Recommendation to abolish the AALA

Posted: Monday, 17 January, 2011

January update :In his report published on 15 October, Lord Young of Graffham, recommended that the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) be abolished .

 

Recommendation to abolish the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority
Update – January 2011
In his report published on 15 October, Lord Young of Graffham, recommended that the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) be abolished and the existing statutory licensing regime be replaced by a code of practice.
We wish to keep licence holders and other interested parties informed of developments so far and next steps.


• HSE is working towards the implementation of Lord Young’s recommendation to abolish the AALA. There are significant legislative stages to go through, including those involving the devolved administrations so it is not certain when licensing will be repealed. The current contract with TQS Ltd to deliver licensing has been extended to 31 March 2012;


• Licensing remains in place until the legislation is removed. Providers must continue to comply with the requirements on them until then;


• HSE will prepare a draft of the code of practice for the adventure activities sector and will conduct a public consultation in due course;


• HSE recognises that there are many different accreditation schemes available already and will consider how these may be able to contribute to the future arrangements;


• HSE will set the timetable for any changes having regard to the requirements for primary legislation. At this time it is not possible to give a clear indication of the timetable as this is dependant on Parliamentary business;


• HSE will consult with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales as part of this work;


• HSE will determine how to achieve a level of assurance acceptable to parents and others that safety continues to be properly managed in this sector;


• Potential providers of voluntary schemes should not assume that there would be any funding from HSE or other Government departments;


• We have met with some stakeholders and groups already and will be holding further meetings in the coming weeks.

Further information and updates will be provided in due course.

 

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Item sourced from http://www.hse.gov.uk/aala/recommendation-to-abolish-aala.htm?ebul=hsegen&cr=17/17-jan-11