Applying for a licence
Requests for applications can be made from 10th January 2005 for the Security Guarding and Cash & Valuables in Transit sectors. Subject to final ministerial approval the date by which operatives must be fully trained and licensed is 20th March 2006. Although this may seem a long way off, spreading out the licensing process will minimise disruption and will enable staff to be licensed in good time.
The application will be assessed against criminality, competence and other criteria and a decision made on whether to grant a licence. The SIA will write explaining its decision and, if successfully granted, a licence will be issued.
Bulk applications
As a result of feedback from the industry and to make licensing simpler for everyone, the SIA will soon introduce a process where companies will be able to manage and coordinate the request and submission of licence applications to the SIA on behalf of their staff and have an option to make a single payment for multiple applications.
Prior to the introduction of this process we are offering companies the option to undertake a limited bulk application facility which will enable you to request forms on behalf of your employees and return them to us in bulk.
We recognise that some companies may choose to wait until the full bulk process is available, whereas it will suit others to use what is available immediately. Of course, the individual application process remains as an option.
Appeals
If a licence is refused, or revoked an applicant will have 21 days to appeal to the appropriate Magistrate’s Court, covering the area in which the applicant is licensed, or has applied to be licensed with the SIA.
Limited Bulk Application Process: A step-by-step guide
Step 1 – Request application forms
You will need to gather personal details for each employee who needs a licence. The details required are:
- Sector – Security Guard, Cash & Valuables in Transit, Door Supervisor, Vehicle Immobiliser
- Role – Front Line / Non-Front Line
- Title
- First Name
- Middle Name
- Last Name
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Address line 1
- Address line 2
- Town/City
- County
- Country
- Postcode
- Day time telephone number (optional)
- Email address (optional)
These details should be e-mailed to the SIA. For ease of handling each request is limited to 200 entries. However you can send as many requests as you need to and at a frequency necessary to achieve the monthly submission profiles many of you have agreed with either the SIA or BSIA.
The e-mail should be sent to bulkapplications@the-sia.org.uk. We will confirm receipt of this e-mail. Priority should be given to individuals who have completed the training or who are on the courses. Requests should be accompanied with details of the person coordinating the licensing process at your company, this should include company name, contact name and contact details.
A spreadsheet will be provided in January to assist with this but you may still collate the necessary details in the meantime.
Step 2 – Printing and dispatch of application forms
Using your list of staff details we will print up individual application forms and send them out to home addresses of each person, together with return envelopes, licence booklets and completion notes.
The SIA will provide you with a confirmation report once these forms have been dispatched. This will help you co-ordinate the completion of the forms by the relevant employees, speeding up licence issue by reducing the time spent with incomplete or incorrect forms.
Step 3 – Completion of forms
The forms will have printed on them the information supplied in Step 1. The remaining information needs to be completed and the form signed. The form with photograph and supporting identity documents then needs to be returned to us. An application fee (cheque, debit or credit card) will need to be individually provided for each of the applications. We recommend the use of a credit / debit card (the following cards are accepted; Switch / Maestro, Delta, Solo, Visa or MasterCard.)
A number of completed applications can then be batched up together subject to a maximum of 50 per batch. The batch size is for ease of handling, physically and for processing. Each application must be individually sealed in the envelopes provided to avoid loss or mixing of documents. The batch can then be sent to our document handling centre. We recommend Datapost or a courier service that requires delivery confirmation.
Step 4 – Application Processing
On receiving the completed applications they will be processed individually in line with our normal process. From this point on, all contact by the SIA will be with the individual applicant.
TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN THE BULK PROCESS OR FOR ANY RELATED QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT: bulkapplications@the-sia.org.uk
The information needed to register your interest in the bulk process is:
- Company Name & Address
- Contact person(s)
- Contact details – telephone number, e-mail etc
- An indication of numbers of employees to be licensed.