As if the Security Industry Authority (SIA) won’t have enough to do, to set up the regulating and inspecting of Martyn’s Law, which is due to become law shortly, it could have yet more work – to bring in licensing of thousands of security businesses. The SIA is to come under the portfolio of the Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis in the Home Office.
Statement
In a joint statement yesterday, Heather Baily, chair of the SIA and chief exec Michelle Russell said: “We very much welcome this move as it ensures that both functions of the SIA, which include the existing regulation of the private security industry and the new Martynโs Law regulator function, complement each other. This will improve protective security and security standards at venues across the UK. We also welcome the governmentโs intention to review the Manchester Arena Inquiryโs monitored recommendation 7 (removing the in-house licensing exemption) and monitored recommendation 8 (the introduction of business licensing) in the coming weeks.
“We look forward to working with the Home Office and the UK private security industry and stakeholders to support the governmentโs missions to make the UK safer from terrorism and โtaking back our streetsโ.”
Background
Volume one of the Manchester Arena Inquiry, in June 2021, on the security at the venue around the suicide terror attack of May 2017, made numerous ‘monitored recommendations’ (MR for short) – MR7 was about CCTV public space surveillance, and MR8 put it to the Home Office that ‘consideration should be given to whether contractors who carried out security services should be required to be licenced’. Like other public bodies that the Inquiry findings touched upon, the SIA set to work (see SIA blog of March 2023) and stated to the Inquiry that ‘SIA licensing for in-house security should be extended to both operators of CCTV/public surveillance and in-house security guards’. By June 2023, however, when the Inquiry held a final public hearing about what the authorities had done so far about its recommendations, it heard that the Home Office had decided against MR7 and MR8.
In-house
Some in the world of contract guarding have grumbled for years about what they see as loopholes – that someone can be employed in-house doing the same work as a contract officer, and only the contract officer has to be trained to be SIA-badged (and pay the licence application fee). Likewise, some feeling all along in the security industry was that the SIA when set up in the mid-2000s should have licensed the businesses rather than individuals.
Politics
In their statement, Heather Baily and Michelle Russell used two explicitly Labour policy phrases – ‘take back our streets‘ from Labour’s manifesto on law and order; and ‘missions’, as in Labour under PM Sir Keir Starmer has promised to be a ‘mission driven government‘. While the SIA has been a non-part-political matter ever since it originated in the Private Security Industry Act 2001, it was set up in the Tony Blair era of Labour and had as its first two chairs Labour peers, Baronesses Meacher and Henig.
Dan Jarvis
Barnsley MP and Home Office minister Dan Jarvis featured in the November edition of Professional Security Magazine for his speech to the International Security Expo at London Olympia in September. Before the announcement, there was some doubt as to which Home Office minister had the SIA in their remit: Dan Jarvis’ includes counter terrorism and extremism; and oversight of the National Crime Agency.
Martynโs Law
Martynโs Law, more formally known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, which has largely passed through Parliament since the Bill was published in September 2024, will make a legal responsibility upon premises (typically pubs and nightclubs, and retail, besides hospitals and concert venues like the Arena) to take measures to protect against the threat of terrorism.
Photo by Mark Rowe: SIA-badged guard.
