The “phased transition” to a new regulatory regime for UK security guarding licensing has been ongoing since October 2010. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has announced this week the timescale for licensing of security businesses. From April 6, 2015, all regulated security businesses will need to hold an SIA business licence.
Security businesses will be required to hold a business licence in each sector they work in, which will comprise of:
The application process for SIA business licences will open on April 7, 2014, and businesses are advised to apply by no later than October 1, 2014. Otherwise they will risk not having their application processed in time for April 2015, when the licences will become a legal requirement.
BSIA chief executive James Kelly has welcomed the announcement of the proposed timescales, but has said that there are still “several factors” that the Government has yet to clarify that are crucial to the success of the transition to business licensing. He said:
Firstly, the Government has yet to identify a suitable legislative vehicle through which suitable enforcement powers can be granted to the SIA. Also, the failure of Government to clarify the cost of the new regime is leaving many security companies in the dark when it comes to business forecasting for the coming years.
In his role as chairman of the Security Regulation Alliance — a single-issue alliance of stakeholders that focuses on the regulation of the security industry — Kelly has written to the government to say that the new regulatory regime will be “helpful to business” but that the Alliance is concerned that the Treasury and the Department for Business, Information, and Skills (BIS) are delaying the introduction of the regulation.
Concerns from the treasury about the cost to the taxpayer of the new regulatory regime have caused delays. There is also a perception that the new rules are contrary to a general government policy of deregulation. Kelly continued:
Our letter aims to provide reassurance that the cost of licensing has always been — and will continue to be — borne by industry, and that regulation has, in fact, had a positive influence on the security industry.
Kelly wrote in his letter:
The new regulatory regime will be good for all businesses, reduce cost, help build a private security industry that is fit to hold the public’s trust, and support the police. However, this will only be the case if all phases of the new regulatory regime are completed with proportionate powers that allow robust enforcement to be continued. If, as seems possible, an incomplete process without primary legislation is enacted, it would be damaging as long as the uncertainty persisted.
The Alliance pressed the benefit of regulation in encouraging competition in the industry, saying that before the SIA introduced regulation the only way a company could screen suppliers was through reputation — a situation that would prevent new businesses being able to build up credibility.
Business licensing will be subject to ministerial approval, and businesses will have to prove that they are fit and proper to supply security industry services.
To register for information about business licensing, visit the SIA website.
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Surely an idea of how they will enforce these changes needs to be decided/ communicated at inception?
You’d think so. There’s so many unanswered questions not least the cost I the licenses. Or the cost model, will it be more or less the bigger or smaller your organisation for instance?
As we outsource, it will be a cost that we’ve never seen (as its been hidden in contract costs), so whether its the same or less, it is something that we won’t be expecting and therefore, won’t be very popular. I attended a briefing about this and the thought behind it was SIA where checking people and the company were doing the same (in my industry, additional vetting is the norm), so there was a great deal of duplication, which this will do away with. But taking the responsibility for licensing away from the guarding companies and giving it to the… Read more »
yes, you are right as this changes do happens but in some cases it like coin of two sides… and information must reach the end user…
yes, Rob you are right as size of the Co. should be taken in the account… from my past… even if you have solution one size fit all… not always work in Corp. Envr.
yes, with enforcing changes – proper communication is a must… and no other way…
Let’s hope they learnt from last time and are able to process all of the applications properly.
Confusion reins then @Dawn Holmes. Not being 100% sure about what you heard says it all. I accept they’re doing away with an element of duplication, but I do worry a little. But it seems to me it was this model or no licensing at all, which would have been a disaster for the industry.
Government, computer failure? Seems inevitable really…
I agree, irrespective of the problems, licensing has been a brilliant thing for the industry, giving it a professional profile and doing away with those who gave the industry a bad name.