A Labour Government if it won power in May would seek to canvas opinion rather than go straight ahead with licensing of private investigators (PIs), the Labour peer shadowing the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has told Professional Security.
Baroness Smith – a life peer after serving as Labour MP for Basildon for 13 years from 1997 – also suggested that Government could take a lead on responsible buying of security services, to set standards. Westminster has not copied the Scottish Government in requiring public guarding contracts to go only to SIA-approved contractors. The Home Secretary Theresa May announced in summer 2013 that PIs would be licensed by 2015, yet precious few signs have come out of the Home Office since that badging of PIs will happen. Baroness Smith said that if she were minister – ‘no guarantee’ – “one of the things I would want is bring the industry round the table; let’s look if we can draw up a plan of where we think the priorities are and where we need to move forward”. Once planned, then a gap could be sought in parliament’s timetable for the legislation. Cyber-security too might come under SIA regulation.
For the full interview see page 30 of the January 2015 print issue of Professional Security magazine, free to read online.
