These are uncertain times for security consultants. The Private Security Industry Act 2001 names the profession as one of those that will be subject to the regulatory regime of the Security Industry Authority (SIA). It’s there, in the legislation, and so the SIA is obliged to bring consultants into the fold. The question is ‘When…’ that’s going to happen, not ‘If…’.
There’s another question to be answered, though. How is consultant regulation going to materialise?
The Regulator has a number of options at its disposal in terms of the specific criteria it will eventually require practitioners to meet, but it’s worth bearing in mind that all of the other occupations falling within the licensing Terms and Conditions are required to prove their competency. In other words, they have to demonstrate they’re qualified to do the job.
Benchmark for consultants’ regulation
For the roles licensed to date – security officers and door supervisors among them – this was relatively simple because standard training programmes were already in use and merely needed ‘tweaking’ to meet the SIA’s requirements. That, of course, is not the case with security consultants, many of whom are ‘qualified’ by dint of their experience rather than attendance on any formal training courses and qualifications.
Therefore, if the Regulator decides that consultants will have to prove their competency, what is the benchmark to be employed in order that they can do so?
At the moment, Skills for Security’s Sector Consultation Group for security consultants is addressing this issue. The Group, which comprises several practising consultants, believes that it’s high time for the profession to take the reins itself and agree some fundamentals which could then form part of the SIA’s deliberations.
Any competency requirement must be based upon the National Occupational Standards (NOS) describing the skills and knowledge required to carry out the role. The NOS for security consultants are being reviewed next year, and the Skills for Security Consultation Group is to be heavily involved in that process.
Determining the core skills
For its part, the Association of Security Consultants (ASC) firmly believes that the sector should be coming together now to determine what the core skills of any security consultant should be and, thereafter, what additional skills ought to be demanded for defined specialisms.
Colin Braziel, the immediate past-chairman of the ASC, told SMT Online: “Time is moving on. If we don’t beging to address these issues ourselves we could well find that something is imposed upon us in terms of regulation which doesn’t meet the needs of the profession. I would urge anyone with an interest in defining what makes a security consultant, and what makes that person competent to practise, to join us in the Skills for Security Consultation Ggroup and contribute to that debate”.
The first sector Consultation Group meeting in 2009 is scheduled to take place in London on 11 February. For further information please contact Sue Hawkins via e-mail at: sue.hawkins@skillsforsecurity.org.uk