Security Industry Authority Licensing

SIA Licensing

One of the main duties of the SIA is the compulsory licensing of individuals working in specific sectors of the private security industry.

Whether or not an individual requires a licence is determined by the role that is performed and the activity that is undertaken. These are described fully in Section 3 and Schedule 2 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended). It is a criminal offence to engage in licensable conduct without a licence: if found guilty, the maximum penalty is six months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000.

Licensable Activities (Sectors)

The activities defined as licensable by the Act are:

• Manned guarding, which includes:
  • Cash and Valuables in Transit
  • Close Protection
  • Door Supervision
  • Public Space Surveillance (CCTV)
  • Security Guard
• Immobilisation, restriction and removal of vehicles
• Key Holding

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended) allows for SIA licensing of private investigation activities, security consultants and precognition agents. However, the SIA does not currently license these activities.

Types of SIA Licence

There are two types of SIA licence:

• A front line licence is required if undertaking licensable activity, other than key holding activities (this also covers undertaking non-front line activity). A front line licence is in the form of a credit card-sized plastic card that must be worn, subject to the licence conditions.
• A non-front line licence is required for those who manage, supervise and/or employ individuals who engage in licensable activity, as long as front line activity is not carried out - this includes directors or partners. A non-front line licence is issued in the form of a letter that also covers key holding activities.

Licence Application Fee

The licence application fee is £245 for a three year licence, except for front line vehicle immobiliser licences where the fee is £245 for a one year licence. The fee is to cover the cost of processing the application and is not refundable. Individuals paying their own licence fee can claim tax relief against their taxable income. For employers paying the licence fee on behalf of an employee there is no tax or National Insurance liability.

Multiple Licences and Licence Integration

Some people may need more than one licence; in such cases the additional licence(s) will be discounted by 50%.

In some cases, the SIA is satisfied that the licensing criteria to be met for one licensable activity are sufficient to allow a licensed individual to carry out other licensable activities. 

In-house Guarding

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 does not require manned guards employed in-house to be licensed unless their activities are in relation to licensed premises.

The SIA was charged by Parliament to investigate the implications of extending the legislation to cover in-house manned guards once licensing of the private security industry had been in force for three to four years. In order to meet this obligation the SIA consulted widely through a range of mechanisms.

Its assessment of the evidence took into account that regulation should only be targeted where action was needed; that regulation should only intervene where there is a clear case for public protection, and any proposal for further regulation should be proportionate and follow a risk-based approach.

Its conclusion is that there is no clearly defined or substantiated risk to public protection to be addressed and that it is unable to make a case which would justify extending its remit to include the licensing of in-house guards.

The SIA has committed to reviewing the situation again in the 2012-2013 financial year.

Licence-linked Qualifications

Individuals applying for a front line SIA licence must prove that they are properly qualified to do their job. If they don’t hold one of the SIA-endorsed qualifications then their licence application will be refused.

The licence-linked qualifications are intended for individuals entering the private security industry. Their purpose is to ensure that the individual is capable of performing their duties in a manner that will not cause harm to themselves or any member of the public. The qualifications are meant to address the core areas of the role; they are not intended to cover all of the training that an operative could possibly have.

The SIA does not run training courses or award qualifications; it also does not approve or vet training providers. The SIA specifies the knowledge and skills that a licence holder needs to know and be able to do, and these specifications form the basis of the qualifications linked to SIA licensing.

The SIA has endorsed certain awarding bodies to offer these qualifications and approve training providers. As of September 2010, these awarding bodies are: British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body (BIIAB); Buckinghamshire New University; City & Guilds; Edexcel; EDI; HABC; NOCN; SQA.

In January 2008, Panorama carried out an undercover investigation in to the training that candidates were undertaking to obtain their SIA licences. This revealed that mobile phone use and open talking in exams was common practice during the training course and examination that the reporter took.

Training malpractice such as this is a matter for the various UK Qualification Regulatory Authorities. Training malpractice can be defined as any deliberate activity, neglect, default or other practice that compromises the integrity of the assessment process and / or the validity of certificates.

Confirmed cases of training malpractice may result in:

• the relevant awarding body or bodies removing the training centre's approval
• the SIA revoking the licences of those licence holders who benefitted from the malpractice.

Approved Contractor Scheme

One of the main duties of the SIA is to manage the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS), a voluntary quality assurance scheme that measures private security suppliers against independently assessed operational and performance standards. Organisations that meet these standards are awarded 'Approved Contractor' status. As of June 2010, the total number of approved contractors was 672.

The ACS is based upon widely recognised business improvement models: ISO9001 and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. The Scheme also references the British Standard codes of practice applicable to the private security industry and conformance to the relevant codes is built into the ACS requirements.

Companies applying to the scheme are assessed against 89 individual indicators of achievement. The SIA does not normally assess contractors directly, though it may do so in exceptional circumstances. The usual practice is for assessment by one of the SIA's appointed assessing bodies. As of August 2010, these UKAS-accredited assessing bodies are: BSI; Chamber Certification Assessment Services Ltd; NSI (prop. Insight Certification Ltd); ISOQAR; SSAIB.

SIA approval is only available for the activities of an organisation that are regulated under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Approval is sector-specific, so a company offering two different kinds of private security services may be approved in one but not the other. To maintain approval an approved contractor must re-register every year and renew approval every three years. This process means that approved contractors are independently assessed on an annual basis.

ACS Fees

The fees charged by the SIA relate to:

1. Pre-approval. The application fee, payable for processing of the application including initial eligibility checks. The application fee is non-refundable once the processing of the application has begun.
2. Post-approval. The annual registration fee, payable on approval to cover the operational costs of the scheme. This fee is payable each year that approved status is maintained.

Size of Organisation	Licensable Employees	Application Fee	Annual Registration Fee
Micro	Up to 10	£400	£17 per licensable employee
Small	11 to 25	£800
Medium	26 to 250	£1,600
Large	Over 250	£2,400

Other fees payable that are relevant to approval but are not levied by the SIA are:

• Fees paid to assessing bodies to assess whether the applicant meets the requirements for approval
• Fees paid to assessing bodies for relevant accreditations used to support Passport applications

Falsely Claiming Approval

Claiming to be an approved contractor when this is not the case is an offence under section 16 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. A section 16 offence includes use of the Approved Contractor Scheme accreditation mark or the use of language that may suggest approval or endorsement, such as "SIA registered" or "SIA member". The penalties for committing an offence under Section 16 are:

• Upon summary conviction at a Magistrate's Court, Sheriff Court or District Court, a fine of up to £5,000.
• Upon conviction on indictment at Crown Court, High Court of Justiciary or Sheriff and jury trial, an unlimited fine.