The Home Office has opened the consultation process, providing a detailed proposal (see the three links below) for a new regulatory regime for the private security industry, encouraging all companies and security professionals to read and respond by 15th January 2013.
- Future regulatory regime for the private security industry (PDF file – 213kb)
- Impact assessment PSI future regulatory regime (PDF file – 398kb)
- Take part in the consultation
The UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA) has always supported the SIA in its aims to improve standards and public confidence in the private security sector. It has been an overarching independent regulator, providing a central focus and licensing scheme for the industry. This proposal moves to transfer responsibility to a new regulatory regime, where the industry will play a greater role.
The UKCMA will meet on 8th January to agree the association’s formal response. Whilst there are some good points to the proposals there is still significant uncertainty in several areas, highlighted below:-
- The financial burden to businesses is being severely underestimated, with small businesses and individuals bearing a disproportionate cost.
- Individuals entering the business may have an unclear, restrictive route to attain a license
- In the absence of an independent central body, who will own and manage all of the license data, could this create a data privacy problem?
- There is an underlying assumption that the industry has matured sufficiently since the PSIA 2001 to take on self regulatory responsibility, the industry faces a real danger of becoming fractured under an unelected regime.
- A body run by unelected private heads of business is likely to favour commercial interests and biases rather than the needs of the wider industry.
- The public confidence built over the last decade in the private security sector could soon be diminished in a sector awarding its own licenses.
- The likely make up of the new overarching authority will be dominated by the static guarding sector rather than event specialists, which would be a very regressive step for the live events sector.
- It is imperative that we respond as an association and we encourage all companies and individuals to respond and raise any concerns you may have via the links above.
See also http://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Pages/home.aspx for more details.