Industry Analysis 2009

Only 6.58 % of Security Companies could Qualify for Self Regulation

After producing their Private Security Industry Analysis 2009, Infologue.com believes that only 6.58 percent of the regulated security industry could be ready for self regulation should the Government decide to axe the Security Industry Authority (SIA) in their planned “Bonfire of the Quangos” replacing the regulator with self regulation. This analysis demonstrates the initial need for a twin track approach to regulation in the form of “part SIA, part self” as intimated by the SIA Chair Ruth Henig at the SIA conference in June 2010. Infologue.com further believes that in order to achieve self regulation compulsory company registration should be introduced as the baseline of the regulatory framework of the licensable sector of the security industry. Finally, any proposed move towards self regulation should be predicated by consultation with and debate within the private security industry.

If the Government were to abolish regulation then there would be anarchy in an industry which has refused licences to 17,545 applicants and revoked 16,815 licences since the inception of regulation of the security industry in 2004. Since the start of regulation the SIA and its stakeholders have worked tirelessly to remove criminality, raise standards and improve professionalism in an industry which was constantly in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Its is clear that the reported belief by the coalition Government that the industry is mature and ready for self regulation appears to lack foundation. Approximately only a quarter of the regulated security industry has some form of accredited quality accreditation (Approved Contractors Scheme – ACS). Further only 6.58 percent of the businesses (Companies with assessment scores in the Top Quartile of the ACS) in the sector have sufficient processes in place which meets current thinking as to what could be minimum requirement for security businesses to operate in a self regulatory environment. In reaching this conclusion Infologue.com has divided the number of approved contractors in the top quartile (166 businesses) by the number of businesses operating in the licensable sector of the security industry (2522 businesses). A breakdown of the latter number is set out in our industry analysis below.

We would like to dispel a myth in respect of only large companies being able to produce top quartile ACS scoring with a recent breakdown of the types of contractors in the Top Quartile:

Types of Businesses in the Top Quartile Scoring of the ACS – 2010

Source: Security Industry Authority – Approved Contractors Scheme. A contractor may be approved in more than one sector.

The Security Industry in 2009

The annual turnover of the regulated security industry is estimated to be in the region of £3.3 billion. There are in excess of 7000 businesses operating with the security sector of which it is conservatively estimated that there are more than 2522 businesses operating within the regulated security industry. It is believed that there could be up to 25 % more businesses operating in regulated security industry than calculated in this analysis. These figures are consistent with data held by both the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and the British Security Industry Association (BSIA). The sectoral analysis of businesses operating in the regulated security industry reveal cross over with businesses operating in multiple sectors;

• 575 operate in the regulated CCTV sector,
• 357 operate in the regulated Close Protection sector,
• 44 operate in the regulated CVIT sector,
• 617 operate in the regulated Door Supervision sector,
• 919 operate in the regulated Key Holding sector,
• 1915 operate in the regulated Security Guarding sector,
• 279 operate in the regulated Vehicle Immobilisation sector.

This analysis highlights that the regulated security industry has “long tail” with only approximately 25% of the regulated security businesses having some form of industry recognised quality accreditation, principally the ACS. These statistics reveal the need for compulsory company registration in the regulated security industry to fully understand the nature of the businesses operating outside the scope of accredited quality frameworks. Infologue.com believes that in order for the industry to move towards self regulation the ACS should be compulsory for all businesses that operate within the scope of the Private Security Industry Act of 2001.

Regulation in 2009

The argument that the SIA is a toothless regulator appears to be specious when reviewing the amount of licence revocations and refusals since the inception of regulation until the end of 2009. During this period approximately 5% of licences issued have been revoked (16815) whilst a similar amount of applicants have been refused (17545). Licensing statistics up to the end of 2009 were as follows;

Regulated Sectors	Active	Revoked	Total	Qualifications	Refusals
Door Supervision	165278	8672	173950	340970	11405
Security Guarding	110453	7680	118133	194999	5190
PSS CCTV	24173	326	24499	41067	382
CVIT	10445	52	10497	14657	111
Close Protection	5675	59	5734	8572	187
Vehicle Immobilisation	2189	20	2209	6193	266
Key Holding	178	6	184	0	4
Total	318391	16815	335206	606485	17545

Source: Security Industry Authority

The Approved Contractors Scheme in 2009

The number of contractors in the Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS) of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) increased by 14 % in 2009. The ACS has been controversial since its inception. Its is clear that whilst some businesses believe the standards set by the ACS are too low, others would argue the standards are two high. Most commentators view ACS as a business improvement tool which is underpinned by the number of contractors who have improved their ACS assessment scores year on year.

Key ACS statistics for 2009 include;

Number of Approved Contractors:

As of 31 December 2009:

• the total number of approved contractors was 656;
• approximately than 125,311 licensed operatives, or 39% of the licensed security operatives in the private security businesses, were working for Approved Contractors.

Types of Organisations Represented:

Type of Organisation	Number in ACS	% of Total
Micro (1-10 employees)	168	25%
Small (11-25 employees)	197	29%
Medium (26-250 employees)	247	37%
Large (>250 employees)	60	9%

Approvals by Sector:

Sector	Number of Approvals
Cash & Valuables in Transit	14
Close Protection	19
Door Supervisors	143
Key Holding	247
Public Space Surveillance (CCTV)	95
Security Guarding	596
Vehicle Immobilisers	4

Source: Security Industry Authority – Approved Contractors Scheme. A contractor may be approved in more than one sector.