Iestyn David is our Head of Licensing and Service Delivery. Here, he writes about our work to make sure that licences end up in responsible hands.
The SIA doesn’t just grant licences – although last year we granted 160,000. We make sure that only the right people hold an SIA licence. That means we refuse licence applications and revoke licences from those who are not fit to carry out the important role of protecting the public. It’s a key responsibility that we have as the regulator of the private security industry.
Our work to safeguard the integrity of the SIA licence begins with the application process. Our checks are thorough; last year we refused 1,362 licence applications for reasons such as criminality, or not having the right to work in the UK.
We won’t hesitate to remove licences from licence-holders who fail to live up to the standards required of them. Last year we suspended 917 licences and revoked 1,049 licences. Maintaining trust in the SIA licence is a top priority that involves teams across the SIA, from our Legal and Criminal Investigations teams to our Decisions officers and Intelligence staff.
We have close ties with police forces throughout the UK. They provide us with valuable intelligence relating to licence-holders or applicants involved in criminality. Our Intelligence team gathers relevant information and passes it to our Integrity team for detailed assessment, which may lead to us deciding to suspend or revoke a licence. This information can also come in from employers or members of the public via the ‘Report a Crime or Concern’ page on our website.
Our Inspections and Enforcement teams conduct enforcement operations across the UK with the police, local authorities and other government agencies. These operations may be conducted because of something we have been told (intelligence-led), or they may be random inspections to check compliance in a particular area.
We regularly prosecute those who commit offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. This is the Act of Parliament that established the SIA. It created several new offences, which include contravening licence conditions (you can see a full list of offences under the Act here). Last year we brought 39 prosecutions against individuals and businesses who chose to operate illegally.
We also prosecute for offences that could have a detrimental impact on the private security industry. These include fraud, forgery and counterfeiting in cases where people use forged or cloned licences. At the end of November 2022 our Criminal Investigations team had 119 open investigations, as you can see in our monthly SIA Enforcement Report.
We take our licensing responsibilities very seriously. The safety and security of the public depends on a professional and well-regulated private security industry that everyone can trust.
