Written question asked by Patrick Mercer (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 March 2006. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 3 July 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Security Industry Authority

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had on the potential dismissal of workers in the private security industry on 20 March 2006 due to licences not being issued by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) by that date; and what steps he has taken to prevent such an occurrence.

Answer: [holding answer 21 March 2006]: I took on ministerial responsibility for the SIA on 4 May. My predecessor Paul Goggins met with the SIA on a number of occasions to discuss the impact of the implementation date of 20 March 2006. The SIA put in place a system 14 months before the 20 March 2006 to manage the transition to licensing. This date was agreed after consultation with the industry, who had undertaken to submit their applications in good time. While some did submit their applications in good time, other parts of the industry failed to do so. The SIA wants all of the security industry to be compliant with the law as soon as possible and has taken additional steps to speed up the processing of licence applications. These include temporarily doubling the capacity of the SIA's licensing system and working closely with companies to reduce applicant error rates. Enforcement action is a matter for the SIA and the police. ACPO and the SIA have issued joint Enforcement Guidelines in which they stated they intend to take a measured and proportionate approach to enforcement.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 60529; 448 c893W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Applications Certification Fees and charges Licensing Registration Standards Self-assessment Security guards Security Industry Authority
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk