Infologue.com Annual Review 2010/11 Part Two

In part two of our Annual Review we look at the activities of the Security Industry Authority;

The Regulated Security Industry in 2010/11

Whilst there was significant contract promiscuity and consolidation within the licensable sector, there was no empirical evidence to suggest any growth during the period of analysis.  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 in late 2009 by both the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and the British Security Industry Association (BSIA). There has been no new sectorial analysis of businesses operating in the regulated security industry since the 2009 analysis save to say anecdotal evidence suggests the figures set out below 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 28% (25% – 2009) 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. As suggested earlier, regulation in 2013/14 is likely to require all security businesses in the licensable sector to be licensed. This should provide more accurate data.[i]

Regulatory Analysis

The regulatory process of the SIA continued to be robust during the reporting period of January 2010 until the 20^th of September 2011. Whilst there was only an increase in the overall number of active licences of 13.10% from 2009 there was a marked increase in the number of revoked licences (27.67%), in refusals to issue licenses(31.38%) and in qualifications (20.91%) The full analysis of the SIA licensing statistics[ii] are set out in the table below;

The Long Arm of the SIA

SIA Enforcement Activity

The SIA has a range of sanctions available whilst falling short of criminal proceedings they believe are effective in ensuring increased compliance quickly whilst avoiding costly formal proceedings. The sanctions include the issuing of written warnings and improvement notices for non-compliance, and the revocation or suspension of licences.

The table set out below details statistics of enforcement activity for the periods 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 (12 Months) and 1 April to 31 August 2011 (5 Months)

This Financial Year (2011-2012) (5 Months)

Previous Financial Year (2010-2011) (12 Months)

Please visit the SIA Website for full descriptions on the types of sanctions and updated statistics

SIA Prosecutions

Due to considerations which range from data protection issues, prosecutions by police forces and other government agencies, to commercial considerations the majority of the Private Security Industry Act enforcement activity goes unreported. As successful prosecutions are a matter of public record all the SIA activity is reported on their website. In the 12 months to the 9th of September 2011 there were ten successful prosecutions (2 businesses and 8 individuals.) For further details please visit the prosecutions section on the SIA website.

The Security Industry Authority – Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS)[iii]

Number of Approved Contractors

The number of contractors in the Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS) of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) increased by 8.3% (656 to 711), during the period of analysis. It is likely, based on current industry thinking that the ACS could be transferred to anindustry run hallmark type scheme under the planned new licensing regime in 2013.

Key statistics for the ACS as of 31 August 2011 are;

• the total number of approved contractors was 711;
• more than 129,000 licensed operatives were working for these companies.

In terms of the ACS rules, approved contractors must re-register and undergo assessment every year to maintain their approval. 91% of ACS approved contractors have successfully re-registered since March 2011.

Types of Organisations Represented

Approvals by Sector[iv]