BASIS has set up a new committee to provide its members with an opportunity to influence the organisations future membership strategy, with an aim to improve its service, while benefitting associated industries.
“The committee has been carefully selected to represent the broad range of sectors our members work in, including everything from pest control and pesticide store management to arable and grassland production, to amenity and commercial horticulture” he says.
“In late 2018, a total of 35 candidates put themselves forward for a committee position, and voting was opened earlier this year. We were delighted to see that our members showed a great interest in this new initiative, with over 1,250 votes cast.
“The newly formed committee will be responsible for ensuring CPD standards are maintained, as well as gathering feedback on all aspects of the organisation from members,” adds Stephen.
The first committee meeting will take place in March 2019 and a chairman will be appointed. Following this, all members will be notified of the committee’s contact details, should they wish to get in touch.
Representing PROMPT – the pest control sector – is John Sage
Based in Wiltshire, John has been involved with pest control in some form or another for over 35 years with direct, daily involvement since 2010. He says he is extremely passionate about good standards, especially training, and feels the CPD system is the way forwards. It does need to grow and develop but this is a natural process and may only need some guidance to tune it. John was surprised that alternative schemes for CPD in pest control were being launched and is not sure if this is positive or negative, but it does highlight that CPD is the way forwards and he firmly believes that BASIS PROMPT should be the scheme of choice.
Previously (1998) John qualified as a NVQ Assessor and Internal verifier to deliver many business related qualifications. He also gained qualifications in teaching such as PTLLS and became a member of the Institute for Learning which is now Society for Education and Training. He delivers training and assessments mainly in pest control and related fields. John also sits on the RSPH Sector Advisory Panel in Pest Management and also the Pest Control Education and Training Forum.
 John Sage, newly appointed PROMPT members’ representative |
 John Hope, NPTA technical manager |
New NPTA applicants need to be signed-up for CPD – PROMPT the scheme of choice
Faith in the BASIS PROMPT scheme has recently been strengthened as the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) has recently announced that all new applicants must have signed up to a professional register before they are considered for membership in a bid to raise standards across the industry.
From April 2019, anyone wanting to join the NPTA will first have to prove that they have committed to professional development by joining a CPD register, with PROMPT nominated as the chosen organisation.
The NPTA has been a key member of PROMPT’s committee since the register was founded 18 years ago and works closely with it to seek accreditation for its own training courses.The NPTA technical manager John Hope says that it wants to take the association a step further in order to promote professionalism in the industry.
He said: “Our aim as an organisation is to promote professionalism and making membership of a professional register such as PROMPT a condition of joining the NPTA is only going to help with that. Pest management is a very technical business these days and the industry is changing rapidly, with new concepts and practices being introduced all the time, so anyone who does not constantly learn and engage in training will fall behind the times and fall foul of legislation if they don’t keep up.”
Stephen Jacob, CEO of PROMPT said: “We are proud of our long and successful working partnership with NPTA and heartened by its decision to insist that new members must first be signed up to a CPD register like our own.”