Security Industry Authority

Book excerpt: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) was established in 2003 as an independent body reporting to the Home Secretary to regulate the private security industry. Its role includes the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking specific licensable activities within the security industry. Immigration status checks of security workers are the legal responsibility of their employer, but it emerged in November 2007 that such checks were not being carried out on persons applying for licences to work in the private security industry, with the result that an unspecified number of security industry workers were working illegally. Retrospective checks on the security industry revealed that: 77% of licence holders were legitimate; 10.5% did not have the right to work; 12.5% required further checks. This meant that potentially 10,000 non-EU nationals licensed to work in the security industry could be working illegally. This report from the Home Affairs Committee, sets out the situation regarding the licensing of applicants, with oral evidence taken before the Committee. The Committee recommends that the licence application form should be the place for consideration of immigration status of security worker applicants, and the Committee welcomes the Home Secretary's announcement to encourage an amendment to the licence application form of the Security Industry Authority.