Doorstaff crisis still not solved

Fresh evidence that the doorstaff licensing crisis remains unresolved emerged this week.

Around four in 10 doormen in Manchester are still waiting to receive their new licences, according to Manchester Pub and Club Network spokesman Phil Burke.

Burke expressed fears that un- licensed doorman have been moving from venue to venue to avoid being caught by police.

The Security Industry Au-thority (SIA) licensing scheme went live in north-west England on 15 November 2004. But a shortfall in licensed doorstaff by this date encouraged city police to grant a five-month grace period, which ended when the scheme went live nationally on 11 April this year.

But contrary to recent reports that the problems had abated, Burke said the new licences were still not being sent out quickly enough. 'A good 40% of doormen are still not registered in Manchester because of the prob- lems, he said. 'People are moving from door to door and because resources are quite stretched they seem to be getting away with it.

'This will take a long time to be resolved. It's getting better slowly, but they [the SIA] still need to get their act together.

Burke added that he had written to Home Office minister Hazel Blears about the problems. 'She should have got back to me by 14 May once she had carried out a full investigation, he said.

SIA spokesman Robert Buxton said: 'So far our information is that there's very good compliance in that area [Manchester].

'Manchester is very pro active. There are no delays so if people are still waiting for licences it's because they applied late.