Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on wheelchair users of the requirement from 1 April 2021 that applicants for a door supervisor or security guard licence will be expected to successfully complete a first aid qualification before taking their licence-linked training.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulates the private security industry in the United Kingdom. As part of its broader reforms relating to qualifications for SIA licences in order to improve public safety and to raise standards in the private security industry, it has introduced the requirement for first aid training.

Policy development in this area included an Equalities Impact Assessment. The policy included consideration of how wheelchair users and others may fulfil the First Aid requirement. The SIA have produced advice on reasonable adjustments for this requirement. This allows learners to take a ‘knowledge only’ course where they can present evidence that they are unable to undertake practical First Aid. The equality impact of these reforms will be kept under review as they are implemented.