Home Secretary David Blunkett has appointed Peter Hermitage as chairman of the Security Industry Authority for the next four years

Current Security Industry Authority (SIA) chairman Peter Hermitage 鈥� who took over from Molly Meacher on a temporary basis in December last year (鈥楳eacher resigns chairmanship of Security Industry Authority鈥�, News Update, SMT, January 2004, p7) 鈥� has been appointed full-time chairman until 2008 by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

鈥淧eter has done a valuable job as temporary chairman since taking up the post,鈥� commented Blunkett in an official press statement issued by the Home Office. 鈥淲e鈥檙e confident that he鈥檒l continue to provide strong leadership in developing and achieving the very highest standards in the private security industry, and feel assured that he鈥檒l take the lead in establishing the SIA as an effective and thoroughly modern regulator.鈥�

In his role as chairman, Hermitage will continue to be responsible for working alongside SIA chief executive John Saunders and Board Members on the extensive agenda of raising standards in the private security industry, where over 500,000 individuals will require personal licences.

In addition to its job of licensing, the SIA will work with the police and other partners to ensure that any disregard of the new licensing regime is addressed. As a former chief constable (鈥楲ooking at The Bigger Picture鈥�, News Special, SMT, March 2004, pp11-12) Hermitage is no stranger to this aspect of the SIA鈥檚 work. 鈥淚鈥檝e no doubt that the majority of the industry will do all in its power to comply with regulation,鈥� he told SMT. 鈥淏usinesses that operate lawfully have every right to expect that those who don鈥檛 do so will face some kind of sanction. We鈥檒l adopt an intelligence-led approach to dealing with the bad guys.鈥�

Source

SMT

Postscript

The SIA has gained agreement from the Inland Revenue for the SIA licence fee to be tax deductible. In turn, the Inland Revenue will now update existing tax relief regulations such that the SIA licence fees paid by workers in the private security industry will qualify for the relief.

Security operatives who pay their own licence fee can claim tax relief against taxable income. For a worker paying the basic rate of tax, the relief is worth 拢41.80, while for those in a higher tax bracket the rate would work out at 拢76.80.