Speaking about this significant milestone, the Regulator’s acting chief executive Andy Drane told SMT: “This is a tremendous achievement for the industry which has itself made a huge investment in regulation over the past three years. 200,000 licences issued is a significant figure when you consider that there are just over 141,000 police officers deployed across England and Wales.”
Drane continued: “Perceptions of the security industry are changing. Security staff are more and more relied upon to keep the public and members of their local community safe. When we introduced licensing, one of our main aims was to make SIA licence holders valued for their contributions to public protection. For licensed operatives that’s exactly what’s starting to happen. The SIA licence is a symbol in which members of the general public can place their complete trust.”
200,900 licences have now been issued, 321,600 SIA-approved security qualifications are held and 346 security companies have gained Approved Contractor Scheme status.