind this decision go to this blog post – ‘The Reasons Behind Why NFPS Ltd Will Not Be Adopting The BILD/RRN/UKAS PI Accreditation Scheme [Video]’.