Regulation of the private security industry in Northern Ireland looks like coming into line with the rest of the UK, according to the Government.
Northern Ireland (NI) Minister Paul Goggins MP is proposing that the remit of the regulatory body, the Security Industry Authority (SIA), be extended to NI. Other proposals contained in a consultation paper published in late August include the licensing of all individuals working in the industry, including door supervisors, security guards, cash-in-transit operatives, key holders, vehicle immobilisers, close protection operatives and CCTV operatives. These proposals have been put out to an eight-week consultation period, which runs until October 24.
‘Ideal opportunity’
Paul Goggins was until a May re-shuffle the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office responsible for mainland private security regulation. He said: “The Government is committed to improving standards within the industry by providing a permanent regulatory scheme and I believe that extending the remit of the SIA is the best way of achieving this objective. With the temporary legislation governing the industry due to be repealed at the end of July [2007], this is an ideal opportunity to take a fresh look at how the industry operates in Northern Ireland and the challenges it will face in the future. It is our intention to introduce new legislation which will both protect legitimate operators and improve the standards and reputation of the industry and I believe that today’s consultation paper strikes the right balance.” Attending the Belfast launch of the consultation, SIA acting chairman, Robin Dahlberg, met Paul Goggins MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and representatives from the Northern Ireland Security Guarding Regional Committee of the British Security Industry Association.
SIA welcome
Welcoming the consultation, Robin Dahlberg said: “I’m pleased the SIA’s tremendous progress in raising standards within the private security industry in England, Wales, and soon, Scotland, has been recognised, and that the Northern Ireland Office considers the SIA to be the most efficient, cost-effective and satisfactory option for regulation in Northern Ireland. We are currently working with the Scottish Executive to roll-out licensing in Scotland during 2007. Given the opportunity, we would welcome the prospect of working with businesses in Northern Ireland to introduce SIA licensing and the Approved Contractor Scheme, thereby creating a single set of UK-wide industry standards.”
For a copy of the consultation paper, Regulating the Private Security Industry in Northern Ireland visit www.nio.gov.uk
Respond by writing to Private Security Industry Consultation, Northern Ireland Office, Room B.4.12, Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast BT4 3SB or email: [email protected]
In a foreword, Mr Goggins speaks of how in recent years private security ‘has been infiltrated by some unscrupulous operators who have exploited the potential for profit either for their own personal gain, or for the gain of paramilitary organisations’. Hence the move to what he calls a ‘robust regulatory framework’. Yet private security, as the document goes on, is regulated; most recently by the Terrorism Act 2000. A firm wishing to provide a “security service” (that is, guarding) must apply to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) for a licence. About 110 guard firms are so licenced. The NIO checks that directors are not members of proscribed (that is, terrorist) organisations. The Terrorism Act runs out in July 2007, which would leave the private security industry in Northern Ireland unregulated, the paper notes: “There would be no barriers at all to entry into the industry.”
Paramilitaries
However, as the paper admits, the NIO’s regulation does not cover vetting for convictions, standards or staff training. The document adds: “This method initially worked well but has recently proven less satisfactory in preventing the exploitation of the industry … The industry is particularly vulnerable to penetration by paramilitaries because of low barriers of entry to those wishing to provide a private security service. There have been examples in Northern Ireland of private security services being subverted to act as a cover for criminality, for example, the provision of security guards to provide cover for running a ‘protection racket’.” As for door staff, as on the mainland before the SIA, some NI councils run door supervisor registration schemes, some do not. Such trends have been reported by the Independent Monitoring Commission, and a July report into organised crime by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs.
Options
The document does offer options other than bringing in the SIA (which would allow guards with a licence to work anywhere in the UK): namely extending the current NIO regulation, and to set up an agency in Northern Ireland to do an SIA-style job. However the paper rather sets up these alternatives only to knock them down: setting up the NI agency would cost £3m, it is claimed, and to be self-financing it could have to charge £600 for an individual’s licence application. Assuming the Government agrees to the ‘option’ of the SIA extending to Northern Ireland, it is unlikely, the document says, that the SIA could be in place by thta July 2007 deadline. Hence the Government proposes to extend the current NIO regulation for now.
Republic’s PSA
While it is easy to concentrate on the political ‘Troubles’, Northern Ireland’s private security industry does have practical problems, similar to the mainland’s, to deal with – such as drug dealing in pubs and clubs, and crime. That said, UK and Republic of Ireland cross-border politics can be highly controversial. The consultation document has this to say about the Private Security Authority (PSA), the Republic’s equivalent of the SIA: “Co-operation between the PSA and any authority taking on responsibility for licensing Northern Ireland could be dealt with on a bilateral basis. This appears to be a fruitful area for North-South cooperation and we would welcome views on how we might strengthen co-operation in this area in a constructive and practical way.”
