Industry figures condemn SIA shutdown plan

Industry figures and trade unionists have slammed plans to scrap the Security Industry Authority (SIA), the government body which licenses security doorstaff for pubs and clubs.

The coalition government has included the SIA in a list of quangos it plans to close down in order to relieve the pressure on the public purse.

But fears of 'crooks and cowboys' becoming doorstaff have been raised as a result of the move.

Daniel Davies, head of CPL Training and a former licensee, said while the SIA had had a "bumpy start" it had nevertheless raised standards of door supervision in licensed premises.

"A great deal of public money has been used to set up this system of licensing and regulation," said Davies. "Other countries see our system as a model which they seek to emulate. To reverse out of it now risks wasting that investment, particularly if we return to the Wild West days of no regulation that preceded the establishment of the SIA."

Self-regulation, Davies argued, was not an option. "Neither is a return to the patchwork quilt regulation where every council made up its own rules, and a door supervisor working on Merseyside, for example, would require six different licences to work in all six council areas of the county," he added.

And the GMB trade union waded into the debate, declaring that licensing in the security industry was brought in "to keep out crooks, drug dealers and those convicted of criminal assaults to protect the public and create decent standards in the industry".

Paul Kenny, the union's general secretary, said: "Abolishing the Security Industry Authority is wrong. It will hit decent employers, it will expose the public to unnecessary risks and will undoubtedly end in tears and in the courts.

"Is the government saying that it is OK for crooks, drug dealers and those convicted of criminal assaults to set up and run security companies?"

The government said the current legislation will remain in place until the changes are confirmed by Parliament. Once this happens a new regulatory regime will be phased in, effectively rendering the private security industry self-regulating.

Doorstaff firms will have to carry out checks on new employees to check they are suitable under the new system.