Iestyn David, Head of Licensing & Service Delivery, Security Industry Authority
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is here to protect you – the UK public – through the effective regulation of the private security industry. One of the ways we do this is by making sure that people who carry out certain types of security jobs have an SIA licence.
This year, 2024, marks 20 years since the first SIA licences were introduced. But what does licensing mean, and what do licence holders do?
Who needs an SIA licence?
People need an SIA licence in the UK if the work they will be doing is part of a ‘contract for services’ and involves carrying out a ‘licensable activity’. This means that a person, or their employer has a contract to supply private security services to another organisation and the activity is covered by the law – specifically, the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
Most SIA licence holders will have a blue plastic licence card, which they must display at all times when engaging in licensable activities, unless exempt.
What do SIA licence holders do?
There are currently 431,000 SIA licence holders across the UK, carrying out different roles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are many types of licence that cover a variety of different activities. This includes door supervision, security guarding, CCTV operation, and protecting Cash and Valuables in Transit (CVIT), amongst others.
Having a private security presence means you can go about your daily life, and enjoy the things you love to do, in places where you feel safe. Whether that’s in pubs, clubs or shops, at events or festivals, or at work or going to hospital. We have stories from SIA licence holders on our anniversary pages about the different jobs people do and how they help to protect the public.
What about background checks?
My team check the thousands of applications we receive each week to make sure that licence applicants are ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence. First, before anyone applies for a front-line SIA licence, they need to complete ‘licence-linked’ training and get an appropriate qualification.
Front-line licence holders are people who personally perform a licensable activity as part of their job. We set the standards for the licence-linked training, and awarding organisations develop their qualifications to match these. This means we can be sure licence holders have the baseline skills and knowledge they need do their job safely. Some training is common to all licence types, some is dependent on the type of licence. Topics include things like first aid and conflict resolution.
We then make sure that applicants are who they say they are. In most cases, we ask new applicants to take certain documents along to their local Post Office to verify their identity.
We also check they have the right to work in the UK and we check their criminal record. There is a list of relevant offences, agreed by the Home Office – our sponsor department in government – which indicate that an applicant may be a risk to the public. We use the information in their criminal record to decide whether they are suitable to hold a licence to work in the private security industry.
Licences expire after 3 years and do not automatically renew. We carry out the same checks on new applications and renewals. In 2023 we refused 1,894 licence applications.
What happens after someone gets an SIA licence?
Another important part of our regulatory role is monitoring the industry to make sure that standards are consistently being met. We expect SIA licence holders to meet appropriate standards of behaviour such as being professional, reliable and helpful.
Our Intelligence team gathers relevant information, including from our ‘report a crime or concern’ form. We also have a Compliance and Inspections team who do proactive risk and intelligence led inspection and investigatory work. The information we get may lead to us suspending or revoking a licence if someone is not meeting the required standards. In 2023, we revoked 876 licences (excluding revocations where the licence holder’s right to work in the UK had expired).
In the most serious cases, our Criminal Investigations team will coordinate appropriate legal action against those who may present a risk to the public. You can read more about our enforcement activities on our blog and I also shared details last year about how we ensure the integrity of the SIA licence.
So, now you know a bit more about licensing at the SIA. I hope this information helps to reassure you that the UK’s private security industry is well regulated, and that public protection is at the heart of everything we do.