Dr Reid previously held held a wide variety of senior Government posts, of course, eight of them at Cabinet level. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, but has previously announced his intention to stand down from the House of Commons at the next General Election.
Dr Reid is an honorary professor at University College London, and chairman of the new Institute of Security and Resilience Studies at UCL.
Between 1997 and 2007, Reid’s posts included Home Secretary (where he created both the Ministry of Justice and the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism), Defence Secretary and Minister for the Armed Forces (where he played a key role in the development of the Strategic Defence Review). Dr Reid also served as Health Secretary, Northern Ireland Secretary, Scottish Secretary and as Minister of State for Transport.
His breadth of experience covers, among other areas, the justice system, care services, border control, immigration, transport, protection of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) – an area about which G4S is very familiar – and national security-related issues.
Contract with Anglian Water secured
Speaking of the CNI, G4S has just won the contract to provide a major security system for protecting toxic gas and chemical supplies at Anglian Water’s clean water treatment sites across the UK.
The Anglian Water contract will see G4S in partnership with construction firm Galliford Try – install and maintain more than 150 separate security systems across Anglian Water’s 1,000 water treatment works. G4S will also provide ongoing security services to protect toxic gas and chemical supplies at the various facilities.
The toxic gas and chemicals are used in anti-bacterial processes to clean water passing through Anglian Water’s water and wastewater plants, which serve around six million people across East Anglia and the East Midlands.
This contract recognises G4S’s position as a leading security and CNI protection specialist, with contracts including the management of four private prisons in the UK, a specialist Gurkha services business, aviation security services to 19 of the UK’s airports and the provision of facilities management for secure sites such as GCHQ and the Met Office.
In addition, the agreement ensures that Anglian Water is in full compliance with measures laid down in the Security and Emergency Direction 1998 (SEMD), the Government directive which aims to protect water supply and sewerage services from disruption by civil emergencies or security events.
Security at critical sites
Nick Bettes – managing director of G4S Security Systems – told SMT Online: “We are delighted to have been awarded this prestigious contract which builds on our long track record of working with private and public sector organisations in the protection of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure. We believe Anglian Water is at the forefront of the water industry in planning for and implementing this type of solution, and we’re very pleased that we can help to maintain security across its most critical sites.”
Lynda Chamberlain – the security manager at Anglian Water – added: “G4S demonstrated that it had the resources and expertise to provide a joined up security service to protect the gas and chemical supplies at our sites. We are fully confident that the partnership between G4S and Galliford Try will enhance our already strong security arrangements.”
