Private Military and Security Companies

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord makes an important point. As many noble Lords—especially those who have been provided with close protection either on behalf of the Government or by private security companies—will be aware, unfortunately it is a necessary part of some of the work that we do overseas. It enables us sometimes to travel beyond the capital to do exactly the kind of work that the noble Lord referred to.

[Lord Chidgey]

Is my noble friend aware that current research at Bristol University by Dr Higate shows that British companies generally operate on a low-profile basis, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their sensitivity to the reactions of the host populations reflects very well on the United Kingdom? Can she also address the serious shortcomings that have been found in the standard of and mandatory training for armed close protection roles undertaken by these private military and security companies?

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord will be aware that many of the concerns in this area are historic and dependent on what happened not so much with UK private security companies but, predominantly, with US private security companies. Despite that, the UK led on the Montreux document, which laid out the obligations that we have. The UK was also one of the first to support the international code of practice, and one-third of the companies that have signed up to the code are British. We are also working with the industry to put forward standards so that the code is properly implemented and its implementation is audited. I am assured that we will be able to make an announcement in the next few weeks.