Draft Private Security Industry (Licence Fees) Order 2020

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2020 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kevin Foster)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Private Security Industry (Licence Fees) Order 2020.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Charles. The draft order was laid before the House on 3 February. Under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, the Secretary of State has the power to prescribe a licence application fee payable to the Security Industry Authority. The order is a financial administrative measure that will enable the Secretary of State to prescribe fees at a level that takes into account past deficits and current costs. The SIA individual licence is valid for three years, and the fee is calculated on a three-year cycle. Based on that cycle, the SIA has a fluctuating income pattern whereby it anticipates a deficit in one year in every three. None the less, the SIA’s fees should meet the full costs of the service. The order will allow the SIA to make a surplus in two of the years to offset the deficit made in the first year, and thereby to break even over the three-year cycle.

As I said, the draft order was laid in Parliament on 3 February, and if accepted and made, it will come into force on 1 April 2020. I commend the order to the Committee.