Six years ago this week security trainers, and industry well-wishers generally met over the road from Euston station in central London, gathered by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and determined to work towards a security skills board. That work appears to have stalled.
Thatโs no criticism of all those who carried forward the good intentions of March 2020, that peculiar month before what we now know was the first lockdown of the covid pandemic. The skills board has done good things; such as publish online a freely available profession map, of use to anyone interested in working in the sector, and those who already working in private security who are seeking to progress. The board of volunteers already has day jobs. For much of the skills boardโs work โ accrediting training courses, setting standards, acting as a clearing house โ it will take employed staff, and hired-in services, of a web designer, marketeer, and so on. Iโve heard different figures of how much it would take, to get the skills board going like the equivalent for rail and construction; letโs say ยฃ500,000.
Small sum
While thatโs a big sum for you and I, itโs laughably small compared to hundreds of millions โ the range in the estimate by the Home Office of how much complying with the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, Martynโs Law for short, will cost. Thatโs not to suggest Martynโs Law and the skills board are competing, other than in the sense that prioritising one implies the other is less of a priority. The level three award in counter terrorism protective security and preparedness, launched this week at the invite-only Security and Policing exhibition at Farnborough, will play its part in raising Britainโs counter-terror posture. The UK official Nactso funded the work on the course; clearly, public money is around for civic good. The cost of making the level three course (equivalent to an A level) is very roughly on a par with the sum the skills board would need. If the state can find money for writing a training course, and (with retailers chipping in) millions for retail crime reduction, canโt it find loose change of ยฃ500k for the Security Skills Board, that will help protect the public? The sum needed is roughly equivalent to the spend on Costalot coffees in a year by staffers at the SIA, Nactso and the Home Officeโs homeland security directorate.
Industry people
The other potential avenue is for the security industry to find the money itself, given that the state has other things to pay for: filling potholes, doing something about waits for mental health treatment and so on. Numerous people have made their fortune out of selling security products and services, enough to retire to a villa in Spain or an apartment in Florida. Could they not give a tithe? Except that if you are the sort to make enough to leave British winters behind, you donโt have a social conscience. Indeed, one retiree to Florida in his memoir ended by raising a glass (literally or metaphorically) to the customer. The unspoken message; I made my money out of you, cheers!
Industry bodies
That leaves industry bodies, that however are lagging behind the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec). The professional body the UK Cyber Security Council, primed with public money, has hailed that its professional register has topped 1000, far more than the Chartered Security Professional (CSyP) status as begun by the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals. Has the cyber security sector got its act together better than security management generally because the state wanted it to, seeing it as more vital for Britainโs interests; or because it was already making progress and the state was reinforcing success?
In the physical world security industry bodies seem stuck in perpetual admin rather than making something original happen, and do not even acknowledge that a skills board merits support. The body with the most clout is the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, which however has its own priorities; such as its benevolent fund. A spring ball raised near ยฃ50,000 for the fund, to go on the welfare of security people in need; a valid cause. The cause of industry skills has not tended to feature among the priorities of the Worshipful Companyโs master, serving a single year term, who has tended not to come from a security operations background.
Hence the S12
Hence the forming of the S12 group of security guarding chiefs. Whether the S12 are either too polite or would rather get things done and not pick fights, they have not spelt out that if the industry bodies were working towards a skills board (among other pressing industry issues), the S12 would not have to form. The skills board โworkstreamโ of the S12, chaired by Tim Kendall of G4S, suggests funding by the โtop 30โ guarding companies. Between them, and an SIA-Nactso Coffee Fund, canโt they come up with half a million?
