Security Industry (Hansard, 12 January 1995)

§ 2. Mr. McCartney
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals for statutory regulation of the security industry.

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. David Maclean)
We have no plans for statutory regulations, but 264 I am looking again at policies in this area and await with interest the outcome of the Home Affairs Select Committee's current inquiry.

§ Mr. McCartney
The Minister knows that for the past 10 years I have been involved in a campaign to expose the activities of those in organised crime who have been infiltrating the security industry, particularly in the leisure sector. Organised crime is involved in jobs, prostitution and protection rackets. Was it not extraordinary that just before Christmas Conservative central office, through its security company, recruited one Bob King who had just served 15 years for armed robbery to work as a security guard at central office? Does that not prove that infiltration of the industry has gone right to the top, including the Government?

§ Mr. Maclean
If the hon. Gentleman has any suggestions of irregularity or criminality, the police are the appropriate body to which to make his complaints. I have given evidence on the security industry before the Select Committee. I repeat that I am looking at policies in this area, and I await with interest the conclusions of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

§ Mr. Mark Robinson
Does my hon. Friend agree that the private sector has an important part to play in the security industry and is making a major contribution to the fight against crime?

§ Mr. Maclean
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Crime is dealt with by the police in their public role, and the private security industry has a vital and major part to play in all the various sectors—technology, cash in transit, man guarding, and so on. Ordinary citizens, members of the public and local authorities working in partnership with the police and with the private sector also have a key part to play.

§ Mr. Trimble
Does the Minister recall that it was because there was evidence that organised crime was penetrating security firms in Northern Ireland that the Government put legislation on the statute book to regulate private security firms there, so there can be no objection in principle to extending that legislation to the rest of the United Kingdom?

§ Mr. Maclean
I am not suggesting that there is an objection in principle. We must look at the practicalities and try to pinpoint which sectors, if any, of the security industry face problems. I do not believe that the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that every facet of the security industry, including locksmiths and those who install alarms or closed circuit television systems—or indeed those who work in other areas of the industry where there has never been the slightest suggestion of irregularities or problems—should have a massive bureaucratic system imposed on them. That is why I am keen to find out whether the Select Committee has delineated any areas where there may be problems. I am also keen to see what options and solutions may be available to deal with perceived problems.