The recent government decision that the SIA will no longer be a Non-Departmental Public Body has lead to speculation about the future of door supervisor training and regulation. It seems that some people have not looked beyond the headline grabbing announcements in the press and are unaware that Ministers have said that there will not be any major changes to SIA regulation or the Approved Contractor Scheme before the London Olympics 2012.
Whatever the future holds for the security industry it is clear that the uncertainty has resulted in worrying reports that some pubs are continuing to employ unlicensed door supervisors and even more worryingly that some council enforcement teams may not be rigorously pursuing offenders because they feel that the SIA has effectively been abolished.
NPW is concerned that licensees should be fully aware of their responsibility to consider their duty of care to staff and customers when employing door supervisors. Using an unlicensed door supervisor might leave you open to civil redress if a person is injured as a consequence of their employment if it contributed to the incident – but it could also result in a criminal record. Currently the maximum fine for working without a licence is 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine of L5,000. The maximum penalty for deploying unlicensed staff is 5 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.