SIA Update

by **Chris Seagal** 14/10/2010, 01:14

Security alliance tells Home Secretary: "Careful consideration is essential
in deciding SIA's future"

13 Oct 10

The British Security Industry Association has called for the Home Secretary
to carefully consider the implications of the rumoured abolition of the
Security Industry Authority. Brian Sims reports.

By <http://www.info4security.com/biography.asp?contact=3392>Brian Sims

In a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May MP, the <http://www.bsia.co.uk>
BSIA's chief executive James Kelly has appealed for the Home Office to
engage with the security industry over any planned changes to regulation,
citing issues such as industry maturity, public confidence and lighter touch
regulation as key considerations when planning the way forward.

The move by the security alliance follows recent speculation that the
security industry's Regulator is on the verge of being scrapped.

The B <http://www.the-sia.org.uk>SIA sits at the centre of the
industry-wide alliance that has been formed over recent weeks to plan a
strategic response to the rumoured abolition of the SIA. The coalition
movement also encompasses Skills for Security, The Security Institute and
The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, as well as representatives
from a range of private security companies and other key industry
stakeholders.

"We anticipate that this Working Group will represent a collective voice,
one that has already declared itself in favour of continued regulation in
some form," said Kelly in an official press statement.

"The private security market is complex and ever-changing, and industry
participants take great pride in the significant improvement of standards
and behaviour that has been achieved in the last decade. Much of this
improvement has been made with the valuable oversight of the SIA."

The prospect of lighter touch regulation

Regulation in the future could take many forms, not least that of lighter
touch regulation signalled by the SIA's chairman, Baroness Ruth Henig,
earlier this year at the Regulator's Annual Stakeholder Conference.

The BSIA had already responded positively to this initiative, and pledged
the industry's support in principle for such a path. Continued policing and
enforcement by the SIA has also been mooted among the industry, and the BSIA
- along with its partner organisations - feels that the SIA would be best
placed to undertake this since independent oversight is key to maintaining
public confidence in the private security industry.

James Kelly concluded: "As an industry-wide alliance, we stand ready to work
alongside the Home Office to develop the most suitable framework for
addressing the needs of Government, the public and the private security
industry. We look forward to working with Government to shape our industry's
future, if and when an announcement regarding the SIA is made."

Sere full Article at Info4Security <
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