SIA's Decision of PI's / Surveillance

[isstraining]

This is the state of play with the sia and Surveillance (Private Investigators)

Last year the SIA issued a questionnaire which went out to the investigation sector called the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). Investigators (and Surveillance Operators) were encouraged to complete it and send a response to the SIA in order for them to make a decision in which way licensing was to go. The SIA suggested 4 options (or suggestions) for the way that licensing was to be implemented. They were:

1. Do Nothing
2. Find an alternative to Regulation
3. Licensing with no competency criteria (criminal record check, credit check etc only)
4. Licensing with competency criteria (training / assessment)

Option 4 suggested that investigators should be able to display competency in the following:

1. Conduct investigations
2. Conduct interviews
3. Search for information and preserve evidence
4. Conduct Surveillance
5. Understanding and working to relevant Laws and Standards

But I have the feeling that this is likely to change the nearer they get to making a final decision (my opinion only).

As a result of the RIA, the sia have now decided that they will go down the route of Option 3 as an initial step with a subsequent move to Option 4 in 2 – 4 years time.

In layman’s terms, this is it so far: the SIA, will issue a badge to private investigators (at a date to be decided). The licence will be issued to those who; pay the big fee, prove their identity, have a CRB check, are registered with the DPA and maybe display one or to other niggly things like have insurance.

AND THEN

In 2 – 4 years time will have to show a level of competency by undergoing a course or pass a form of assessment to display that you can carry out the work you purport to do.

The SIA have also stated: ‘There is still a lot of preparatory work to be done on the detail and with private investigation and stakeholder groups, law enforcement agencies and professional associations’.

In the meantime, they will want to get everyone registered in order to get the money from them and in the meantime work out the way forward over the next 2 – 4 years (or in SIA track record terms this could be 4 – 6 years!)

Hope this clears up what is happening at the moment.

The whole response to the RIA can be found at

Regulatory Impact Assessments - Security Industry Authority

Regards

Peter

[RICHIE]

Is This Another sia Issued Badge That No Pi Or Surveillance Op Will Wear? No Doubt It Will Coincide With Another Price Hike In Licensing.

[isstraining]

Richie,

According to the sia's calculations and stated in the Regulatory Impact Assessment by them, the SIA estimate that there are some 10,000 individuals in the UK carrying out Surveillance or private investigation work. Multiply that by £250.00 per person (rough guess) and you will see what it is all about.

Peter

[hippy]

And they STILL cant tell me if I will need one or not!!!

[Ram Man]

Hi peter ,pm inbound m8 stay safe ram out.

[RICHIE]

Thought it would be something to do with the cash. Very interested to see what level of training will be required to attain a license, I don't do PI stuff, mainly SV, that's why I did a Level 3 course in SV.

Richie
Dis Pater

[Marian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by isstraining Richie, According to the SIA's calculations and stated in the Regulatory Impact Assessment by them, the SIA estimate that there are some 10,000 individuals in the UK carrying out surveillance or private investigation work. Multiply that by £250.00 per person (rough guess) and you will see what it is all about. Peter

Well in my counrty there is a proverb: "if nobody knows what is it all about... then it's definitely about money"

[isstraining]

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

[DarkHorse]

Thanks Peter for the information.

DH

[ASE]

Very good info Peter. Thanks