Summer seems to be fast approaching and warmer weather has arrived. Air quality remains firmly on the agenda for government. We have recently seen the publication of the revised air quality strategy which we have summarised in this month’s newsletter. It was published following a short consultation period. This strategy sets out the actions that Defra expects local authorities to take in support of our long-term air quality goals, including their ambitious new PM2.5 targets. It provides a framework to enable local authorities to make the best use of their powers and make improvements for their communities. Also coming up in June is Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest air pollution campaign. HETAS and Woodsure will be supporting the campaign and encouraging stove users to make pledges around the importance of responsible burning.   

Earlier this month, we launched the combined Sweep & Service scheme. The scheme offers practical routes to HETAS approval depending on the applicant’s level of experience and qualifications – no matter whether the individual is fully qualified, an existing member of another professional sweeping association, sweeping independently or even working for a servicing business that also provides sweeping. The scheme offers registration for sweeping and servicing, just sweeping, or servicing separately. 

Assessing an applicant’s mix of skills and knowledge, the appropriate route will be identified by the HETAS team who will be on hand to support throughout the registration process. The applicant then follows a straightforward process.  

With a surge in consumer interest, the HETAS website last September saw an increase of over 230% in chimney sweep searches, a trend that continued throughout the heating season, with consumers choosing to put their trust in HETAS registered businesses. The team are on hand to discuss the new scheme directly, and over the next year our registration team will transition registered businesses over to the new scheme. 

Coming up in the next month we aim to move our website Technical Hub across to a new platform. We are continually looking at ways to improve our services and following a move to a new website host last year, we are now exploring ways to provide an improved service for the Technical Hub, Shop and learning platform. Look out for updates in your inbox as we prepare to move the Technical Hub, including a new notification process. With all installers now required to notify online it is important we want to ensure the process is a straightforward and accessible as possible for you. We hope you find the upcoming changes a positive move. 

Finally, as a trustee of the Carbon Monoxide Research Trust, I’m pleased to see the annual Research Conference taking place in mid-June. The theme of the day is CO and the indoor environment, along with a breakout session dedicated to solid fuel. HETAS will be supporting the conference which takes place at Sheffield University. The CO Research Trust is a registered charity, established in 2005 with an objective to reduce the incidents of death and serious injury from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. We have included more details on the event in this months newsletter. 

As always, get in touch if there is anything from the newsletter you would like to discuss with the team. Get in touch using the contact form on the website. I hope you all have a positive June and can find some time over the coming months for a well-deserved break.