The remit of the Security Industry Authority is expanding beyond the private security sector, positioning it as ‘a key partner in national counter terrorism efforts’, according to the SIA’s Business Plan 2026-27; and echoed in its strategic plan for the next three years.
In 2026-27 the SIA will receive funding from the Home Office to deliver on Martyn’s Law; the document states that year’s budget is ยฃ12.8m, which is likely to rise markedly as inspectors are hired.
In a foreword to the 2026-7 document, the SIA’s chief executive Michelle Russell writes of counting down to the coming into force of Martyn’s Law, the legal requirement on about 200,000 premises and venues to take steps to counter the threat of terrorism, as set out in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. She describes 2026-7 as ‘the critical year in the implementation period’. Priorities include the building of ‘online digital service platforms’, to enable premises and events to place documentary evidence of compliance with the regulator.
‘Strategic shifts’
The document points to ‘three strategic shifts’: that the SIA will be regulating places (premises and events), and not only the private security people who work at them doing ‘licensable activity’ such as door security and contract CCTV monitoring; and secondly, that the SIA will ‘assess, judge, and address the quality of security services’ provided by operatives and security businesses: and ‘highlight good practice, promote higher standards, and call out poor service delivery’.
The third shift is as she notes the need for a ‘one organisation’ culture, given that Martyn’s Law staff will be based in Manchester – as the campaign by Figen Murray for Martyn’s Law arose from the Manchester Arena suicide terror bombing of 2017 – while the SIA remains based at Canary Wharf in London Docklands, having been in London ever since it formed in the early 2000s. She added: “Everything we seek to do is aimed at building public trust and confidence in private security, and safety and security at premises and events. We will rebase our measures of public trust and confidence early in the year with new research and surveys to ensure we measure the outcomes and impact of our actions”.
See also the July edition of Professional Security Magazine.
Photo by Mark Rowe: security patroller at Canary Wharf.
