In June, our News Update Section then carried an item with the heading Scottish police support SIA regulation, wherein we stated that the Regulator and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together in support of ‘licensing Scotland’. Our November edition, which is just about to publish, includes yet another reminder urging companies and individuals to make sure everything is in place for regulation.
For its part, the Regulator has done all that it could to outline what’s required of clients and contractors in Scotland. Numerous Corporate Updates have been issued, so too press releases. Targeted e-mail bulletins and direct mail marketing campaigns aimed at buyers, suppliers, individuals and companies alike have been part of the promotional mix.
In one of those Corporate Updates, I wrote the lead article in which I outlined the England and Wales experience, and the ways in which colleagues north of the border could avoid some of the bumps and bruises that were experienced in our own back garden. “I would urge all contractors and clients based in Scotland to work with the SIA every step of the way” was one of the comments I made at the time.
On 1 February this year, the Regulator officially began accepting applications for the licensing of individuals. On 6 April, the start date for applications in relation to the Approved Contractor Scheme came and went. All of this information was communicated several times, and in good time. Two years prior to 1 November, in actual fact. Surely there could be no repeat of the licensing backlog that previously strained the SIA because too many service providers in England and Wales either sat on their hands or chose to ignore the ‘warning’ period?
Sadly, the reverse has apparently come to pass. According to the Regulator, over 8,600 of the combined 17,000-strong security ‘force’ (including door supervisors, security officers, Cash-in-Transit staff, Public Space Surveillance CCTV operators, close protection operatives and key holders) have secured their licences prior to the due date. Doing the rather simple mathematics, then, that means in the region of 8,000 workers (The Evening Times in Glasgow reported on 25.10.2007 that no less than 7,000 of the 17,000 Scottish operatives are based in Glasgow alone) could be facing substantial fines or worse if they are on duty and cannot produce the relevant paperwork.
Those needing an SIA licence ought to have applied by the beginning of September to ensure they received their ‘badge of operation’ in good time. The postal strike probably hasn’t helped, that’s for sure, but it seems yet again the ostrich mentality has struck in very much the same way it did in England and Wales.
Initially, the Regulator was taking around six weeks to process licensing applications for Scotland, a time period that was then extended to eight weeks. Every operative should have applied for their licence in good time, and certainly by now, but it’s obvious the SIA’s constant pleas (and those of others, including ourselves) have been ignored by 50% of the licensable population. To state that this is disappointing is putting a brave face on matters, particularly in view of the fact that 60% of that population requested information packs prior to 1 February.
Commenting on this matter, the SIA states: “We expect compliance with the law at all times, and our enforcement approach (published on our web site) is supported by the police. The date for implementation of compulsory licensing in Scotland has been known for over two years. Training courses have been available since late September 2006, and we have been accepting licence applications since February 2007. No-one can claim ignorance of their legal obligations.”
Of course there will be a smattering of individuals who are not applying because they know their application will be refused for whatever reason, but that doesn’t account for (nor excuse) the all-too-obvious inaction of the majority.
The Scottish guarding sector and the door supervision ‘clan’ (if you’ll pardon the pun) will only improve their respective images, reputations and standing among the general public and, more importantly, clients if they start ‘walking the talk’. The Home Office and the SIA are making the rules now, and those rules must be adhered to, like it or not. It’s becoming tiresome that too many players in the guarding sector in particular don’t seem to want to help themselves when it comes to raising the stakes.
Does the Scottish contracting fraternity (and its client base) truly desire a 100% professional, licensed industry that carries an enormous degree of credibility? For the time being, there appears to be a 50-50 split in the ranks. That’s simply not good enough.
Make no mistake that SIA regulation is the last chance saloon for the guarding sector. The Regulator, though, can but enable and act as a facilitator. It’s up to the industry to do the rest and, if it doesn’t, the fall-out will be deeply unpleasant for all concerned.
All change at Skills for Security
Stefan Hay (the accomplished and highly-skilled director of business development and communications at Skills for Security) resigned his position on Wednesday 17 October before officially leaving the organisation two days later.
In an exclusive interview with SMT and www.info4security.com, Hay (also the former director of The Sorensen Centre for Security Research and Studies at Security House in Worcester) stated: “It’s an exciting stage in our industry’s evolution. I’d now like to go back into the security sector and make a meaningful contribution by using the contacts, skills and experience I’ve built up over many years. I have worked with some fantastic colleagues at SITO, the BSIA and, latterly, Skills for Security. All of them have been, and continue to be, totally committed to skills development in the sector, and I wish them all the very best for the future.”
No-one should underestimate the tremendous job that Stefan has done for the security sector (which he hopes to re-enter, by the way, as a result of going back to the guarding industry in which he cut his professional security teeth).
Stefan first assumed the general manager’s role at SITO when former chief executive Raymond Clarke left in August 2002. He ‘steadied the ship’ in a period of great transformation, and was duly appointed managing director (a position he held concurrently with the deputy chief executive’s role at the BSIA until December 2005). Thereafter, Hay was instrumental in setting up Skills for Security alongside interim chief executive Linda Sharpe at a point when the training body moved away from being under the ‘umbrella’ of the Trade Association.
The organisation has subsequently gone from strength to strength, now running three National Conferences (for practitioners in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and a National Training Awards Scheme. Due in no small part to Stefan’s contribution, Skills for Security is firmly entrenched as the skills and standards setting body for the security business sector.
The void Stefan has left is a huge one to plug. It’s going to be mightily interesting to see what chief executive David Greer now decides upon as ‘the way forward’ in terms of the organisation’s upper echelon and future direction.
In the short term, attending Skills for Security's National Conference at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium on 8 November without Stefan at the lectern to address us all will be strange indeed.
