SIA action plan underway
An action plan to make doorstaff regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA) work more effectively is "well underway", the group says.
The SIA has been criticised once again for its administrative failings in an independent review, given to the group in November and made public today.
The SIA has previously been slated for backlogs in processing applications and granting licences to a number of illegal immigrants. A report from the Office of National Statistics last October said the SIA received £17.4m of extra public funding due to "poor cost forecasting and ineffective management of the licensing scheme".
The newly-released report, conducted by auditors Ville & Company in August and September, points to a lack of "robust processes for allocating resources (people, and money) in line with business need".
The report says "individual roles and responsibilities were generally clear" but the organisational structure was "incoherent in places and levels of delegation to staff were not always appropriate".
Customer care for licensing "could be improved further". Senior managers were "very committed" but "management skills and styles were variable across the organisation" and "the management team was not working together sufficiently to move the SIA forward".
Although there was a "clear vision for the future", the Board and executive team "needed to provide more leadership".
But the review also found the SIA's external relationships "have improved significantly" and the group is seen as a more "open and approachable organisation".
The SIA has responded by listing how it would react to all 33 recommendations in the report.
For example, it has already changed the Board structure and agreed to annual reviews of its performance with the Home Office — the first is planned for this month.
The SIA has also held meeting with local government co-ordinator Lacors to work closer with councils to enforce the licensing system.
SIA interim chief executive Bernard Herdan said: "Team members have taken personal responsibility for relevant actions, priorities have been allocated and the action plan is now well underway. We will keep stakeholders updated on progress and completion.
"I am convinced that we are already a stronger organisation, and as we complete the action plan we will emerge as an even more effective regulator providing a better service to our customers and still more powerful in the delivery of our mission."
