News

While “enjoying” the current summer hiatus in government and given the continuing popularity of INNSA’s Code of Practice – Managing Japanese Knotweed, we at INNSA felt it was worth a quick update on what the government does still have in place as regards invasive plant species management.

There are two principal sets of guidance we’ve reviewed – Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) 178 – which deals with the legal aspects of managing invasive species – and some under-publicised land management guidance from the EA, Defra and Natural England, one set specifically about Japanese knotweed and another on preventing the spread of invasive non-native plants.

I must admit in the last few months to having had the odd doubt about the relevance of INNSA. The Property Care Association (PCA) pretty much covers everything a trade body should cover and does so with a huge amount of experience to back the service that it provides.

Insurance-Backed Guarantees (IBGs) are a fact of life within the Japanese knotweed industry and have been for several years. They are as much a feature of the conveyancing process as the plethora of other indemnities available to mitigate against every little issue that ever marred the balance sheet of a mortgage lender.

Have you noticed a continued slipping of standards in pretty much every service industry? From restaurants to garages from hotels to delivery services …it’s like everybody’s forgotten how to look after their customers.

In life, I am a great advocate for having a fair playing field for everyone.