On Thursday 5 September a summary of responses to the Home Office document Consultation on a Future Regulatory Regime for the Private Security Industry was published. There was an excellent response to the consultation from across the private security industry and stakeholders.
Overall there was good support for the Government’s proposed reforms and the majority of respondents supported the introduction of business regulation, together with a new individual licensing process.
The Home Office used responses to the consultation to develop further its plans for how business regulation would be administered and to improve its understanding of how the industry perceives the proposed reforms.
The key points include:
Half of all respondents agreed with the Government’s proposals for a phased transition to a business regulation regime.
The majority of respondents support the introduction of business regulation and a new individual licensing process as soon as possible, with other aspects of the regime being introduced over a longer period of time.
There was high level of support for all the proposed criteria and conditions for business regulation.
There was also support for special provisions to help micro and small businesses to demonstrate compliance, however, they must be sufficiently robust and not provide any loopholes in regulatory requirements.
Responses to the consultation show that there is support for transferring the current ACS hallmark standard to an industry body to administer.
The majority expressed the view that the SIA should continue to issue licences for individuals.
Nearly two thirds of responses agreed that the cost fees should be based on the size of the business.
A high majority (94%) of respondents agreed that it would be beneficial to continue to have consistent regulation of the private security industry across the UK.
The Home Office will further communicate how the regime will be deregulatory for the industry as a whole, and will support the shifting of the regulatory burden between individuals and business. A key aspect of this will be the fee levels payable under the new regime, which will be announced separately to the consultation response.
Bill Butler, Chief Executive of the SIA, said:
“I’m pleased that the industry has shown support for the introduction of business regulation.
“A transition to business regulation will bring significant benefits to law-abiding, reputable businesses working in the industry. It will also provide the SIA with a more efficient, proportionate and cost effective way of meeting its regulatory objectives to reduce criminality and improve standards within the industry, as well as protecting the public. Importantly for the industry, it will reduce the overall cost and burden placed on businesses and individuals.”
The Home Office and the SIA will communicate further information and detail on how business regulation will work, however, to view the full document please visit the Gov.uk website
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