Since the SIA came in, in England and Wales only, Professional Security has reported that the sticking point for licences to apply to Scotland was the need for the Scottish Executive to pass a law.
Actually the Westminster parliament has done the necessary.
The Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCA) gained Royal Assent on April 7, just before MPs left for the May 5 election campaign. This was an echo of the Private Security Industry Act (PSIA) 2001 which passed just before the 2001 election. SOCA amends the PSIA 2001 to allow the SIA powers to regulate private security in Scotland. Wheel clampers will not be licensed in Scotland – clamping there is already illegal. And Scotland will have a new licensable sector of precognition agents (a sort of private investigator). The SIA told Professional Security in April that a specific timetable cannot be predicted but it is thought that licensing in Scotland could be introduced in 2006. The work with Scottish Ministers and consultation with the Home Secretary and the SIA can only start when Parliament is reconvened with a new Government after May 11.
Background
The extra law set out how the SIA will work with Scottish ministers in Edinburgh; and where appeals will be heard in Scotland. The Scottish Executive has rather stalled on the subject: it brought out a consultation paper in September 2001. Only in 2003 did it agree to come in with the SIA, rather than setting up its own, Scottish, SIA. Scottish security and non-security figures alike have called for regulation to combat criminality by some door staff; and contract guards – in construction, for instance.
