A New Labour peer is the new chairman of the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
She is Baroness Ruth Henig, made a life peer in 2004. From 1997 to 2005 she was chair of the Association of Police Authorities (APA); she has since become the APA’s first honorary president.
There are a number of parallels between Baroness Henig and another baroness, Molly Meacher, the first chairman of the SIA. Both came to the SIA from public service and police admin-quango backgrounds; Meacher was deputy chair of the Police Complaints Authority. Both had husbands with Labour Party backgrounds, Mrs Meacher’s husband being former minister Michael Meacher. Henig stood as a Labour candidate in Lancaster in the 1992 election. Henig’s husband Stanley, also an academic, was Labour MP for Lancaster from 1966 to 1970. Baroness Henig CBE’s New Labour credentials include being police authority representative member of the National Criminal Justice Board, set up in 2003 to monitor performance across the criminal justice system. She was a member of the Prime Minister’s Street Crime Action Board. Earlier, she was a career history lecturer at the University of Lancaster, where she specialised in 20th-century international history.
What they say
Vernon Coaker, Home Office Minister with responsibility for the SIA said: "I am confident that she, with the support of the other independent members, will continue to provide strong leadership in developing and achieving the highest standards in the private security industry. I would also like to thank Robin Dahlberg for the important and valuable work he has done as acting chair since taking up the post in February 2006." Dahlberg became acting chairman in February 2006, when pervious chairman Peter Hermitage stepped down halfway through his term. Dahlberg will continue at the SIA as a board member.
