FOI release

SIA handling of licence applications from refugees

Published 6 June 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sia-handling-of-licence-applications-from-refugees/sia-handling-of-licence-applications-from-refugees

Request

  1. In the past 5 years, how many of the stated types of licences were refused to refugees: security guarding; door supervision; public space surveillance (CCTV); close protection.

  2. Of the 1 close protection licence revoked, what was the reason for this?

  3. Is it common practice for the SIA to issue SIA licences to any UK citizen without a full and checkable 5-year history?

  4. What checks are done on refugees with the Home Office on which the SIA base their pass decision?

  5. What responsibility does the SIA take for each licence granted to a refugee that is revoked due to criminal activity?

  6. What measures has the SIA put in place to tackle illegal activities arising from licences granted to refugees with no full and checkable 5-year history?

  7. What risk assessment has been completed for the SIA granting any SIA licences to refugees with no full checkable 5-year history? Please provide documents as evidence.

  8. What quantity of all licences granted and not granted in the past 5 years were paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions?

Response

I can confirm that the SIA holds some of this information.

Question 1

Type of licence Number of licences refused to refugees
Security guarding 8
Door supervision 161
Public space surveillance (CCTV) 9
Close protection 0

Question 2

Expired right to work in the UK.

Question 3

The SIA applies the same criteria to all licence applications and licence holders.

The checks that the SIA carries out can be viewed on pages 5-8 of our licensing criteria. These are published in our ‘Get Licensed’ document, available here: Get Licensed.

A more detailed description of our criminal record checks can be viewed on pages 27-42 of this document.

Question 4

For information on our right to work checks, please see pages 5-8 of Get Licensed. For information on the Home Office’s processes, you may wish to submit a freedom of information request to them.

Question 5

As mentioned in the answer to question 3, the SIA’s licensing criteria applies to all applicants and licence holders. For further information on revocations, please read pages 57-59 of Get Licensed.

Question 6

The SIA requires applicants who have spent 6 continuous months or more outside the UK in the last 5 years to provide evidence of a criminal record check for each country in which they spent time during each of these periods. Further information on this process can be found on pages 39-40 of Get Licensed.

There is also information about this on the GOV.UK website: Criminal records checks for overseas applicants and Check if you can get an SIA licence with a criminal record.

Question 7

The SIA’s pre-requisite checks are carried out against all licence applicants. These checks are undertaken to ensure that a person is fit and proper to hold a licence. Further details of these checks is linked above in question 3.

Question 8

The SIA does not hold this information.

[Ref: FOI 0505]

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