The Private Security Industry Act 2001 does not require manned guards employed in-house to be licensed unless their activities are in relation to licensed premises*.
We were charged by Parliament to investigate the implications of extending the legislation to cover in-house manned guards once licensing of the private security industry had been in force for three to four years. In order to meet this obligation we consulted widely through a range of mechanisms: think tank sessions; paper and web-based questionnaires; workshop sessions; one-to-one meetings with key stakeholders and desk research.
Our assessment of the evidence took into account that regulation should only be targeted where action was needed; that regulation should only intervene where there is a clear case for public protection, and any proposal for further regulation should be proportionate and follow a risk-based approach.
Our conclusion is that there is no clearly defined or substantiated risk to public protection to be addressed and that we are unable, at this time, to make a case which would justify extending our remit to include licensing of in-house guards.
Download the report from the in-house review (download size: 1,310kb). This paper has been published in order to share with all interested parties the evidence gathered during the review.
We will review the situation again in the 2012-2013 financial year.
*'in relation to licensed premises' means when those premises are open to the public, at times when alcohol is being supplied for consumption, or regulated entertainment is being provided, on the premises.