Do people enforcing social distancing need an SIA licence?
Published 24 August 2020
© Crown copyright 2020
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/do-people-enforcing-social-distancing-need-an-sia-licence/do-people-enforcing-social-distancing-need-an-sia-licence
1. Request
I’m writing for some advice please. I live in a rural area and recently our local market has had an event team in place to manage people going the right way with these strange times we face. However I’m wondering what their licence requirements would be as they do not hold any form of licence and it’s not classed as a car park as it’s people walking round the market. One of the guards/stewards has verbally abused a market member in a public dispute and this has resulted in the market trader having their licence revoked. I’m just a bit confused on the enforcement of these guys with no licence and how it looks on our lovey village. Currently there is no working together practice happening.
2. Response
I can confirm that we do not hold the information you have requested.
Based on the information you’ve provided, it is not possible for us to provide an accurate response to your question.
In order to answer your question, we would require additional information such as (but not limited to):
- what specific duties are being carried out?
- is the work being carried out classed as voluntary or are they receiving some form of payment?
- has the events team employed the individuals or are the individuals being provided by an agency?
I have provided a link to our website for information on licensable activities which I hope you find useful:
www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Pages/licensing-activities.aspx
You may also wish to contact the events team directly for further details.
We expect SIA licence holders to act and behave within the parameters of the law. They do not have the power to enforce the law, which is why they are expected to contact the police directly if they suspect an individual to be acting unlawfully.
[Reference: FOI 0225]