SIA attacked by pub group

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has failed to consult with the pub trade over plans to regulate door supervisors, says Andrew Nicholls, security and licensing manager for pub group Mitchells & Butlers. ​Speaking at the Safer Doors conference in Coventry last week Mr Nicholls called on the SIA to work closer with the industry over the reform. "Not a single person representing the licensed trade or doorstaff is on the SIA stakeholder advisory committee. How can you make decisions and not have representatives of this industry on the committee?" he asked."I have offered to be involved and the SIA has not taken me up. I think it has a lot to learn from operators in the trade," he told delegates.The SIA, which was set up last year to improve the standards of the private security industry, has refuted the accusations. A spokesman said: "The stakeholders advisory committee is a group comprising of chief executives and heads from a wide spread of the private security industry and associated sectors. "The committee's role is to offer long-term strategic views for the security industry as a whole and on the general direction and progress of the SIA. It is not a forum for detailed policy development. "All aspects of SIA development have been undertaken with extensive consultation and collaboration. Specifically, door supervisor licensing and training policy has been developed at the SIA in close consultation with door supervisor experts and consultants from within the door supervisor sector."The SIA is to clamp down on doorstaff used by pubs and bars by checking their criminal records, introducing compulsory registration and ensuring they have been properly trained through a recognised scheme. The authority is launching its first pilot scheme in March 2004 in Hampshire and has announced the full details of the scheme's roll-out plans across the UK.If licensees use unqualified doorstaff they could face possible revocation of their licence or prosecution.The Home Office has produced a consultation document which sets out the SIA's proposals in full and indicates some of the impacts on door supervision. Interested parties have until Monday October 13 to make comment on the proposals.Confirmed roll-out of the SIA doorstaff registration scheme:​