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FOI release

SIA licence holders: displaying the licence and training

Published 2 July 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sia-licence-holders-displaying-the-licence-and-training/sia-licence-holders-displaying-the-licence-and-training

Request

Please tell me:

  1. What standards of spoken and written English are required of SIA registered staff?
  2. Are SIA registered security staff required to display SIA certification at all times whilst working?
  3. What training do SIA staff receive on how to interact with the public?
  4. How should a complaint be submitted regarding SIA staff?

Response

We have interpreted your request to be about SIA licence holders. SIA licence holders are not employed by the SIA and are not SIA staff. We asked you to clarify if you did specifically mean to request information on STA staff and not SIA licence holders and did not receive a response. We have therefore proceeded to treat this request as relating to SIA licence holders.

We can confirm that we do hold the information you have requested. All the information you have requested is exempt from release under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act as it is already available by other means. We have addressed each point individually below and directed you to where you can find the information.

Standards of spoken and written English

We publish the information you have requested in page 15 of our Get Training booklet (PDF, 806kb)

Displaying the licence

We explain this as part of the conditions of holding a licence. You can read these on pages 64 to 67 of our booklet Get Licensed

Training on interacting with the public

We publish the specifications for every SIA licence-linked qualification on our website.

Submitting a complaint

Concerns about poor service or personal complaints about security operatives should in the first instance be raised with the security company or business deploying them. Serious concerns about security staff or companies that you think are breaking the law can be raised with the SIA. We provide more details here: Report security staff or companies to the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

[Ref: FOI 0615]

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