Plans to regulate Scottish doorstaff proposed

Plans for a scheme to help regulate doorstaff in Scotland have been presented to the Scottish Executive.The proposals will help regulate Scottish...

Plans for a scheme to help regulate doorstaff in Scotland have been presented to the Scottish Executive.

The proposals will help regulate Scottish doorstaff in a similar way to those in England and Wales.

The move follows a campaign by Scottish leaders and MSPs who want to root out the security companies which are being used as fronts for drug dealing and extortion as well as individual doorstaff who are simply not doing their job properly.

Donald Gorrie, Liberal Democrat MSP for central Scotland has campaigned against criminals being hired as bouncers in pubs and nightclubs.

He said: "There has to be vetting by the police and recognised qualifications for individual door stewards and security people."

The executive wants to implement a mandatory system where firms are licensed by local councils and to introduce a regulatory authority to provide a standard system across Scotland.

Parts of the industry has introduced forms of self-regulation, but campaigners have pointed out that a consistent approach is needed across Scotland.

The calls for reform have also come from those within the trade. Mark Hamilton, managing director of Rock Steady, one of Scotland's biggest security firms, claimed there were a lot of companies involved in a black economy.

"As long as there are people setting up firms in an informal way and there are licensees looking to save money, the chances of crime are high," he said.

The Private Security Industry Act 2001, was recently passed in England and is likely to be fully implemented in the next two years.

The outcome will be that the minority of doorstaff who are perpetrators of violence, who are involved in selling drugs, or who turn a blind eye to problems, will not be allowed to work in the profession.

Doorstaff who are not properly vetted, trained and wearing an official badge to say they have been approved, could be fined up to £5,000 and serve a six-month prison sentence.

The British Institute of Innkeeping has also introduced a qualification to regulate doorstaff - the door supervisor's national certificate.

Scottish licensees are hopeful that its plans will lead to similar regulation north of the border.

Related stories:

New legislation for doorstaff in security industry shake up (18 July 2001)

Training guide launched for new doorstaff law (11 July 2001)

Related topics Legislation

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