Security for State buildings

Of late, the national media has been fed a juicy diet of stories suggesting that security at some of our State buildings isn’t all that it might be. Who could forget the sight of ‘Batman’ (in reality a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner) scaling the fences and facades of Buckingham Palace last September? Nothing if not a wake-up call for the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Protection Squad.

Barely a month later, pro-hunt supporters stormed the Chamber of the House of Commons during a Parliamentary debate. A horror scenario for the Serjeant-at-Arms.

These breaches are symptomatic of the problems arising from a lack of any clear-cut security accountabilities at these buildings. A lack of accountability that demands to be addressed immediately. In light of this, it’s a heartening development that the Home Secretary has been reported as being in favour of appointing a new director of security for the Palace of Westminster. It’s to be hoped that any solution which emerges takes into account the need to adapt to current risks, and is not weakened by the tendency to stick to tradition and ‘how things have always been’.

At present, the aforementioned Serjeant-at-Arms and Black Rod share responsibility for Parliamentary security, which is clearly in urgent need of review. The Serjeant-at-Arms, whose office dates back to 1415, is in charge of day-to-day security within the House of Commons. Along with his staff of ushers and doorkeepers, he’s responsible for maintaining order in the Commons Chamber, galleries, Committee Rooms and precincts, as well as the control of access to them. Metropolitan Police officers currently act under his authority, and cannot enter the Chamber without his express permission and direction.

Black Rod holds a similar responsibility for security within the House of Lords.

Under the current system, however, it’s evident that the fundamental principles of good security management – a clear reporting line, proper accountability and single responsibility – are far from being achieved.

A diverse protection regime

In any environment in which so many different groups are involved in the protection regime, priorities will inevitably differ from one to the other. The security services’ focus will naturally fall on the prevention of terrorist activity. The police will be targeting crime, while the various equipment and services suppliers involved will primarily be thinking about solutions that relate to their own products or services.

Security management in the modern era entails the identification of all the risks, as well as the likelihood and potential impact of these threats. For example, a terrorist attack may be most worrying in terms of its possible impact, but the probability of some kind of non-violent demonstration may be much greater. Having identified all of the possible or potential threats, the professional security practitioner will then put comprehensive measures in place to counter them.

Such an approach would appear to suggest that the argument for having a single director of security overseeing the whole process is indeed a compelling one. However, it isn’t enough to merely appoint an individual with sole responsibility for security. He or she must also possess the right combination of qualities for the job.

Typically, successful candidates for Government-related security posts have moved across from the Armed Services or the police. That said, these backgrounds may not of themselves provide candidates with the necessary blend of experience, training and personal qualities needed to undertake a complex, modern security management role.

In addition, it’s hugely important to make such positions attractive to the right calibre of individual. While blue chip organisations are increasingly realising the importance of paying competitive salaries to their security advisors, security posts associated with the public sector invariably carry a remuneration package that doesn’t appear to recognise the expertise, responsibilities and skills required to carry out the role in an effective manner.

Aside from providing professionalism in the management of security, ensuring that the various security-related functions are undertaken by appropriate categories of personnel is also a key issue for the UK’s Parliamentary buildings (not to mention other sites including the Royal residences, which may be at particular risk).

At the Palace of Westminster, it would certainly be worth assessing whether or not staff responsibilities are distributed in a sensible manner. This is in light of the somewhat bewildering array of individuals currently involved in security activities, including the staff members working for the Serjeant-at-Arms and Black Rod, police officers and police-controlled security officers.

One possible solution might be to appoint a security co-ordinator with overall responsibility for Parliament and the Royal residences, and then recruit manpower specifically for the various tasks that need to be undertaken.

Using the Defence model

While there are undoubtedly some posts which must be filled by police officers, others could well be undertaken by properly trained security personnel in the same way that the Ministry of Defence runs its operations (whereby the Ministry of Defence Guard Service works under the same command and control as the Ministry of Defence Police).

It’s also clear that both Parliament and the Royal residences need the protection of law to obviate the somewhat nonsensical situation wherein intruders must be charged under 18th Century legislation, with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace rather than any specific criminal offence. Again, there’s an appropriate model in the defence establishment.

It seems – at least to some observers – that it wouldn’t be difficult to schedule such properties as ‘Prohibited Places’, and provide a power of arrest for any duly appointed person acting in support of the police. If other models are needed they can be found in the powers delegated to the new Civil Nuclear Police Force or to the British Transport Police.