Instore security guards will have to pass stringent tests to gain a licence from a newly launched independent licensing body at the end of next year.
The Security Industry Authority answerable to the Home Secretary has been created to regulate and licence individuals working in the security industry.
Security guards will need to pass a criminal background check, display effective communication skills in the English language, and reach set levels of training and professional standards.
The new licence will be compulsory and it will be a criminal offence to work without one. Bouncers and wheel clampers will be the first sectors to be licensed by the Security Industry Authority at the end of 2003.
However both in-house and private security industry guards will come online a year later. Private security industry keyholders will also be required to have a licence but company employee keyholders will be exempt.
Retailers have welcomed the initiative. Morning, Noon & Night security manager Grant Donald said the SIA was a step in the right direction, and would improve the standards of security employees.
A spokesman for Oxford Swindon & Gloucester Co-op said he did not foresee any major problems with the licence as its two security companies already carried out detailed and stringent checks at recruitment stage, followed by a retail training programme.
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The Security Industry Authority answerable to the Home Secretary has been created to regulate and licence individuals working in the security industry.
Security guards will need to pass a criminal background check, display effective communication skills in the English language, and reach set levels of training and professional standards.
The new licence will be compulsory and it will be a criminal offence to work without one. Bouncers and wheel clampers will be the first sectors to be licensed by the Security Industry Authority at the end of 2003.
However both in-house and private security industry guards will come online a year later. Private security industry keyholders will also be required to have a licence but company employee keyholders will be exempt.
Retailers have welcomed the initiative. Morning, Noon & Night security manager Grant Donald said the SIA was a step in the right direction, and would improve the standards of security employees.
A spokesman for Oxford Swindon & Gloucester Co-op said he did not foresee any major problems with the licence as its two security companies already carried out detailed and stringent checks at recruitment stage, followed by a retail training programme.
{{NEWS }}
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