The regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will play an ‘enhanced’ role in the UK’s protective security landscape. That’s according to the SIA in its strategic plan for the years 2026 to 2029. Covered are ‘purpose and values’ and ‘ambitions’, and the how, why and of regulating and who’s regulated.
As featured in the June edition of Professional Security Magazine, besides its day job of badging some 450,000 people, the SIA is reviewing licensing qualifications; looking to remodel the approved contractor scheme; and is preparing to go live any time from April 2027 as the inspector and regulator of premises and events under Martyn’s Law, according to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. The document was written before the Home Office issued their statutory section 27 guidance on Martynโs Law requirements in April.
‘Important opportunity’
The SIA’s new chair is the retired senior policeman Mike Cunningham, who has written a joint foreword to the document with chief exec Michelle Russell. Cunningham said: “We have spent time over the last year engaging with a diverse range of UK-wide stakeholders, including those within industry as well as our partner organisations within the protective security sphere, to ensure our plans reflect the public safety realities ahead. This strategic plan reflects an important opportunity for change at a scale the SIA has not seen in more than 20 years. We will concentrate on the areas in which we as the regulator can make the most difference to public protection. Success will improve public trust and confidence in private security, and in protective security at premises and events as people go about their lives throughout the UK.
“The private security industry and venues themselves need to play their part and take ownership and accountability for their responsibilities and actions if lasting improvements to standards and improved public protection are to be achieved. We will work with them and other stakeholder partners, to amplify the collective impact. We are clear on our mandate and strategic direction over this period in regulating people, businesses, and places. We will be confident in setting standards, supportive in seeking compliance and uncompromising in our enforcement.
For the 41-page report, visit the SIA’s website. The SIA has also published a slightly shorter 2026-27 Business Plan.
Photo by Mark Rowe: patrolling security officer, Temple Meads, Bristol.
