Monitors' Regional Meetings, Spring 2012

The Scheme's Monitors recently met for their first meeting this year where they began the initial stage of training on the new five point Code of Considerate Practice and Checklist which will be in place for the beginning of 2013.

The Monitors' Regional Meetings are held twice a year, where over a two week period, the Scheme travels around the country meeting with all 138 Monitors. The meetings provide the opportunity for the Scheme to update its Monitors on current news and issues, as well as generating lively discussions on monitoring, including topics such as the consistency of reporting in order to ensure both registered sites and companies are assessed and scored fairly.

This round of regional meetings focused strongly on the new Code of Considerate Practice with explanations as to why the changes are taking place and what the changes are. The Monitors were then introduced to the new Checklist and scoring system, and were guided on how the new reports should be completed. This was the first time that all of the Scheme's Monitors were able to work through the new Code and Checklist, with all commenting positively on the changes and agreeing that they are an improvement on the existing versions.

The Monitors were informed that the five point Code and Checklist will be put through the final testing phase over the summer, whereby they will be asked to score live registered sites and companies to ensure accurate and consistent reporting.

Following this, the Monitors are due to attend another round of regional meetings in autumn where they will be assisting in finalising the documentation for the new Code and Checklist, ready for the transition in January 2013.