News that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been knocking on doors in Scotland should not come as a surprise to those of us who have experienced regulation in England and Wales.
The SIA reports that its investigators have visited 20 Scottish security firms of late, warning management that they were considered to be at “high risk” of not being in a position to supply sufficient licensed security personnel come the November 1 deadline.
The Regulator came away with signed compliance notices in which the directors and other senior employees acknowledged their obligations and the potential price of failing to meet them.
In short, ignorance will not be an acceptable excuse at deadline time.
While doubtless some of those firms interviewed by the SIA had been hoping to sidestep the new regulations for their own reasons, for others the momentous changes – not to mention the associated costs – have engendered something of an ostrich mentality.
Expectations placed too high
The key reason for this is that, as many of you know, it’s down to individual officers – not their employers – to apply, train and pay for the cost of a licence. In an industry where barriers to entry for both business and employee have been notoriously low and where staff turnover has been lamentably high, expectations of employee responsibility (particularly among smaller security companies) have perhaps been higher than they might.
Of course, some of these issues are precisely why the industry is undergoing such a radical change. However, expecting individuals to take responsibility for applying for their licences without perhaps longevity of service and with ignorance of the new rules – and how to go about embracing them – is surely asking too much.
That is why, from the very beginning of the regulation process, Reliance Security made it a priority to ensure that all colleagues affected by the new rules were made aware of the situation, allocated time to undergo licensing and receive the financial support necessary. This is because we recognised that even with the attributes of long service and experience among many of our people, expecting them to undertake a costly, timely and, for some, stressful move was unlikely to achieve the result we wanted.
Thus the conclusion we reached very early on in the entire process was that it should be management’s responsibility to ensure that their personnel comply with the new regulations. Of course there is a cost to this – sending people to be trained and the cost of the licence itself – but there are also some key benefits. By ensuring colleagues are given full support through regulation, staff loyalty is underpinned. In addition, we believe that our personnel feel more valued, the consequences of which can be measured in improved productivity and attitude.
On top of that, such an investment in people will not go unnoticed by customers, who will also reap the rewards from security personnel with improved training and better self-belief. One of the cornerstones of the new regime is that licensed personnel are more likely to see security as a career, which in turn should reduce turnover, improve morale and encourage higher calibre people to join and stay in the industry.
Run-up to regulation
Our experience of giving this high level of support to staff was that the requirements of licensing our people were met in England and Wales in time for the deadline set for 18 months ago. This is precisely the strategy we have pursued in the run-up to Scottish regulation. Over 700 of our colleagues north of the Border have been fully supported in their licensing applications and processes. We are confident that all our people requiring licences will be ready for 1 November.
Lessons have obviously been learned from the first round of regulation south of the border. Speaking at a Reliance Security seminar back in April, Jennifer Pattison – head of investigations for the SIA in Scotland – revealed that SIA Licence Application Forms had been requested for some 80% of the estimated 17,000 people involved in the Scottish security industry, and that almost 14,000 application forms had been requested to date. More than 3,000 applications had been received, of which 2,945 had been accepted. Things have doubtless improved since then, although as the recent SIA visits underline there must be absolutely no room for complacency.
The Approved Contractor Scheme
A word about the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS), with which I’m sure all Security Management Today readers are familiar. This innovative initiative from the SIA is designed to further raise standards in the industry by encouraging security firms to pass a number of quality benchmarks.
In doing so, present and potential customers can engage with the company in the knowledge that it has a level of competency approved by the industry regulator.
There’s another important benefit of the ACS, though, and one very pertinent to the Scottish situation. Membership of the ACS allows companies to employ a small proportion of non-licensed personnel who are trained and have submitted an application, but who are not working with children or vulnerable adults.
This was a huge help to Reliance – and I know to other firms as well – during the regulation of England and Wales. No surprise, then, that Reliance was among the first to be granted ACS status in Scotland, not just for the sound business benefit of holding the credentials but also as a back-up to the licensing process.
In the meantime, attention will shortly be moving to Northern Ireland where regulation is due to be introduced in the near future. As with England and Wales, and now with Scotland, taking appropriate measures to join the new 21st Century Security Industry can never come early enough.
The message of preparing well – and in advance – cannot be understated.