The recommendations of the Embedding Effective Hygiene for a Resilient UK report would make sure the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic were learned by putting cleaning and hygiene at the heart of the national agenda.
The report draws on expert evidence, is very credible and deserves to be taken seriously yet so far Government has paid it little or no attention.
There are arguably almost 218,000 reasons why MPs should collectively want to ensure that the nation does everything in its power to learn the lessons of the pandemic and reflect a new national process and culture around cleaning and hygiene for the future in order that, given what we and our politicians now know, we significantly reduce the possibility of revisiting the tragic events of the last few years and potentially causing more lives to be lost.
With flu regularly reappearing and the constant threat of a new Covid variant, we are talking about measures that will protect people’s health and save lives.
For clarity, cleaning and hygiene operatives have a very skilled, vital, frontline role, keeping others safe, well and healthy. The cleaning and hygiene sector is one of the ten
biggest industries in the UK, so it is essential that our voice is heard and it will be.
We at the British Cleaning Council and our 22 members are calling on members of the industry to help us campaign for the report’s recommendations to be implemented in full.
We clean but do we collectively care enough to take part? We truly need your help please or do we simply accept this lack of involvement from those in power as the norm and agree that this is where we seemingly sit?
I genuinely do not think that is what staff in our sector believe, and I hope that we demonstrate it across our great industry by active involvement in this campaign. Find out how to get involved on the opposite page.
On page four, you can read all about what is planned for the biggest and best trade show of the year for our sector, The Cleaning Show.
On page five, you can find an update on proposals for the Apprenticeship Levy funded industrywide Apprenticeship for the cleaning and hygiene sector, read about the welldeserved award of an MBE to my colleague Kim Phillips and find out about a series of upcoming Chartered Practitioners Register workshops.
On page six, we take a closer look at the Labour Party’s skills and Apprenticeships policy, there’s news of how the Textile Services Association (TSA) is championing the importance of mental health and also details of how the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) is continuing to guarantee the integrity of the association’s accreditation schemes.
On page seven, we pay tribute to the achievements of one of the BCC’s cofounders, Terry King, who sadly died earlier this year, aged 82. There’s also news of the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) bursary and encouragement for sector businesses and organisations to consider becoming real Living Wage employers.
Finally, turn to page eight for information about the BCC and our members.
Jim MelvinI remain incredibly frustrated by the unbelievable lack of interest from MPs and Government in the recent report from the sector’s APPG.
The British Cleaning Council and its 22 members associations from all across the industry are frustrated by the lack of interest from MPs (except for Chairman Nigel Mills MP) and political parties in the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry, entitled Embedding Effective Hygiene for a Resilient UK.
The report’s recommendations, if implemented, would put cleaning and hygiene at the heart of the national agenda, making the nation much more resilient to current common infections and also much better prepared for future public health emergencies, like the Covid-19 pandemic.
Members of the industry are being asked to download and adapt a pre-written letter highlighting the issue to email to their local MP, and also to sign a petition calling on the Government to implement the report recommendations in full.
The drive takes place under the umbrella of the BCC’s We Clean, We Care campaign, which reflects the pride cleaning staff have in the vital, frontline role they perform, keeping others safe, well and healthy.
BCC Chairman Jim Melvin will address attendees at the Cleaning Show about the initiative and ask them to back the campaign. Information, along with free We Clean, We Care badges, will also be available from the BCC’s stand at the show.
The APPG inquiry last year looked into the role of cleaning and hygiene during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It took evidence from the BCC, the Royal Society for Public Health and a number of experts, cleaning and hygiene clients, and senior colleagues across the whole of the industry.
• Key frontline worker status must be bestowed upon cleaning operatives and staff working in supply and manufacturing if a pandemic happens.
• Urgent consideration to be given to making cleaning staff eligible for the Skilled Worker Visa scheme.
• Minimum standards for hygiene infrastructure and cleaning in diverse venues to be agreed.
• A standard qualification for cleaning to be developed within the Apprenticeship Levy.
• Training budgets for cleaning operatives should be adequate.
• Government communications around hygiene in times of pandemic should be clear, consistent, sustained, timely, relevant and specific.
PLEASE SCAN
QR CODE TO FIND THE LETTER AND PETITION ON THE BCC WEBSITE.
Since the APPG inquiry was first established last autumn, the BCC has sought extensively to engage MPs and the Government about the report with little response so far.
The BCC is now calling for industry members to back the drive to promote the APPG report to Government.
• The establishment of a joint Government-industry preparedness team to plan for public health emergencies.
• Minimum levels of cleaning materials and equipment to be agreed and made available in readiness.
• Thought to be given to how to increase production during a public health emergency.
• The Government should use behavioural science-based communication campaigns to promote hygienic behaviour to the public.
• The Government should support the cleaning and hygiene industry in realigning perceptions of the industry.
A diverse expert group held an extremely productive roundtable event in January to discuss how to take the report forward, before representatives met and fed back to the APPG.
The cleaning, hygiene and waste industry has come together to issue a call for sector staff to ‘speak up’ for their industry, help lobby MPs and sign a petition to make cleaning and hygiene a national priority.
The UK’s leading event for the industry, The Cleaning Show 2023, runs from 14-16 March at the ExCeL, London, and features some of the industry’s leading suppliers and manufacturers, the everpopular conference programme and a range of other attractions. All this and it is free to register and attend!
The show, organised by the British Cleaning Council and Quartz Business Media, was expected to attract more than 100 cleaning suppliers and thousands of cleaning professionals. It is the ultimate destination for the sector to connect and network, and learn and discover new products, services and suppliers.
Some of Europe’s leading and most innovative cleaning suppliers will showcase their latest technologies and innovations on the show floor, including the likes of Jangro, Numatic, Makita UK, Karcher UK, Nilfisk and SC Johnson Professional.
Sustainability will be a key theme of the show with a multitude of exhibitors demonstrating how they are putting environmental concerns at the fore, while others will display the latest in cleaning technology.
The industry’s leading experts will take part in the conference programme, which offers a place to discuss and debate the big issues affecting the sector.
After the event is opened by the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cleaning and Hygiene Industry, Nigel Mills MP, BCC Chairman Jim Melvin will discuss the post-pandemic cleaning and hygiene sector. BCC Deputy Chair Delia Cannings will speak the next day about education opportunities for the industry.
Paul Ashton of the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA), Lorcan Mekitarian of the Cleaning and Hygiene
Suppliers Association (CHSA) and Neil Spencer-Cook and Denise Hanson of the British Institute for Cleaning Science (BICSc) will all be discussing important topics for the cleaning and hygiene sector. You’ll also be able to hear finalists in the CSSA Innovation Showcase discuss their innovations.
The CSSA Innovation Showcase will have a dedicated pavilion to showcase and celebrate the industry’s most innovative cleaning products, services and initiatives.
Another event not to miss will be the Window Cleaning World Cup, which is set to draw challengers from all over the world.
Keep your eyes open for BCC members with stands at the show. Please visit the BCC at stand C26 to find out more about its work and that of members and the sector’s APPG. You’ll also be able to claim a free We Clean, We Care badge.
Jim Melvin, Chairman, BCC, said: “The importance of the work of the cleaning, hygiene and waste sector – which is one of the ten biggest industries in the UK –has been highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, with cleaning and hygiene operatives continuing to play a vital, frontline role keeping keyworkers and the public safe, healthy and well.
“The Cleaning Show brings the industry together to celebrate our crucial work, as well as reflecting on key issues, the latest trends, and the most exciting innovative and technological developments. It’s an unmissable three days of exciting networking opportunities, with a hotbed of education for visitors to enjoy.”
To find out more, visit www.cleaningshow.co.uk/ london
Final proposals for an Apprenticeship Levy funded industrywide Apprenticeship for the cleaning and hygiene sector have been submitted to the approving body.
It is hoped that the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) will give the final agreement and confirmation for the Apprenticeship Standard and End Point Assessment within a couple of months although there is no fixed timeline at the moment.
IfATE will first hold further discussions about key points with the industry trailblazer group that drew up the proposals, before a final consultation is held.
The process of setting up the Apprenticeship is proving to be much lengthier than hoped, but these latest proposals have progressed much further than any previously.
All employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million put around 0.5 per cent towards the Apprenticeship Levy.
There is currently no Apprenticeship scheme providing the training in the technical skills needed by cleaning and hygiene operatives working outside healthcare.
This leaves many sector employers with no suitable option for investing Apprenticeship Levy funds on training staff, therefore they lose millions of pounds of levy funding every year.
British Cleaning Council Chairman Jim Melvin said: “The industry has been crying out for this Apprenticeship, and I hope it is given the go-ahead soon.
“It will be hugely beneficial for the industry, making available highly significant and substantial funds from inside our industry for staff training and helping to redress the completely inaccurate idea that industry staff are ‘low skilled’.”
A leading figure in the cleaning and hygiene industry has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) at Buckingham Palace.
Kim Phillips is a Director at the British Cleaning Council, the National Chairperson of BCC member the Association of Building Cleaning Direct Service Providers (ABCD) and Head of Catering and Facilities Services at Rotherham Council.
She was recognised in the New Year’s Honours list in January 2022 for public service after supporting communities within the borough of Rotherham, including during the Covid-19 crisis.
HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, awarded the MBE to Kim
Phillips, whose family joined her at the palace for the investiture ceremony, last October.
She said: “I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of all of the frontline staff who work to keep everyone safe on a daily basis.”
With colleagues at Rotherham Council, Kim Phillips set up a Covid-19 Lateral Flow Test Centre in the borough and she also shared her expertise on cleaning and hygiene in national webinars throughout the pandemic.
She also helped prepare meals for children during school holidays, helping to pack 3,000 school hampers for Easter with help from her family.
To support people wishing to learn more about the Chartered Practitioners Register (CPR), the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC) is running workshops in 2023 to provide details of the CPR registration process, submission and awards.
Each workshop will be delivered online at 12 noon to 2pm and repeated at 6pm to 8pm on the dates below:
• TUESDAY 28TH MARCH
• WEDNESDAY 7TH JUNE
• WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
• WEDNESDAY 11TH OCTOBER
TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE EMAIL CPR@WC-EC.COM
The British Cleaning Council attended a panel discussion recently about the Labour Party’s skills and education policy vision.
Company Secretary Simon Hollingbery attended the event in Westminster, which featured speakers including Labour’s Shadow Minister for Education Toby Perkins MP along with senior education sector figures.
There was a discussion about the Apprenticeship Levy which is highly
relevant to the cleaning and hygiene sector.
Labour is proposing allowing businesses to spend levy funding on anything associated with training and skills, such as building a new training centre.
The audience heard that more levy funding
should be spent on Levels 2 and 3 and that a review of the Apprenticeship scheme to allow candidates who had followed the A Level route was needed.
Labour also proposes a review of the work of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE).
Simon Hollingbery and Deputy Chair Delia Cannings are pictured here representing the BCC at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Facilities Management Seminar 2023. Simon Hollingbery told the audience about the work of the APPG for the sector while Delia Cannings then made the case for respecting the cleaning industry, reflecting on the paucity of acceptable standards and advice provided to the industry and poor regulation during the pandemic, culminating in the proliferation of pop-up companies, with education and training being a key factor.
Following on from very positive feedback from course attendees, the Textile Services Association (TSA) continues to champion the importance of mental health in the laundry industry via its program of Mental Health First Aider courses.
The courses are aimed at providing line managers with an understanding of common mental health issues, and the knowledge needed to advocate for mental health issues.
Course attendees are shown how to spot signs of mental ill health as well as the
skills to support positive wellbeing. All participants qualify as Mental Health First Aid Champions upon completion of the course.
“The TSA feels it is vitally important that it supports its members to help ensure their employees’ mental health is looked after,”
David Stevens - CEO of the TSA.said David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “It’s brilliant that we now have more qualified mental health first aiders in the industry, and we hope more companies will be inspired to join this initiative.”
ANY INTERESTED TSA MEMBER CAN FIND OUT MORE VIA WWW.TSA-UK.ORG
The Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association’s (CHSA) independent inspector conducted more than 139 audits in 2022, guaranteeing the continued integrity of the association’s accreditation schemes.
In the process he inspected over 1,500 labels, tested over 507 product lines and physically tested 4,170 individual products. Compliance continued to be
high, each scheme achieving over 90 per cent.
With such high levels of compliance, buyers and end users of these products can be certain ‘what’s on the box was what’s in the box’.
“The CHSA’s guarantee was particularly important in 2022,” explained Lorcan Mekitarian, Chair of the CHSA
“Rising inflation puts pressure on prices. Unscrupulous traders compromised on product quality and quantity to offer exceptionally low prices.
“The CHSA’s accreditation scheme mark offered something different, a stamp of quality buyers of cleaning and hygiene products could and can continue to depend on.”
The British Cleaning Council has paid tribute to one of its co-founders who died earlier this year, aged 82.
Terry King and two industry colleagues set up the BCC in 1982 after hearing the Master of the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC) tell an audience during a speech that he felt all sectors of the UK cleaning industry should amalgamate to advance their common interests.
The WCEC, the Industrial Cleaning Machine Manufacturers’ Association (ICMMA), the Janitorial Supply Association (JANSA), the British Association for Chemical Specialities (BACS), the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), the Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC) and the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) became founder members of the BCC.
The Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) is offering more financial support to more young people going to university than ever before, via its annual undergraduate bursary.
In 2023 four talented young people will receive a total of £6,000 in bursary funding during their university career. This means an additional young person will receive the bursary, which has increased in value by 33 per cent.
David Garcia, Vice President of the CHSA and the driving force behind the bursary, explained: “The bursary offers very valuable financial support to young people.
“With the cost of living squeezing the resources of many young people, the time was right to increase the bursary.
“Taking the number of recipients up to four and increasing the value to a total of £6,000 is a big step forward. We are proud to give something back in this way and offer this support to the children of our members’ employees.”
To mark Living Wage Week, the British Cleaning Council renewed its call for cleaning and hygiene sector businesses and organisations to consider becoming real Living Wage employers.
The BCC is a real Living Wage employer and believes the commitment to pay a real Living Wage should apply equally to directly employed staff and
also to third party contracted staff in the industry.
BCC Chairman Jim Melvin said: “Cleaning and hygiene staff are skilled, professional employees who do a vital, frontline role keeping others safe, well and healthy. After the incredible work that sector staff have done during the pandemic, we think they deserve to receive an appropriate wage.”
Terry King went on to become the second chairman of the BCC. Along with fellow BCC founders Robert Burtinshaw and David Watt, he came up with the idea of setting up a joint venture to provide cleaning exhibitions which became the forerunner of today’s Cleaning Show. He was also a Past Master Emeritus of the WCEC.
BCC Chairman Jim Melvin said: “I was immensely saddened to hear of Terry’s passing. Terry had a huge impact on the UK’s cleaning and hygiene sector, via the foundation of the BCC and establishing the forerunner of the Cleaning Show.”
Applicants must be 18 years or over on 1 September 2023, commence their higher education studies this autumn and have parents who are employees of CHSA members.
FIND OUT MORE HERE: WWW.CHSA.CO.UK
David Garcia, Vice President of the CHSAEstablished in 1982, the British Cleaning Council (BCC) is the authoritative voice of the UK cleaning, hygiene and waste industry, a sector worth £59bn a year to the country’s economy and one which employs around 1.47m people, making it one of the UK’s top ten industries.
The council’s membership is made up of 22 trade and membership associations which are all linked to the cleaning, hygiene and waste professions.
From contract cleaning to waste management, pest control to housekeeping, training providers to machine manufacturers, chemical suppliers to wheeliebin washers – the BCC coordinates, campaigns and supports the affairs of the whole of the UK’s cleaning industry.
Key priorities for the BCC and its membership include seeking recognition and key worker status for sector staff, raising professional standards, employee health and well-being, career development and training, improved quality control and better procurement practices. We are also committed to promoting higher levels of cleaning and hygiene across all environments –commercial, domestic and public.
The BCC is also the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the UK Cleaning and Hygiene Industry and sponsors the Trailblazer group developing a proposal for a recognised and universal training accreditation for the whole of the industry, which would enable sector businesses to use Apprenticeship Levy funding for a cleaning Apprenticeship.
The BCC is co-producer of the world-renowned Cleaning Show, which alternates annually between London and Manchester.
THE BCC’S WE CLEAN, WE CARE CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS THE PRIDE AND PROFESSIONALISM OF THE SECTOR’S HIGHLY-TRAINED, SKILLED STAFF IN THEIR CRUCIAL, FRONTLINE ROLE KEEPING KEY WORKERS AND THE PUBLIC HEALTHY, SAFE AND WELL.
THE ASSOCIATION OF BUILDING CLEANING DSPS
THE ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC SERVICE EXCELLENCE
THE ASSOCIATION OF HEALTHCARE CLEANING PROFESSIONALS
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR CLEANING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR CHEMICAL SPECIALITIES
THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF CLEANING SCIENCE
THE BRITISH TOILET ASSOCIATION
THE BRITISH PEST CONTROL ASSOCIATION
THE BUSINESS SERVICES ASSOCIATION
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF WASTES MANAGEMENT
THE CLEANING & HYGIENE SUPPLIERS’ ASSOCIATION
THE CLEANING AND SUPPORT SERVICES ASSOCIATION
THE DOMESTIC CLEANING ALLIANCE
THE FEDERATION OF WINDOW CLEANERS
THE INDUSTRIAL CLEANING MACHINE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
KEEP BRITAIN TIDY
THE NATIONAL CARPET CLEANERS ASSOCIATION
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WHEELED BIN WASHERS
THE TEXTILE SERVICES ASSOCIATION
THE UK HOUSEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANERS
