Connex,
I would agree wholeheartly with your post with one exception and as I said earlier in these litigious times NATS needs to protect itself in the event of legal action by a third party. By clarifing duties and responsibilities of its staff and maintaining a certain standard it could be proved to be providing a "duty of care" to its customers and staff. There has also been a precedent where at West Drayton the Senior Sector Assistant prior to its transfer to Swanwick was subject to an LCE and had a Certificate of Competency. This system could be adapted and amended for local use at minimum cost and I do not believe that NATS is that " cheap", but I am prepared to be disapointed.