Ad description
Text on a website, for plumbing and electrician courses, stated "The Plumbing Skills Shortage Did you know the estimated shortage of trained and qualified plumbers stands at about 32,100? This is a big problem ... that will not go away ..." and listed a number of reasons why the national shortage of plumbers would grow over the next 20 years. At the bottom of the page, text stated "The shortage of plumbers is not just limited to specific regions, its [sic] all across the UK". Text on another page stated "Fill The Electrical Skills Shortage Gap Did you know the estimated shortage of trained and qualified electrician stands at about 36,900? This is a big problem ... that will not go away ..." and listed a number of reasons why the national shortage of electricians would grow over the next 20 years. At the bottom of the page, text stated "The shortage of electricians is not just limited to specific regions, its [sic] all across the UK".
Issue
The complainant, who visited the website in April 2011 and did not believe the following claims could be substantiated, challenged whether they were misleading:
1. "more [plumbers] are leaving the industry than joining it";
2. "Colleges do not have the capacity to train the yearly requirement of new plumbers";
3. "With new building regulations in place such as Part P, there are not enough electricians with the relevant new qualifications";
4. “homeowners are no longer able to do their own electrical work, without it being signed off by a Part P registered electrician”; and
5 “The shortage of plumbers [and electricians] is not just limited to specific regions, its [sic] all across the UK".
Response
1. & 2. New Career Skills Ltd (New Career Skills) said the number of apprentices entering construction, the traditional route into plumbing, was in decline. They said in 2011 all apprentices had to secure a job before they could begin training and that, as a consequence, it was difficult for colleges to find enough employers to take on their apprentices. They quoted text from various sources, including the Chartered Institute of Building and a Sector Skills Council, which they believed supported the claims "more [plumbers] are leaving the industry than joining it" and "Colleges do not have the capacity to train the yearly requirement of new plumbers".
3. They said Part P was a directive which applied to the electrical industry and more electricians were required to comply with its legislation as part of the increased regulation. They said, because of the increasing regulation, many electricians were struggling or failing to meet the standards, resulting in a shortfall of electricians with up-to-date certification, compliant with regulatory changes. They quoted comments from the UK electrical contracting industry's independent voluntary body (NICEIC), the Kitemark website of the National Standards Body of the UK (BSI), an online article and a trend analysis report, which they believed supported this.
4. They said a Competent Person was defined by the Local Authority Building Control as “a business that has been adjudged to be sufficiently competent to self-certify that its work complied with Part P ...”. They said because Part P required work to be undertaken by a Competent Person, homeowners were no longer able to do their own electrical work, without it being signed off by a Part P registered electrician. They highlighted quotes from the Local Authority Building Control's website, the Kitemark website of the BSI and Part P of the Building Regulations (2006 Edition), and believed these supported the claim.
5. They said there was a national recruitment requirement for trained professionals. They provided a quote from the President of the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA), data from a Sector Skills Council report from 2010 and an online article, and said these demonstrated there was a shortage of electricians and plumbers in the UK.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA noted from a 2003 report that, approximately 83,000 new construction recruits would be required each year between 2003 and 2007 and that electricians and plumbers were among six occupations with the largest annual requirement. We also noted from the various documents submitted that there had been a decline in construction apprentices. We also noted a report from 2010 provided data that indicated that, nationally, a total of 61,661 people were employed in the plumbing industry and that each year 3,060 new people would be required to replace those who had retired or left. However, we did not receive any recent, objective, documentary data showing the rates at which plumbers were currently leaving and joining the industry and considered that, in the absence of such comparative data, the claim "more [plumbers] are leaving the industry than joining it" had not been substantiated and concluded that it breached the Code.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational training and instruction courses).
2. Upheld
We noted from their response that colleges were finding it difficult to find enough employers willing to take on apprentices without training and that without employment, potential trainees could not begin training. However, we considered readers would understand the claim "Colleges do not have the capacity to train the yearly requirement of new plumbers" to mean that colleges could not accommodate the number of trainees required in the market, not that the market was unable to supply employment for the number of people who would like to train. We concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational training and instruction courses).
3. Upheld
We noted Part P of The Building Regulations stated that “Reasonable provision shall be made in the design and installation of electrical installations in order to protect persons operating, maintaining or altering the installations from fire or injury.” We also noted a Part P Competent Person Scheme was available to businesses that had been found to be “sufficiently competent to self-certify that its work complied with Part P”. We noted the trend analysis from 2011 showed significant training needed to be provided to the Building Services Engineering sector, in environmental technologies, to meet potential requirements. However, we noted, while compliance with Part P was compulsory, registration and self-certification with the Scheme was not. We considered readers would understand the claim "With new building regulations in place such as Part P, there are not enough electricians with the relevant new qualifications" to mean that, because of the Part P requirement, there was a shortfall in electricians who had the relevant qualifications to meet demands. Because we did not receive any documentary evidence to demonstrate that the demand for electricians with relevant qualifications outweighed supply, we considered the claim had not been substantiated and concluded that it breached the Code.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational training and instruction courses).
4. Upheld
We noted from Part P of the Building Regulations (2006 Edition) that electrical installation work in England and Wales should be notified to a Building Control Body before being carried out, unless the work was undertaken by a Competent Person, or was of a minor nature. We noted a Competent Person was “a business that has been adjudged to be sufficiently competent to self-certify that its work complied with Part P ... ”. We also noted the Kitemark website for the BSI said that there was a need for homeowners to have electrical work certified by a Competent Person. However, we understood that while specific jobs needed to be notified to a Building Control Body, other more minor jobs may not. We considered readers would understand the claim “homeowners are no longer able to do their own electrical work, without it being signed off by a Part P registered electrician” to mean that homeowners would not be able to carry out any electrical work, without notifying a Building Control Body. Because this was not the case, we considered the claim had not been substantiated and concluded that it breached the Code.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational training and instruction courses).
5. Upheld
We noted New Career Skills said there was a national recruitment requirement for trained plumbers and electricians and provided a quote from the President of the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) which stated there was a short supply in tradespeople. We also noted from a 2010 report that there was likely to be an increase in the number of people required in the plumbing and electrotechnical industry as a result of those retiring or leaving the industry. However, without any documentary evidence to demonstrate that the demand for services offered by those plumbers and electricians outweighed the current number of people employed in each industry, on a national level, we considered the claim “The shortage of plumbers [and electricians] is not just limited to specific regions, its [sic] all across the UK" had not been substantiated and concluded that it breached the Code.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) and
20.9
20.9
Marketing communications for vocational training or other instruction courses must not give a misleading impression about the potential for employment that might follow.
Marketing communications must make clear significant conditions for acceptance onto vocational training or instruction courses, such as the level of attainment, and significant conditions likely to affect a consumer's decision to embark on a course, such as the cost or the duration of a course.
(Vocational training and instruction courses).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told New Career Skills not to make claims unless they held relevant documentary evidence to substantiate them. We also told them not to make misleading impressions about the potential for employment that might follow from the courses they offered.
