Average processing time for a Security Industry Authority licence remains ten weeks, the SIA confirms in its summer 2006 newsletter.
The SIA puts this down to what it calls the last minute surge in applications. The newsletter, fianlised in July, reports the SIA’s licensing system (run by contractor BT Syntegra and depending also on Criminal Records Bureau capacity) was built to process 10,000 licences a month. The first three months of 2006 – the deadline for contract guarding licences being March 20 – saw 61,000 applications. The newsletter reports that applications are still coming in at 2,500 a week; that is, the number system was built to cope with. The authority’s call centre, which is available to answer queries and questions about licensing, has a maximum peak operating capacity of 1,000 calls a day: “However, in March alone, we received more than 100,000 calls. The enormous strain placed upon our resources by last-minute licence applications and call centre enquiries should soon subside. We anticipate that we will clear the system accumulation by the end of August 2006.” In April Professional Security reported a SIA speaker at an Edexcel meeting in February that applications – by companies in bulk or individuals – were taking an average of ten weeks.
The newsletter opens with an article by BSIA chief exec David Dickinson, titled ‘The Private Security Industry is changing. Now, together, we must build upon the success achieved’, the newsletter quotes SIA-approved guarding company men Paul Hopper, Managing Director, Northern Security; Jonathan Levine, Managing Director, First Security; and Paul Cody, Managing Director, Britsafe.
The newsletter does give credit to private security: “Despite the last minute surge of applications, the SIA recognises and appreciates the scale of investment the industry has made and the challenges it has faced in making such deep rooted changes. The majority of service providers have displayed considerable commitment and professionalism in meeting the demands of regulation.” Interestingly, the letter also claims that buyers of security services have been ‘equally positive towards regulation’.
You can download various SIA documents from its website:
