wrote:

The other said that it was contrary to regs and he couldn't do anything
to the sockets in the skirting boards, but suggested that a perfectly
reasonable thing for me to do would be to fit Converta sockets to them
(in fact he said that he'd supply them for me).

I've never used them (or even seen them!) so I'll let others comment on
that. They are very widely available though, so presumably are kosher.

Do you mean the electrician will supply them for you to fit? Don't do
that, you'll be able to get them far cheaper yourself directly. Eg, item
88126 at www.toolstation.com. (they also do a 1 - 3 version as well
as the 1 - 2, by the way.

Also is it OK to have them in skirting boards - both in terms of regs
and in terms of what's sensible (not always the same thing).

Personally I can't be doing with sockets in skirting boards. They sit
proud of the wall and are likely to get damaged, and/or (eg) prevent
furniture from going back against the skirting board. It wouldn't be
allowed in a new installation because they need to be 450mm off the
floor (for disabled people) but that doesn't apply to you; I don't know
what other rules there may be about skirting boards per se. But I can't
see why it would be any better or worse than it is now if you go ahead
and fit Convertas.

David