Night-time economy venues in Durham and elsewhere in the UK have been raided by regulators from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) cracking down on unlicenced security staff.
More than 40 officers from the SIA’s Inspections and Enforcement Directorate, supported by policing partners, carried out co-ordinated inspections across the country on Saturday 21 June. Teams visited 224 licensed premises and conducted 450 licence checks across the night-time economy.
The raids took place in London, Scotland, Wales and places throughout England, including Durham in the North East. More precise information on the locations has not been disclosed.
While most security operatives were found to be correctly licensed, said the SIA, investigators identified:
- Six suspected offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (PSIA). These included one individual suspected of using a counterfeit licence, one working while their licence was suspended, and another suspected of working on someone else’s licence, who fled the scene while speaking with investigators.
- Venue staff undertaking or managing licensable activity without holding an SIA licence, which is a criminal offence.
- Multiple suspected offences relating to breaches of licence conditions. These included failing to display an SIA licence while on duty and failing to notify the SIA of a change of address.
Licence condition breaches were serious and also criminal offences, said the SIA.
Clear risk to public safety
It added: “Unlicensed security operatives present a clear risk to public safety. The SIA licencing regime exists to ensure that those working in licensable roles have been subject to the required checks, vetting and training. Where individuals fail to follow the rules, the public cannot have confidence that those safeguards are in place.
“During the inspections, officers also spoke with security operatives about wider public safety responsibilities – including violence against women and girls, spiking, and identifying and safeguarding vulnerable people.”
Pete Easterbrook, SIA executive director of inspections and enforcement, said: “Where we identify unlicensed activity, counterfeit licences, suspended licences or breaches of licence conditions, we will act. These are not minor technical issues. Licensing is a safeguard that helps protect the public, and where that safeguard is bypassed or ignored, there is a clear public safety risk.
“Supplying unlicensed operatives is a serious matter, and businesses must ensure that the people they supply are legally entitled to work in licensable roles. Almost all of the issues identified could have been prevented through stronger management oversight and a clearer understanding of legal responsibilities. Effective supervision is not optional – it is fundamental to operating lawfully.
“Our proactive and intelligence-led activity will not stop. We will continue to rigorously inspect individuals, businesses and training providers, to keep the public safe and protect the integrity of the regulatory regime.”
The SIA undertakes both intelligence-led inspections and proactive inspection activity. This proactive inspection, in Durham and elsewhere, it said, focused primarily on people working in the night-time economy. It formed part of the SIA’s wider inspection regime, which also covered security businesses and training providers.
Over the next week, SIA teams would contact the businesses supplying the unlicensed individuals identified during the inspections to determine their liability. Supplying an unlicensed security operative was a serious criminal offence, said the SIA, and it would take action where appropriate.
This report is based on a press release from the SIA.
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