| The Government's Proposals for Regulation of the Private Security Industry in England and Wales | ||||
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Chapter 2 - The Private Security Industry Authority Description 2.1 To oversee regulation of the private security industry the Government proposes the creation of a Private Security Industry Authority. Primary legislation will be necessary to enable the establishment of the Authority. 2.2 The Authority's primary roles will be to protect the rights and safety of the public by ensuring basic standards of probity within the private security industry and to maintain and raise standards within the industry for the public benefit. Functions 2.3 The Authority will have two main functions:
Details of these functions are set out in the following chapters. Constitution 2.4 The Authority will be answerable to the Home Secretary and will be required to make an Annual Report which will be laid before Parliament. It will be self-financing on the basis of fees received for licences and inspections. 2.5 The Authority will have a part-time Board, of around 8 members appointed by the Home Secretary, which will represent relevant interests such as the police, local authorities, the private security industry, insurers, customers and members of the public. The Board will be headed by an independent Chairman who has no personal interest in the private security industry. The Board will have overall oversight of the functions of the Authority and be responsible for making any key decisions regarding the way the Authority carries out its business. It will also be able to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for making regulations through secondary legislation. 2.6 The Authority will need a number of full time staff to operate and enforce the licensing system and this function will be managed by a chief executive who will be answerable to the Authority Board. 2.7 The Board will be able to appoint Committees or sub-Committees to advise it on standards or other technical matters relating to a particular sector or sectors of the industry and will be able to contract out specialist functions such as inspecting companies to a particular standard (see Chapter 4) if that is thought appropriate. A diagram showing the proposed structure of the Authority is at Annex A.
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