Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Security Industry Authority's online application processing of licences; and if she will make a statement.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) launched a new IT system in July 2016 which is experiencing some difficulties due to system defects which are being resolved. Some applications are therefore taking longer to process than anticipated.
We are closely monitoring the performance of the SIA, and are working with them to ensure a return to expected service standards.