The Security Industry Authority‘s review of its Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) has the main findings and recommendations so far from the research available from the ACS Review Portal. The SIA is holding three discussion workshops in February. For more on the review and to attend a workshop – in London, Leeds or Edinburgh, visit the SIA website.
The SIA says that feedback from the consultation suggests that the ACS is functioning well. A number of improvements have been identified and the will be working with its consultants Pye Tait to deliver on them:
– Simplifying and improving the language around the standards;
– Less focus on processes and documentation; and
– More focus on measurable outcomes.
The revised standard will be brought out in the summer. The transition will be managed to enable businesses to prepare and it is likely that businesses will not be assessed against the new standard until late 2018/early 2019, the SIA adds. For the review details in full visit the SIA website. The SIA thanks over 650 people for completing the surveys.
The question of whether the ACS is a differentiation scheme that allows businesses to market themselves and gain market share was a feature of the review. One means of differentiation would be higher and lower standards, such as gold, silver and bronze (like the NSI guarding scheme for instance), which prompted ‘mixed opinions’ fromthe survey, the SIA reports. The regulator has decided not to introduce such a tiered system.
The ACS scoring system is believed by some to be too complicated; the SIA is to look into it. As for other accreditation schemes around (perhaps a way to provide differentiation for a guarding firm), the SIA says it will seek to raise awareness of the differing routes to assessment, including the standards such as the Community Safety and Accreditation Scheme (CSAS).
As for mandatory licensing for security businesses, in deep freeze since the Coalition announced it was coming by 2015, only for it not to happen, rather than the voluntary ACS, the SIA says that there is ‘unlikely to be legislative opportunity’ for business licensing in the short term. The SIA ‘will share these findings with the Home Office’.
For years, the Scottish Government has run by a Public Procurement Directive a rule for the use of ACS security providers if the security relates to a public sector contract. During the consultation, some support was given to the idea of seeking an extension of this beyond Scotland. Again, the SIA will discuss it with the Home Office.
