Corporate report

SIA strategic plan: 2026 to 2029

Updated 23 June 2026

Foreword by the Chair and Chief Executive

Mike Cunningham CBE QPM | Chair, Security Industry Authority

Michelle Russell | Chief Executive, Security Industry Authority

Our new strategic plan comes at an important time, as we expand our remit and prepare to take on the regulation of places and their preparedness for responding to acts of terrorism under Martyn’s Law.

Alongside our existing responsibilities, we will play an enhanced role in the UK’s protective security landscape; our purpose – to keep people and places safe and secure by regulating the private security industry and venues across the UK – will be front and centre of everything we do.

This is important, as public trust and confidence in those we regulate – those who have responsibility for, or play a part in, ensuring the safety and security of the public as they go about their lives ­is more necessary and challenging than ever before.

Through our regulation we play our part in tackling the wide range of harms they deal with. These include preventing and responding to crime and violence, protecting people in vulnerable situations – including the role private security have in safeguarding women and girls subject to harm in venues and other public places – as well as deterring and reducing the harms from acts of terrorism. Tackling these through our work aligns with a number of government priorities.

We have therefore set ourselves an ambitious work programme over the next three years. It will deliver significant changes to the regulatory regime and other standards we set, all with the ultimate aim of ensuring better public safety and protection. This is an opportunity at a scale that we have not seen in more than 20 years.

We will concentrate on the areas in which we as the regulator can make most difference to public protection. Some changes require backing from the Home Office, with whom we work closely and who are supportive, and some are dependent on legislative changes. The private security industry and venues will also need to play their part if improvements to standards and public protection are to be achieved, and take ownership and accountability for their responsibilities and actions. We will work with them, and other stakeholders and partners, to amplify our collective impact.

We are clear on our mandate and strategic direction over this period in regulating people, businesses and places: we will confidently set new improved standards, support those seeking compliance, and enforce without compromise where we need to.

We will ensure that the rigour and consistency of licensing standards keep pace with public expectations. We will focus, for the first time, on the quality of security provision, and not just on compliance. Public trust and confidence in the professionalism and high standards of regulated security have never mattered so much.

Whilst awaiting the outcome of government decisions about mandatory business licensing, we will continue with our new business standards and approval scheme. It will be open to all security businesses who value excellence and quality. It will be easily adaptable for a new mandatory licensing scheme. A new public register about security businesses will assist buyers and improve accountability and public assurance.

We will lay strong foundations ready for Martyn’s Law. Whilst we await confirmation of the exact commencement date, we are planning for Spring 2027. As the regulator of a new regime, we will focus initially on education and support on compliance. We will drive improved standards and the consistency and quality of preparedness of premises and events to deal with terrorist harms and incidents. We will also drive cultural change and practice in this area. We know that Figen Murray OBE, who has campaigned for so long for this change in the law, will rightly want to see that and hold us to account as regulator on this.

None of our work is possible without our own people, in whom we will invest: not just the excellent and dedicated teams working with us now, but those who will join us, bringing new skills and expertise as we grow and deliver our plans. Our staff ensure we deliver, and do so efficiently and effectively. Our new values reflect the attitudes and standards we set ourselves and influence how we work.

We are building on the strong foundations we have put in place over the period covered by the last plan: to make standards more robust, to be more visible across the UK, and to strengthen our compliance and enforcement capabilities. We thank the outgoing SIA Chair Heather Baily, whose term came to an end in February, for her lead on this.

As Chair and Chief Executive, on behalf of the whole Board and staff at the SIA, we are committed to ensuring effective delivery against our purpose and the priorities we have set. All with the aim of driving improvement in protective security standards and in turn building greater public trust and confidence in safety and security at premises and events across the UK.

Through our regulation, and the actions of private security operatives, security businesses and owners and operators of venues across the UK, the public will be able to go about their daily lives with increased confidence in those tasked with looking after their safety and security.

Who we are and our regulatory role

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is a public body reporting to the Home Secretary and sponsored by the Home Office.

We were first established under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to contribute to public protection by licensing operatives and improving standards in the regulated private security industry.

More recently we have become the regulator for Martyn’s Law under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. When it comes into force, Martyn’s Law will require certain publicly accessible premises and events to protect their premises and be prepared to keep people safe in the event of a terrorist attack.

As an executive non-departmental public body, we are operationally independent of government in our decisions and actions.

Our statutory responsibilities under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 are:

• licensing people who do certain jobs in the private security industry
• approving private security companies who wish to be part of a voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme and maintaining a register of them
• conducting inspections of those holding licences and approvals and taking enforcement action where necessary
• monitoring the activities of those supplying private security services
• setting and approving standards of conduct, training, and supervision
• making recommendations on ways to improve standards within the private security industry

Our new statutory responsibilities for Martyn’s Law under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 will be:

• receiving notifications and compliance documents from premises and events in scope of Martyn’s Law
• assessing whether those premises and events are complying with Martyn’s Law requirements, and where appropriate providing them with compliance advice
• preparing and issuing guidance including on how we propose to exercise our functions and use our new powers
• taking enforcement action where necessary to bring premises and events into compliance, including issuing compliance notices, restriction notices, and financial penalties
• keeping under review the effectiveness of the requirements of the Act in reducing the risk of harm to individuals and the vulnerability of premises to acts of terrorism

Our current work – and our future plans – support the Government’s responsibilities in keeping the public safe from the threat of terrorism, reducing and preventing crime, and ensuring people feel safe in their homes and communities.

As a responsible regulator, we adhere to the Regulators’ Code. We carry out our responsibilities in a way which is targeted, transparent, accountable, proportionate, and consistent.

Importantly, we also work closely with those we regulate and those who use the services we provide to ensure our activities and actions meet our purpose of keeping people and places safe and secure.

Our purpose and values

As we prepare to take on our responsibilities as the new regulator for Martyn’s Law, we have refreshed our corporate purpose. We have also engaged with our staff to renew our organisational values.

Our purpose

We keep people and places safe and secure by regulating the private security industry and venues across the UK.

The common theme across both our existing and our new statutory duties and regulatory activities is keeping people and places safe and secure.

Our current role as the regulator of private security and our future role regulating protective security standards at premises and events are different but complementary to each other. Both enable us as the regulator to improve public protection and public safety.

Values

Our values underpin the way that everyone at the SIA works to deliver our regulatory responsibilities. They are an integral part of our organisational culture. They shape our behaviour towards the individuals, businesses, and premises we regulate, the stakeholders and partners we engage with, and each other.

Service

We are committed to delivering excellent service that meets the needs of our colleagues, customers, and the public.

We listen and respond with respect and professionalism, and an understanding that each action we take serves a purpose towards public protection. Our purpose- and service-focused approach ensure we build trust, create positive experiences, and contribute to a safer, more secure society.

Expertise

Our experience, training and drive for continuous improvement make us experts in our field.

We use our skills to solve complex problems, make informed decisions, and provide an efficient and effective service to our customers, colleagues, and partners.

Respect

We treat everyone fairly and with dignity.

We make everyone feel valued and recognise their skills and expertise. We aspire to respect and be respected by everyone we interact with. We respect others and consider them in our decisions. We value diverse perspectives; we listen and treat everyone with fairness and dignity.

Our strategic ambitions

Building on solid foundations

The SIA has played a key role in improving public safety for over 20 years. Before we were established, there was no national system of regulation for people working in public-facing private security roles. Local oversight varied in its effectiveness and consistency. Harm to the public sometimes came from heavy-handed private security operatives themselves, and there were examples of serious and organised crime infiltrating and controlling private security.

The regulatory regime, as developed by us, introduced and set new standards for individuals and security businesses to improve public protection across the UK.

We issued the first SIA licences in 2004. After three years there were 203,400 licence holders. There are now more than 458,000 individuals across the UK who hold SIA licences permitting them to carry out roles as security operatives.

We check the criminal records of these individuals when they apply for or renew their licence. They are all trained in emergency first aid and basic counter-terrorism awareness, as well as in the core elements of their job. These elements include conducting searches, safe ejections, de-escalating and managing conflict, responding to incidents, and specialist activities such as monitoring CCTV and performing close protection services.

Private security plays a vital role in disrupting and stopping crime, protecting property against damage and theft, and stopping unauthorised access and disorderly behaviour as well as personal injury. Operatives have a safeguarding role that includes tackling violence, in particular that against women and girls, responding to spiking, and much more. They are trained to spot individuals in vulnerable situations, intervene, and provide support as well as work with the police to bring perpetrators to justice.

There are 719 companies in the Approved Contractors Scheme, our voluntary register of approved providers of regulated security services. Companies must meet the standards that we set in order to join the register. This approval from the regulator provides buyers of private security services, and the public, with a level of confidence in a contractor’s integrity, capability, adherence to the law, and commitment to quality.

Our progress over the last three years

Demand for SIA licences has been high; we ended 2025 with half a million registered licences. We committed to improving and prioritising our customer-facing services, user experiences and improving our specialist support for businesses. Licence applications are all online and take fewer than ten working days on average, including the more complex cases. Our annual customer satisfaction survey results remain very high, with 89 percent of individuals and 93 percent of businesses satisfied with the application process. We suspend licences in an average of one working day when we are concerned about risk.

We brought in mandatory refresher training for those renewing their licence. This includes new content on tackling spiking. People join security for short-term roles, including seasonal events and to supplement their main income, as well as for a long-term career. Renewal rates have remained consistent at around 50 percent.

Over the last few years we have become much more active and visible across the UK, and more proactive in our compliance and enforcement work. We have significantly increased our inspection activity since 2020. We find, sanction, and prosecute those who do not comply with the requirement to have a licence. Overall, our compliance checks are consistently high at 98-99 percent. These compliance rates show that those who should have SIA licences for their role overwhelmingly do have them.

We have developed strong partnerships. We conduct joint work and initiatives with a range of agencies including the police, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Sports Ground Safety Association (SGSA), the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), and others. Our work together involves addressing risks from terrorism, including scrutiny of those with alleged links to funding terrorist and paramilitary groups, serious and organised crime, tackling violence, child exploitation, labour crimes and exploitation, immigration offences, burglary, retail theft, and public disorder.

We are much more efficient and effective as an organisation. We have successfully absorbed higher volumes and increases in third party costs such as the rising cost of criminal records checks. We have more digital improvements underway, with plans to create new online portals for businesses and individuals, new public registers, and enhancements to our identity checking processes.

The central government Public Bodies Review Programme published an independent review of the SIA in March 2025. The review found that the SIA was “a well-run organisation with a Board, Executive and staff committed to improving public security.”

Our strategic aims over the next three years

Moving forward, we want to focus on improving standards in protective security. We also want to increase public trust and confidence in security personnel and protective security at premises and events, as well as in the regulator and the regulatory regime.

It is also time for the private security industry itself to take responsibility and focus more on the quality of the services they provide. Premises and events must do more to ensure better protective security is in place and working in practice.

We have two strategic aims:

1. Improve the standards and quality of private security services.
2. Enhance protective security at premises and events across the UK.

Success will improve public trust and confidence in private security, in protective security at premises and events, and in the regulator as people go about their lives throughout the UK.

To achieve these aims, we need to make three strategic shifts which our staff and stakeholders will see over the coming period.

Our three strategic shifts

1. Regulate places: start regulating places (premises and events), not just the private security personnel who work at them, by bringing premises and events under our regulation through Martyn’s Law.
2. Make regulatory judgements on the quality of security services: assess, judge, and address the quality of security services provided by individual operatives and security businesses: highlight good practice, promote higher standards, and call out poor service delivery. We will ensure our intervention has impact through qualitative regulatory judgements and expertise in the decisions we make.
3. Create one unified organisation: ensure we remain one organisation, with a strong inclusive culture, working with two office bases and our front line inspection and field staff right across the UK. Invest in and develop our people and recruit new skills and expertise. We will focus on our common purpose of public protection and keeping people safe and secure through strong leadership.

Our plans for the future depend on these three strategic shifts to be successful.

We developed our strategic ambitions following extensive engagement with our various stakeholders throughout 2025. We worked with the Security Minister and the Home Office to mutually agree our priorities. The SIA’s then Chair and Chief Executive confirmed them in August 2025.

Our new Chair re-confirmed them with the Security Minister on appointment in March 2026.

We sought views from the devolved administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland, from national and specialist policing leads including The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), and local government associations. We asked security firms – large and small, ACS and non-ACS – industry membership bodies, and groups and buyers of security what our priorities should be. We listened to and tested more views via our Stakeholder Forum and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Crucially, we also took into account feedback about our role in public protection and involved our own people.

Our plans build on our successes and learning from past initiatives. We are anticipating refreshed intent from private security leaders to further professionalise and improve quality and standards in their industry through new groups like the S12 Security Guarding Leadership Group, as well as the continued work of existing security membership bodies and forums. We will continue to work in partnership with the industry to ensure our standards reflect the changing context in which they deliver private security.

We will engage with new stakeholders, and build new stakeholder groups, as we regulate premises and events for the first time through our Martyn’s Law work. Some of these will also be buyers of private security, who have a vested interest in improving private security standards.

We will support this plan with new Communications and Stakeholder strategies.

We will also:

• take forward significant changes to our regulatory regime, including, if approved by Government and Parliament, the possibility of mandatory business licensing and the removal of in-house licensing exemptions
• address gaps in our enforcement and monitoring powers and seek better intelligence and enforcement tools to make us more effective in identifying and dealing with those who seek to do harm
• regulate in a way that is conscious of the burdens on businesses and individuals: we will amend and strengthen the regime in support of public safety, but will seek balance and look for opportunities to support economic growth
• highlight excellent quality and good practice, and reinforce standards that encourage self-improvement and aid consumer choice
• respond with agility to new and changing threats to public safety and crime trends, as well as local, national, and international issues that affect protective security
• influence other public bodies, partners, and regulators to act within their remit to address poor practice and unlawful behaviour within security and at premises and events
• highlight and, where possible, resolve limitations and obstacles to our ability to do our job efficiently and be effective in improving public protection and safety

We will continue our major programmes of work, to:

• re-set the business approval scheme as a new voluntary quality scheme, which will either stand alone or complement mandatory business licensing
• make changes to the mandatory qualifications for security operatives before they can apply for or renew a licence
• prepare for and build our new Martyn’s Law regulatory functions
• improve the digital and data systems for our core licensing, approvals, and new Martyn’s Law casework

Why we regulate

We regulate because both private security, and the premises where the public visit and people work, have a key role in keeping the property and people within them safe and secure.

Those who rely on private security – the public, buyers of security, policing, and other partners – should be assured of its legitimacy, competence, and quality. This applies to individuals that work in security roles and the commercial businesses providing those security services.

Security is often the first point of contact at a premises or event. Visible, alert, professional security is a deterrent. It helps prevent or minimise incidents at a venue and consequent harm to the public.

A survey of a nationally-representative sample of 2,600 UK adults in 2023 found that 7 in 10 agreed that security professionals are necessary to maintain order and improve public safety. Most people feel safer with a regulated private security presence at concerts, sporting events, banks, hospitals, venues within the night-time economy, and retail premises. This is a solid starting point, but there is more to do to improve the quality and standards of private security provision and drive public confidence in its delivery.

Our work as a responsible regulator also makes it more difficult for those engaged in serious and organised crime to hide behind the façade of a legitimate security business.

Protective security in public places supports the Government’s ‘Safer Streets’ initiatives. This aims to deliver safer town centres and crack down on anti-social behaviour. Effective and trustworthy private security provision can be a crucial support to local police and other partners in delivering the Government’s ambition.

The Government introduced Martyn’s Law to strengthen the security of premises and events. Its name recognises the campaign led by Figen Murray, the mother of Martyn Hett, one of the twenty-two victims of the Manchester Arena bombings.

The law requires those responsible for publicly accessible premises and events to take steps to reduce the threat to the public from terrorist attack. It intends that those enjoying nights out, going to concerts and events, and visiting shopping centres and other premises that host large numbers of people, should have better confidence in those responsible for their safety. Security and venue staff must be prepared to respond effectively when things go wrong, and should be doing what they reasonably can to protect the premises, and those who use them, from terrorist attacks.

Our initial role as regulator will be to provide guidance, support, and advice as we assess premises and events against the new requirements. Our inspection regime will provide a level of assurance that the plans and procedures declared by premises are effective at the time we visit: in proper use, and familiar to those who rely on them.

Levels of awareness of the requirements, and of public trust and confidence in them, are amongst the ways in which we will measure our outcomes and impact.

Who we regulate

Individuals

There are over 517,000 SIA licences held by more than 458,000 vetted and trained people across the UK. By comparison, there were 169,348 police officers across the United Kingdom at the end of January 2026. Security operatives are often dealing with an incident before police and other emergency services arrive.

Of the 12,000 people (10,000 door supervisors) who applied for a licence for the first time in 2025 and responded to our survey ^{[footnote 1]}:

• 75% paid for their licence themselves
• 5% had licences paid for by DWP to start work
• 8% were in an arrangement where it was included in the training course fee
• 64% intended to work full time
• 43% intended to work in-house
• 28% intended to work for a single employer
• 15% intended to work at events

Of the 8,434 people who renewed their licence in 2025 and responded to our licensing survey ^{[footnote 2]}:

• 33% were working in-house
• 63% paid for the licence themselves
• 21% of licences were paid for by their employer (a further 12% benefitted from an employer advance scheme and repaid it from their wages)
• 63% of them worked for a single employer
• 25% were working flexibly for multiple employers -22% worked in seasonal events
• 18% used licence integration, applying for a licence that allowed them to work in different roles

Number of active licences (as of February 2026)

	Female	Male	Total
Door Supervision	39,228	329,318	368,546
Public Space Surveillance (CCTV)	8,212	57,432	65,644
Security Guarding	5,389	51,386	56,775
Close Protection	804	10,783	11,587
Non-Front line	2,442	6,269	8,711
Cash and Valuables in Transit	215	4,533	4,748
Key Holding	143	976	1,119
Vehicle Immobilisation	2	12	14
Total	56,435	460,709	517,144

40% are based in London and the South-East, 7% in Manchester, and 6% in Birmingham. 11% are female. The largest age group overall is 26-35 years (29%)^{[footnote 3]}.

We commissioned independent Public Trust and Confidence research in 2023­24, which concluded that security officers were proud of their jobs and the wider industry. They were keen for public perception to mirror this pride. They considered that much of the good work done by the industry is invisible. They wanted private security to be held in the same regard as the police and prison service, which they thought were more respected.

Security businesses

There is limited reliable data about the number of businesses across the UK that provide security personnel and/ or have contracts to provide security services to premises and events. There is no mandatory requirement under the licensing regime for those businesses to identify themselves to us, or to meet defined standards in overseeing and supplying services.

HMRC recently estimated that there may be 13,000 security businesses in existence.

We run a voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) which measures private security businesses against independently assessed quality standards. We also check the identity, criminal record, financial probity, and integrity of those running a business applying for approval under the scheme.

There are 719 businesses of various sizes registered with the SIA as approved contractors:

• up to 10 licensable staff: 150 companies
• 11 to 25 licensable staff: 168 companies
• 26 to 250 licensable staff: 331 companies
• over 250 licensable staff: 70 companies

The 85 approved contractors listed in trade magazine Infologue’s Top 100 UK Security Companies 2025 account for 65.3 percent of total turnover of £8.9 billion (as reported by IBISWorld research).

A large majority of approved contractors – 670 out of 719 – are registered as supplying security guarding services. 341 supply keyholding services, and 150 provide door supervision. Most companies are based in London and the South East. Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Glasgow are the next most common.

We provide a public register of approved contractors on the GOV.UK website.

We expect the breadth and number of security businesses that we regulate to increase by 2029, either within our new voluntary business approval scheme, or under mandatory business licensing.

Places – premises and events in scope

The Home Office Impact assessment produced to support the introduction of Martyn’s Law estimates that there are more than 928,000 premises in the UK regarded as a public location. Public locations in scope include a wide variety of everyday premises, including (but not limited to) stadiums, festivals, music venues, hotels, pubs, clubs, bars, stores, shopping centres, markets, places of worship, and transport hubs.

We expect some 179,000 premises to be in scope under Martyn’s Law: around 155,000 in the standard tier and approximately 24,000 in the enhanced tier, as well as almost a thousand music festivals and a large number of one-off events^{[footnote 4]}.

From 2027 in-scope premises will need to register themselves with us (called notification in the legislation). This will bring new entities and people under our regulation and new stakeholders for us to engage with, inform, influence, and with whom we will seek co-operation.

The Home Office has confirmed that the requirements of the new law will come after 3 April 2027.

We are not permitted to provide a public index of premises and events who register or notify us. However, we will track and publish the number who do.

How we will regulate

As the regulator for both the private security industry and for Martyn’s Law we will be:

• confident in setting standards
• supportive in seeking compliance
• uncompromising in enforcing when necessary

Confident in setting standards

We guide; we engage; we license.

We will confidently set standards for individuals, businesses, premises, and events to promote and improve public safety, and help them manage risk and address harms. We will ensure the standards we set keep pace with public expectations. We will engage through partnership, guidance, education, and effective communication to clearly explain our expectations and ensure those we regulate understand the standards that we set. We license against those standards.

Supportive in seeking compliance

We advise; we approve; we inspect.

Building on the high levels of licensing compliance, we will use our inspection regime to focus on the quality of service provided by the private security industry. We approve businesses who meet our standards. We will provide regulatory advice to individuals and security businesses under the PSIA, and to new premises and events we inspect under Martyn’s Law. We will be clear on what ‘good’ looks like and when quality needs to improve.

Uncompromising in enforcing when necessary

We investigate; we enforce.

We will take swift action to address serious harm and wrongdoing. We will be uncompromising in targeting our enforcement effort at those who pose the greatest risk to public safety and who deliberately avoid compliance. We will be proactive and collaborative in our partnership work with law enforcement, HMRC, local authorities, and other partners.

What we will deliver 2026-29

We have grouped actions against our new strategic ambitions into four priorities that ensure that we operate efficiently and effectively as an organisation.

They span our legal responsibilities as the regulator of individuals and businesses in the private security industry, and those of our new role as regulator of places for Martyn’s Law.

Over the next 3 years we will:

• continue to strengthen individual licensing
• reset security business standards
• prepare for and deliver regulation under Martyn’s Law
• invest in our people

Continue to strengthen individual licensing

individual licensing sits at the heart of our regulatory responsibilities. It directly shapes standards in security delivery by the individuals who carry out roles protecting the public from physical harm, and premises and property from damage, unauthorised access, and theft.

The licensing criteria and standards that we set ensure the consistency of vetting decisions and training requirements for entering the security profession. They provide a level of assurance that licensed operatives have the basic skills they need to do their job and can be trusted to provide help to the public in need.

From entry requirements through to continued competence, we will ensure standards remain robust. We will adapt swiftly to changing policy landscapes, new threats and risks, and societal expectations.

We will improve the integrity of qualifications and training requirements. We will continue our work with Ofqual and other bodies to influence change and tackle criminality and malpractice by commercial providers who supply licence-linked qualification training.

We will improve the customer experience for licence applicants through digital improvements to the licensing process and a new-look register. Our renewed focus on quality will look at individual security activities such as searches, as well as standards of leadership, supervision, and management.

All of this will ultimately support a security workforce that commands greater confidence from premises, employers, and the public.

The following deliverables outline how we will achieve this transformation whilst maintaining the high levels of compliance and customer satisfaction that underpin effective regulation.

What we will deliver:

• New standards for mandatory licence-linked qualifications and prerequisite conditions – updating both entry-level qualifications and refresher content specifications and supervision standards
• Effective partnership working with Ofqual, and through them other bodies, Qualifications Scotland, and approved awarding organisations to tackle training criminality and malpractice and improve inter-agency understanding of the level and risk of qualification fraud
• New requirements for awarding organisations and training providers on tests, assessments, and invigilation to drive out cheating in the qualification and training regimes
• Refreshed general licence conditions to ensure they remain fit for purpose
• Continued robust inspection and enforcement activities, focused on tackling those who do not comply and with a new emphasis on calling out and preventing poor quality
• New more timely and agile ways of updating statutory licensing criteria agreed with the Home Office, in response to criminal justice changes
• Greater automation and technological solutions for casework, including the use of AI, maximising self-service where appropriate, providing tools for applicants and users to enhance customer service and release SIA expertise to focus on cases requiring complex judgments
• Improvements to our reporting service, enabling the public to share their concerns with us about non-compliance and poor standards of security
• A new individual licensing portal on GOV.UK, plus enhancements to our digital service to improve the user experience
• New online regulatory guidance products on safety-critical areas of security delivery for front line operatives, supporting compliance and delivery of quality services
• Ownership by the security industry of standards for the training and development of security staff by companies and employers, and post-qualification skills

We are also ready to implement any changes approved by the Government to the statutory licensing regime, including the proposals to extend licensing requirements to various in-house roles following their consultation on the Manchester Arena Inquiry’s Monitored Recommendation 7.

What will success look like:

• Continued high levels of licensing compliance
• Continued high levels of customer satisfaction from licence applicants and users of our services
• Robust vetting of those wanting to obtain or renew licences as security operatives
• Greater agility in ensuring new criminal offences are included in the statutory licensing criteria
• Improved quality of searches and other critical activities by security operatives
• Awareness and understanding of new licensing standards and conditions by employers and licence holders
• Improved quality of, and confidence in, reporting concerns to us about non-compliance and criminality
• Greater employer confidence in the integrity of training and qualifications, and therefore the quality of security operatives
• Improved standards of supervision, management, and leadership in the deployment of security services
• Greater consistency and confidence in the quality of security

Reset security business standards

Trust and confidence in private security services, and the credibility of the industry, depend on robust standards that support businesses who operate lawfully and put public safety and protective security at their core.

We have a statutory responsibility to establish and maintain a voluntary register of approved providers of security industry services. We hope that in the period covered by this strategic plan we will see changes to make this approval mandatory for all businesses that supply and deploy licensed security operatives.

The Home Office will initiate and lead on these changes. It will be the Government’s decision as to whether business licensing becomes mandatory, and at what level it is set.

We are already in the process of designing a replacement for our existing Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS), which has been in place unchanged since 2006. This new business approval scheme will rely more on standards that put public protection at their heart. It will include greater scrutiny of integrity, financial probity, quality and competence, and recognise different business specialisms. We are aiming to make the scheme more accessible, and more widely appealing. However, it can only be voluntary with our powers under the current regime.

We also plan to develop a new, more transparent public register. This will contain more information about businesses to support better-informed buyer choice.

Whether our new scheme stands alone, or we adapt it to supplement a mandatory scheme, we will have increased ability to drive out bad actors who undermine industry standards and create risks to public safety. We will achieve this by resetting business standards and strengthening our oversight of a wider number of security businesses deploying licensed operatives. The scheme will also promote the good work and quality services provided by businesses that meet the criteria.

Changes to our regulatory framework will give us clearer visibility of where businesses operate. This will enable better compliance monitoring and ensure that quality standards are more consistent.

The resetting of standards, and the possible transition from a voluntary scheme to mandatory business licensing, represent the most significant shift in the regulation and oversight of the security industry since regulation began more than twenty years ago.

What we will deliver:

• A new business approval scheme
• The closing down of ACS and a smooth transition for businesses to the new scheme
• A new user-friendly digital portal for businesses to register and renew their approval with us, which is more efficient and effective both for us and the customer
• A new register of approved businesses, displaying more transparent and relevant information about a business, its operations and services
• Development of new standards of supervision and new regulatory guidance for businesses
• A compliance and inspection regime for businesses which is as much focused on the quality of service delivery as on binary compliance and conformance
• Partnership working with HMRC and the new Fair Work Agency to support their stronger and more transparent regulatory action and investigation of non-compliance in tax and employment issues
• A buyers’ charter that promotes the purchase of quality services, and supports contracts going to security businesses that support excellence and follow quality standards

We are also ready to implement any changes approved by the government to the statutory business approvals regime, including the proposals to make business licensing mandatory following the consultation on Manchester Arena Inquiry Monitored Recommendation 8.

What will success look like:

• Voluntary adoption of higher, more consistent standards of quality security provision by a greater number of security businesses
• More security companies joining the new scheme, growing their market and thriving
• Better information on which businesses are providing licensed security operatives and services, and where they operate
• Robust scrutiny preventing rogue businesses from being able to supply security
• Better transparency and knowledge about the specialist services provided by businesses through greater use of the SIA register of approved businesses
• Prompt sanctioning of businesses and labour providers deploying security operatives at less than minimum wage by HMRC and the Fair Work Agency
• Buyers of security better able to make informed choices using the information in our new register
• Buyers making choices which prioritise quality over economy, thereby promoting higher standards of security provision

Prepare for and deliver regulation under Martyn’s Law

The introduction of Martyn’s Law, and the expansion of our regulatory reach, provides the opportunity to improve and make more consistent protective security standards in premises across the UK, as well as at events that are open to significant numbers of the public.

This expansion into regulating places will make us an important high-profile partner for other national agencies working to combat terrorism. This will ensure proportionate, reasonably practical counter terrorism and protective security measures and procedures are put in place, known about, and acted on in practice.

The immediate expectations on us as the new regulator are to:

• conduct the necessary preparations for operational launch and commencement of the new Act at the date decided by the Home Office, which will be at least 24 months after Royal Assent
• design and build the best regulator possible with the resources available to us, with a business model and resourcing profile which is proportionate, efficient, and effective
• provide as much guidance and support as possible initially, reserving enforcement and sanction for when it is absolutely necessary
• ensure that premises and events in scope notify us promptly, supplying the documentation we expect
• test and provide assurance on practical compliance through both desk-based activity and a new inspection regime
• work closely with counter-terrorism agencies and the Home Office

Successful launch and delivery will depend on good preparation by the SIA. Once the Home Office has issued their statutory s27 guidance on Martyn’s Law requirements, we will undertake extensive outreach, communications, and engagement with in-scope premises and events. Partnership working and collaboration will also be important, including with those who already have some regulatory engagement with those in scope in order to minimise regulatory duplication.

Our focus early in the period covered by this plan will be on preparation, recruitment, and behind the scenes set-up activity so that we can mobilise our new people, systems, and capability as soon as the legislation commences.

We are working closely with the three primary players in protective security: the Home Office, the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), and the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA). We each have our own specific, complementary roles to play in the protective security landscape, and we all have a vested interest in success. We have committed to work effectively together to ensure that premises and events – both those in and out of scope of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 – are better protected and prepared in the event of a terrorist attack.

Our outreach and regulatory work with in-scope premises and events, our partnerships with the primary players and other public agencies and bodies, combined with our engagement with representative membership bodies and other stakeholders will help raise awareness, encourage and support compliance, and ensure that our work is effective.

Ultimately this is about helping premises and events to be better protected and prepared, to reduce harm, and to build confidence in standards of protective security in public places across the UK.

What we will deliver:

• A full consultation on our proposed statutory Section 12 guidance as to how we will regulate, followed by publication, before go-live
• Deliver on our outreach, education, and regulatory engagement plan for in-scope premises and events to raise awareness and provide educative support
• Be ready to go live operationally when the legislation commences: we are working to Spring 2027
• Recruitment of front line regulatory roles to our agreed numbers and timeline to provide the minimum planned capacity and capability for the regulator to operate – prioritising the key roles providing guidance, handling notifications, assessing compliance, and inspecting
• Launch of an online notifications (registration) portal for in-scope premises and events, tested and fully functional before go-live, linked to our new internal casework management system
• Publish other key non-statutory operational guidance plus tools to support in-scope premises and events with awareness and compliance
• A new risk assessment framework for our Martyn’s Law work to guide our decisions as to which premises, events, and cases we should prioritise for resourcing and regulatory activity – ready before go-live
• Design and begin the programme of desk-based assessments and in-person inspections of premises and events to test compliance with Martyn’s Law
• A new shared-service intelligence and reporting centre function to service Martyn’s law and existing private security regulation matters
• Establish effective relationships with relevant public bodies, regulators, local authorities, and others who already regulate or supervise the activities of in-scope premises and events to minimise duplication and promote joint working
• Deliver the first statutory report to the Home Secretary on our activities and delivery of our functions under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025

What will success look like:

• The SIA’s statutory s12 guidance required by the Act published in good time ahead of go-live
• Develop our capability and capacity sufficiently by go-live (designed, recruited, and trained) to support in-scope premises and events
• Notifications systems ready and operational at go-live
• Delivery on time and to the grant funding envelope provided by the Home Office
• Good levels of awareness of Martyn’s Law by in-scope premises and events, and of what action is required of them
• The vast majority of in-scope premises and events making notification to the SIA within the timelines prescribed in the statutory instruments
• Setting up our intelligence and reporting centre on time
• Establishing our capacity and capability to work effectively with the police, NPSA, NaCTSO and other counter terrorism agencies, local authorities, and other bodies who already regulate or license in-scope premises and events to minimise duplication and maximise swift action where there is serious risk of harm
• Improved protective security culture at premises and events across the UK

Invest in our people

We cannot achieve our aims and ambitions without our staff: those who already work with us, and those who we are yet to recruit and bring on board. Both are important as we prepare to significantly increase our workforce numbers over the next three years – primarily to increase our capacity and capability for Martyn’s Law.

We need a workforce with the right skills, expertise, and potential to meet our strategic ambitions. We want outstanding talent working in our team to bring out the best in each other, work collegiately, and deliver a first-rate service for the public as well as for our customers and stakeholders.

We want to build continuously on our achievements, learn from the past, and be open to new ideas. We must be confident in our expertise and experience across all areas to be bolder in our regulatory role. At the same time, we will welcome new skill sets and be agile and adaptable.

As the new Martyn’s Law regulator we will need to recruit individuals with a range of new expertise: insight and experience in working in protective security; an understanding of risk in a counter terrorism context; finesse in making regulatory judgements; and proficiency in developing formal guidance.

We have seen the benefits of recruiting those who have experience of working in our regulated communities and stakeholders – whether that be from private security, training providers, other regulators and areas of government or, looking ahead to our Martyn’s Law remit, venue owners and operators and protective security specialists.

We will provide our staff with a supportive culture to enable them to perform at their best and contribute their expertise, knowledge, and experience. We will stretch and develop their skills as they progress their careers. We will encourage our teams to continuously build their own knowledge and skills; to contribute and try new ideas; to embrace new digital tools and innovative approaches; to learn lessons and commit to continuous improvement and self-development. Everyone, from corporate services to front line licensing, case working and inspection roles, understands their own contribution – and that of their team – to the SIA’s purpose of keeping people and places safe and secure.

While we all have distinct roles and responsibilities, and may be in different locations, we are one unified organisation. We are committed to a culture in which we champion respect, inclusivity, and diversity in the widest sense. We are proud to be an organisation that attracts and retains high calibre individuals from a range of backgrounds. Our staff survey results tell us that people enjoy working for the SIA; they feel challenged and are clear on their role in improving the safety and security of the UK.

The diversity of our staff reflects not only the diversity of the public to whom we are accountable, but also of the areas we regulate. As we secure and open a second office in Manchester, providing opportunities beyond the South East, we will continue to be an organisation that attracts people because of our strong public purpose and inclusive culture. We want to recruit the best talent from across the UK as an employer of choice.

We also appreciate the need to invest in the training and development of our staff and support their progression. This applies to their current disciplines, new areas into which they might move, and in their potential as a future manager or leader.

What we will deliver:

• A People Strategy that reflects our ‘one organisation’ approach, supported by a new workforce and improvement plan
• A corporate Skills Strategy that builds on existing skills and identifies areas of new expertise that we need, plus opportunities for learning and development
• A new training programme to raise the level of competence in line managers, informing them of key policies and what we expect of them, and empowering and equipping them with the tools they need to carry out their role effectively and support team members
• A new approach to reward and recognition – recognising expertise, positive behaviours, and excellent performance in a greater number of people across the organisation
• Building on our positive inclusive culture with actions that embed and model our new ‘respect’ value internally and externally
• Ensure our newly-established HR team improve core service delivery and provide quality support to managers and colleagues
• Recruit high-quality talented candidates who bring the new skills and knowledge we need, and who have potential and learning aptitude as well as experience and expertise
• Retain and develop our staff, unlocking untapped talent and supporting the leaders and experts of the future

What will success look like:

• The right people with the right skills in the right roles in support of us achieving our purpose of keeping people and places safe and secure
• An organisation with a good reputation which people want to join
• Good levels of staff retention due to people feeling valued, motivated, and invested in what they do, their team, and the organisation’s purpose
• Strong leaders with good succession potential
• Line managers equipped with the knowledge and skills to uphold SIA values and standards of behaviour
• An inclusive culture through which we are supportive and respectful of each other
• A diverse workforce, able to get the best out of each other, that reflects the public to whom we are accountable
• High employee satisfaction: people feel recognised and rewarded for their contributions and expertise

The role of industry and other key parties

The private security industry

The private security industry plays a vital role in keeping people safe across the United Kingdom. Security professionals work alongside police and other agencies to maintain public safety every day, from protecting public spaces to safeguarding businesses and events.

While the SIA as a government body sets baseline requirements and standards, including licensing and business approvals, regulated private security itself must aspire to exceed these standards. The industry should own and drive improvement, demonstrating leadership and commitment to prioritising public safety.

Through closer collaboration with industry bodies, including the S12 Security Guarding Leadership Group, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the International Professional Security Association (IPSA), the Security Institute, ASIS UK, Security Commonwealth, the City Security Council, The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), the UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA) and other membership organisations, we will continue to work together collaboratively to improve standards.

The industry also needs to own and grow professional development. Successful models from other sectors show that embedded continuous professional development is the cornerstone of a profession, recognising specialisms and rewarding expertise.

A thriving private security industry must also be an attractive sector in which to work. Security must be seen as a valued long-term career with genuine progression opportunities, fair pay, equitable terms and conditions, and a commitment by employers to good workforce welfare. Security officers often work long shifts in isolated or challenging environments. Mental health matters as much as physical safety, and we welcome industry-led initiatives and responsible employers focused on supporting their staff and wellbeing.

The role of premises and buyers of security

We also want to help buyers understand the true value of excellent security that prioritises public safety.

Buyers are crucial in maintaining high standards of security provision. Buying security on cost alone is a risk not just to public safety, but also to the brand and reputation of the buyer. The security of staff, premises, equipment and other assets is a serious commitment. Investing time in the procurement process by undertaking some basic checks can reap rewards when it comes to buying security.

When organisations invest in quality, everyone benefits: the workforce benefit from a dynamic and competent employer, customers benefit from good service delivery, and the visiting public benefit from the confidence that visibly capable security brings.

Our aim is an improvement in the quality of private security: it should be professional, accountable, and committed to the highest standards so that the public can have confidence in it. We can achieve this together by working in partnership.

Enablers and dependencies

Our partnerships and enabling functions play a key role in enabling us to deliver our ambitions.

Strategic partnerships

The SIA cannot deliver the changes and improvements in this plan in isolation. Partnership working will continue to be crucial: not just with the private security industry, but with the owners and operators of premises and events, individuals, businesses, and government agencies including the Home Office, the devolved governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland, our partners, industry and sector groups, and many others.

Our work will be complementary to the work of our partners. In other words, we will engage and co-operate to reinforce our collective impact without duplicating effort. In this way we can join forces to focus our intervention and support where it can make the most difference.

We are already established UK-wide, both strategically and operationally. We enjoy existing routes into national and local policing, local authorities, and other agencies including NPSA and NaCTSO. We will build on these links and relationships.

• Devolved governments: we will continue our existing strong engagement with the Scotland and Northern Ireland executives, including at senior/ministerial level
• Counter terrorism: NPSA, NaCTSO, Protect UK, counter terrorism policing, development of Act eLearning for security, intelligence sharing
• Combatting serious and organised crime: identify, disrupt and tackle abuse, offending, and exploitation with policing, the National Crime Agency (NCA), Home Office Immigration Enforcement (HOIE), Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs), HMRC, and the new Fair Work Agency
• Preventing violence against women and girls: licence-linked training on spiking and identifying and reporting predatory behaviour, inspections and engagement across the UK
• Policing across all areas; local and national forces, Police Scotland, PSNI (the Police Service of Northern Ireland), NPCC, and APCC
• Buyers: the SIA Buyers Special Interest Group, encouraging responsible buying of security
• Licensing authorities, assessing and awarding bodies, Ofqual and the SQA
• Specialist regulation areas such as the Sports Ground Safety Authority, Charity Commission, Department of Education, Ofsted Office for Students, NHS England, Wales and Scotland, and Health and Social Care Northern Ireland

We are developing a new stakeholder map to identify all the other public bodies who already regulate those who will come into scope of Martyn’s Law.

We will also continue to work with key stakeholders such as UK policing, through NPCC, to ensure we stay abreast of changing threat, risk and potential harm to all UK communities. We remain aware of the unique operating environments in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Local authorities have an extensive interface with both private security and a significant proportion of the Martyn’s Law regulated community. They do this through their licensing responsibilities, Safety Advisory Groups, and their regulatory roles in respect of sports ground safety, health and safety, and environmental health. Their existing role in overseeing event safety certificates, licences, and their awareness of requirements under the Act will complement our activities.

Stakeholder engagement

As our regulatory remit expands, our need to understand the views of a wider range of stakeholders will be more critical than ever. Over the next three years, our new stakeholder strategy will build on the successes and learning from our existing stakeholder activities.

We will develop innovative approaches to ensure we find and meet our refreshed stakeholder communities. We plan to educate, support, and guide as well as achieve regulatory compliance and improve standards in their sectors to deliver an improving culture of public safety.

We will draw on our stakeholders’ expertise to complement our own awareness, understanding and knowledge. Open dialogue, mutual understanding of our distinct roles and remits – including recognition of our independence as the regulator – and respectful trust will be key to achieving our regulatory ambitions. Our approach will be proactive, inclusive, proportionate, responsive, and transparent.

Shared internal intelligence and reporting centre

Our new intelligence & reporting shared service function will be responsible for the collection and assessment of information identifying risks to public safety. They will gather information from a broad range of sources, including the public and the private security industry, as well as protective security, policing, government and partner agencies, and regulators.

We will develop all intelligence in line with our risk frameworks, whether we generate it ourselves from casework and task-appropriate action or have it sent to us. This may involve further research or analysis, referral to partner agencies, instigating a licensing review or an immediate inspection, or assigning compliance work.

The aim of this shared intelligence and reporting centre is to deliver this service across both the regulation of the private security industry and premises under Martyn’s Law.

Digital, data & technology

Our strategic vision for the next three years is to develop an impl’ementation plan that supports all our regulatory functions through an integrated data and digital strategy. Central to this is the alignment of key service components. These include licensing, approvals, notifications, registrations, intelligence and case management, plus advisory, compliance, and inspection work. We will support these elements with advanced, cross-functional data analytics, as well as enhanced digital inspection and enforcement capabilities.

Central to this vision is what we are calling ‘One Regulatory View’. This will integrate our systems and casework capabilities for regulating individuals, businesses, premises, and events into a single, well-governed platform. Each domain will contribute data to a shared regulatory overview while maintaining its specialist focus.

This approach will enhance our understanding of risks and relationships, strengthen intelligence and investigations, and improve our targeting of compliance and enforcement activities. It also reduces duplication and manual effort, and will lay the foundations for more automation, analytics, and AI to support more effective regulation.

Our powers and remit

We can only act within the remit given to us by Parliamentary legislation. We require a range of powers to ensure we can both license and support, as well as detect and disrupt those who do not comply with the statutory requirements. These requirements are set out in the Private Security Industry Act 2001 and the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025.

There are gaps and limitations in our powers. We will continue to work with the Home Office to ensure we have the appropriate authority as a mature modern regulator to carry out our role in a way that matches the expectations the government and the public have of us. For us to be confident in delivering ‘uncompromising enforcement’, our powers must remain current so that we can detect, investigate, and sanction non-compliance, and keep pace with changes to the threat picture and developments in technology.

Efficiency

Our financial budget and efficiency strategy underpin the delivery of our strategic and business plans. We will ensure that the fee-funded model for our private security work remains sustainable and transparent. Any separately funded grant from the Home Office for our Martyn’s Law work will be fully costed, well-governed, and delivered efficiently.

We will secure both cashable and non-cashable efficiencies which benefit all aspects of our work. We will do this by modernising our financial systems, strengthening our commercial capability, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement.

This work will enable us to keep licence and ACS/business approval scheme fees as reasonable – and stable – as possible, whilst supporting the increased expectations to deliver the priorities set for us. We will ensure that every pound we spend delivers maximum public value efficiently, effectively, and with economy.

Tracking delivery and accountability

We will track our delivery in the following ways:

Firstly, each annual business plan will set clear key deliverables linked to this strategic plan. We will track these at quarterly Board meetings.

Secondly, our key performance indicators (KPIs) measure the core areas of our activity. These will remain broadly constant throughout the three-year plan, in line with best practice, so we can track our progress consistently. We may make small adjustments to specific targets if necessary, or amend to reflect new activities or significant priority changes.

We will need to develop some of the targets and performance measures around our new Martyn’s Law work nearer to go-live in 2027. We will do this as our business model develops and our knowledge of the regulated community improves.

We report on the progress of all KPIs to the Chief Executive and Executive Directors monthly. We share these updates on our intranet so that every member of staff can see how their role is linked to our KPIs; for example, by contributing to a reduction in costs, or ensuring our decisions are completed in a timely manner.

We also report on our KPIs quarterly to our Board and to the Home Office and Minister. We then publish end-year KPI results in our annual report and accounts.

Thirdly, and critically, we will assess the outcome and impact of our ambitions – and be held accountable – through our stakeholder engagement activities and by surveying the public and our customers. These interactions include commissioning independent public trust and confidence research towards the beginning and end of the plan; our annual customer satisfaction surveys and regular applicant surveys; and feedback from our formal events and engagement with businesses, event organisers, and premises.

[GEN/25-26/019]

1. As part of the licence application process we offer a voluntary survey – these are the results from the period 1/1/2025 – 1/1/2026 ↩

2. As above ↩

3. Data published on the GOV.UK page ‘SIA licence holders’ 3/2/2026 ↩

4. Home Office published impact assessment ↩