The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has launched a six-week consultation on a draft code of conduct for SIA licence holders and applicants for SIA licences. The SIA is inviting the industry, licence holders, and anyone with an interest in private security, to have its say on the draft code of conduct by taking part in a survey.
The idea of the draft code of conduct is to improve standards and public safety by setting out the standards of conduct and behaviour that the SIA expects people to uphold if they are entrusted with protecting the public, premises, and property. It would give a clear, consistent and positive message to service users, businesses, and employers about what they should expect from licence holders. The SIA also wants it to help licence holders understand what to do when they face challenging situations at work.
According to the SIA “the majority of licence holders uphold the standards of behaviour that the SIA, their employers and the public expect of them, however, there are incidents in which some licence holders do not behave in this way. This minority lower the standard of service the public receives, harm public safety, and bring themselves and the rest of the private security industry into disrepute”.
The SIA is suggesting that there are six broad behaviours that licence holders and applicants should follow. These form the framework for the draft code of conduct, and are called The Six Commitments. The intention is that the Code of Conduct would apply to all licensed security operatives, and to applicants. A small number of additional requirements would apply to the ‘controlling minds’ of private security providers (e.g. directors).
The draft builds on the Standards of Behaviour for Security Professionals published last year. The SIA’s plan is to make the code of conduct mandatory by putting it into the licensing criteria published in Get Licensed. This would mean that a licence holder who does not behave in the ways set out in the code of conduct might have their licence suspended and/or revoked. Putting a code of conduct into criteria would ultimately need the approval of Home Office Ministers.
