|
Members,
This is the latest from the SIA (published yesterday) in respect of licensing Private investigators / Surveillance operators.
SNIP
Key Assumptions/Sensitivities/Risks
Licensing will start in 2009/10 with a compliance rate of 90% by the end of the first year.
Licence fee will be £245.
Training - all applicants will take initial 3 day training at cost of £920, 30% of renewal applicants will need 1 day refresher training (£320). Currently, the intention is that private investigators and precognition agents would not need to wear their licence where they could demonstrate that the nature of their conduct on particular occasions required them not to be immediately identifiable as someone engaging in private investigation or precognition activity.
However, in other circumstances, private investigators and precognition agents would need to carry the licence on their person and be able to produce it on request. In view of the strength of some of the arguments put forward in the consultation responses, the licence conditions may be reviewed.
Likely areas of competency and training The SIA has identified 5 areas where competency would need to be shown by the private investigators and precognition agents before a licence could be granted on this basis.
The SIA will have an exemptions policy which will allow investigators to produce evidence of other qualifications that they already hold as proof of the competency requirement.
The competency specification requires each practitioner to have the skills and knowledge to:
· conduct investigations
· conduct interviews
· search for information and preserve evidence
· conduct surveillance
· understand, and work to, relevant Laws and Standards.
The rationale for focusing on these competencies is that their absence would present most harm to the public. The training would be set at NVQ level 3. The specification does not represent all the training that would be required to produce a job-ready Investigator, but it does cover the knowledge necessary to prevent harm to the public.
Compliance
The SIA expects to achieve 90% compliance in both sectors at the end of the first full year of licensing. This is based on actual compliance rates for existing licensable sectors of the private security industry, established in the course of SIA's enforcement activities.
The SIA regularly conducts random checks on security officers across the country to see if they are licensed and wearing their SIA badges. The average level of compliance found in these visits averages at just over 90%. Businesses and sole practitioners may be able to pass the costs of regulation onto customers through increased rates.
SNIP
In typical SIA fashion, they are still swimming in a pool of crap.
Cheers
Peter
Last edited by isstraining; 04-09-2008 at 02:15 PM.
|