Not Licensed? Get Licensed

There have been a number of incidents recently of security staff found working unlicensed in the pubs and clubs of UK cities without SIA Training and Licence. Although these incidences have proven to be largely isolated – with the two most recent in Welshpool and Aberdeen coming amid a range of organisations coming up clean in spot checks – it is important to take notice that people are still working illegally in the industry without doing the SIA Training and obtaining SIA Licence, and that there will be a number of others out there either working unlicensed, seeking work without getting a license first, or working under false or forged documentation. It is therefore worth making the point again that all security staff employed in the United Kingdom must be licensed by the SIA before they do even a minute of paid security work.

The Grampian Police ran an operation last month in Aberdeen in conjunction with the SIA and the relevant government agencies, visiting 35 different premises in order to engage with Door Supervisors in the city’s licensed premises. This was with the intention of ensuring compliance with the Private Security Act of 2001, in which it is stated that security staff working in the industry must be licensed for the work that they are carrying out. Amid the 35 visits made by the Grampian Police, there were five offences committed under the Act. Although the vast majority of pubs and clubs visited passed the tests with flying colours, there was concern voiced by the SIA and by Grampian Police that there were as many as five cases where the law had been broken, and there will undoubtedly be further action taken in those cases.

In Welshpool, the story was similar but on a smaller scale. Seventeen premises were visited by the authorities and thirty eight staff checked for full SIA licenses. All but two of the individuals questioned proved to have the correct licenses, but one door supervisor and one premises supervisor were found to be operating in contravention of the Private Security Industry Act. Police are continuing their enquiries and there is some possibility that prosecutions may result from these enquiries. At the same time, checks going on up and down the country are revealing a very high level of compliance. The story seems to be much the same in most places, in fact, with those door staff working without a front-line SIA licence very much in the minority.

The response coming out of the SIA at the present time seems to back that up, with broad satisfaction being the order of the day, leavened nonetheless by the realisation that some people are still working without valid Door Supervisor licenses. The message needs to be reiterated time and again until everyone working as a security professional or hiring a security worker is aware of the potential consequences of non-compliance with the Act. The cases in Welshpool and Aberdeen, although more the exception than the rule, shows that there is work still to do in this capacity. Work will continue to this end, we can be assured.