A new national campaign has launched today with the aim of driving meaningful reform across the UK’s private security sector. Through its new public website, www.csir.uk, the Campaign for Security Industry Reform (CSIR) is seeking to raise awareness, support professionalisation, and encourage government action to strengthen regulation where public safety is at stake.
“Public safety is the reason the security industry is regulated at all. Security officers are now expected to deal with serious violence, terrorism risks, safeguarding, medical emergencies and complex technology. Public safety must be matched by proper regulation of businesses, specialist roles and professional standards.”
The Security Industry Authority was created to protect the public under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, and this responsibility remains central to its role. Licensed security officers operate daily across critical environments such as healthcare facilities, transport networks, retail centres, workplaces and public venues. The standard of protection they provide is shaped directly by the regulatory framework governing the industry.
The timing of the campaign aligns with the SIA’s scheduled five-year review of licence-linked qualifications. This wide-ranging review will examine training in areas including core operational skills, public safety competencies, counter-terrorism awareness, searching methods, spiking prevention, first aid, English language requirements, and the quality and reliability of assessment systems. Engagement with stakeholders is set to continue into early 2026, with new standards expected to be implemented in 2027.¹
CSIR has welcomed the review as an important opportunity to improve standards, but has emphasised that training reform alone will not address deeper regulatory imbalances. According to the most recent SIA figures, more than half a million licensed individuals are held to stringent personal requirements, while the businesses that deploy them remain largely unregulated at company level.
The campaign highlights several long-standing gaps that have a direct impact on public safety, including:
- The absence of a business licensing regime
- The continued use of the “in-house” exemption
- The lack of a regulatory process for specialist roles such as dog handlers and security consultants
- Weak oversight of poor-quality training providers
- New public safety risks linked to technology, AI, body-worn cameras and data handling use by non-compliant firms and operatives
- A more detailed list appears on our site
CSIR also links industry reform to wider national safety concerns, including the findings of the Manchester Arena Inquiry and the forthcoming Terrorism (Protection of Premises) legislation, commonly known as Martyn’s Law. These developments reflect the growing responsibility placed on private security staff in public-facing roles.
The CSIR.uk website is designed as an open, copyright-free public resource and a platform to raise awareness of other initiatives current in progress to raise security industry standards. It provides short, accessible explainers on key reform issues, links to credible sources, and campaign material that can be freely shared. The site will also host downloadable letters for members of the public and security workers to send to their MPs.
The Campaign for Security Industry Reform will continue to publish regular updates, briefings and public information.
For more information, visit: www.csir.uk
