Skills for Security

Tuesday 18 October 2005 will be recorded as a pivotal date in the history of private sector security provision. Unbeknown to the 300-plus delegates gathered together at The Quadrangle Conference Centre in Oxford United FC’s Kassam Stadium, this was to be the last ever Security Industry Training Organisation (SITO) National Conference.

Far from being a sad occasion, however, there was an expectant buzz in the air engendered by the news that SITO is to be divested from the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) such that its constituents can play the fullest part at the heart of security’s all-new skills body.

The establishment of Skills for Security follows hot-on-the-heels of a two-year research and consultation project conducted under the auspices of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and aimed at uncovering the future skills needs of the security sector as a whole. Aside from SITO, the BSIA and the SIA, also involved in the lengthy discussions leading to the formation of the new body were the Joint Security Industry Council, The Security Institute, the UK Chapter of ASIS International, the Sector Skills Development Agency, the UK regulatory authorities for qualifications, awarding bodies and a number of major employers and stakeholders.

In the longer term, the overriding objective is to improve skills within the private sector, raise performance benchmarks and to provide education and training solutions accessible to all. With this in mind, the structure of the new organisation – which officially comes into being on 1 January next year – is focused on delivering training and related services that are employer-driven. Music to the ears of many client organisations, one suspects.

On another level, Skills for Security is also tasked with influencing Government policy in relation to the educational needs of the sector, as well as identifying and reducing skills gaps and shortages.

Transforming the industry

Before delving too deeply into this new era, it was hugely important for SITO’s managing director Stefan Hay to look back on what has been another 12 months of massive achievement at Security House.

In delivering the 15th and final SITO Annual Report as part of the National Conference – run this year under the wholly appropriate banner of ‘Raising Standards, Transforming Industry’ – Hay was quick to remind us all of the groundwork that has laid the foundations upon which Skills for Security is being built.

SITO has of course evolved from serving as the BSIA’s Training Department to first become one of the inaugural Industry Training Organisations, and thereafter a National Training Organisations (NTO). When all NTOs were de-recognised, SITO then formed the interim skills body. That ensured the security industry did not lose momentum during what was one of the most turbulent periods in its history.

At a strategic level, the past 12 months has witnessed SITO joining forces with the SIA and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to work alongside a Sector Employers’ Forum in developing the Sector Qualifications Strategy for the security industry. A central task of considerable magnitude. The last meeting, held in July, proved hugely productive, with the Forum agreeing that the Strategy must:

• create a culture of continuous education in the industry that clearly links qualifications and career progression;
• identify and promote transferable skills linking roles within the industry (and include these skills in relevant qualifications);
• increase the integration of vocational qualifications and learning provision within Higher Education;
• use qualifications and learning as a means of ‘professionalising’ the image of the industry, and to attract new people to it;
• develop and recognise flexible qualifications and learning to take account of sector requirements on part-time working and assessment;
• be used to influence the decisions of key policy makers and other central stakeholders across the security sector;
• develop design parameters to ensure that training provision leads to recognised qualifications.

“During the forthcoming months,” opined Hay, “SITO, the SIA and the QCA will be working together to instigate a more cohesive development schedule which, in turn, will assist the emerging skills body with its own Strategic Plan. What has become apparent in the work undertaken to date is that the security industry is ready for – and is embracing – change.” That is extremely good to hear.

Activity on the ground

Much to the obvious delight of its managing director, SITO’s National Training Programmes Team reported “an excellent year” for modern apprenticeships in security systems within the co-operative network. “There have been 100 new starts across the network,” eulogised Hay, “and we have a waiting list of potentials. Retention rates have improved, and are now running at an impressive 86%.”

During the year, the SITO Team successfully overcame significant funding problems with the London East Learning and Skills Council (LSC) involving amounts totalling £150,000. Indeed, Hay was quick to point out that SITO is now listed as one of the top performing providers with the very same LSC. He added: “This led to us gaining full profile funding for the academic year 2005-2006, but we are not resting on our laurels. The Team is following up enquiries on two new co-operatives and is also working with Quickstep, an online portfolio system designed to develop tailored training solutions.”

In the security guarding sector, the National Training Programmes Team has pursued LSC employer training programme funding for SMEs while continuing to deliver in London East, Birmingham, Solihull and in the Black Country. A further contract has been gained in North Yorkshire and Humberside, while SITO is also seeking further opportunities in South Yorkshire. “Additionally, more than £90,000 has been made available via SITO brokerage to the Cash-and-Valuables-in-Transit sector through our LSC-backed partnership with City College in Coventry, and close on £45,000 has been diverted to guarding contractors in Scotland by way of our partnership with Fife College and the Scottish FEFC,” continued Hay in a positive mood.

It’s no secret that licensing – in the short term, at least – will result in significant skills shortages across the guarding sector. That being the case, Hay and his highly dedicated staff have forged strong links with JobCentre Plus over the past 12 months and more “to ensure that employment advisors are fully aware of the diversity of opportunities available in the sector.”

SITO has also joined forces with recruitment specialist Kennedy Scott (an organisation striving to encourage and prepare unemployed people to re-enter the working world) on several notable initiatives. For example, SITO’s Customer Services Team assisted Kennedy Scott to secure financials from the European Social Fund to address the chronic shortage of women in the industry. The Support Services Team then supplied associate trainers who are now involved in a rolling programme to provide 300 qualified and licensed female security officers for employment by security companies servicing contracts in the Capital. Nothing short of a splendid achievement.

Working outside of the box

“Increasingly, organisations sitting outside of the private security industry, but with related security competency requirements, are also beginning to recognise the benefits of working with us,” continued Hay, whose organisation now accredits and certificates training programmes for the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police, the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, the Police National Search Centre, The Corporation of London, the Central Criminal Courts, the Defence Intelligence School and SQ13.

Importantly, a number of in-house security teams and facilities management companies that provide internal security services have also engaged with SITO on a voluntary basis over he past year in order to train and qualify their people to the new Level 2 requirements. This is excellent news, and proof-positive – if any were needed – of the tremendous respect SITO now commands thanks to Hay’s erudite, forward-thinking and inspirational leadership skills.

National Occupational Standards (NOS) development remains a key area of activity for SITO at the present time, as both the SIA and the industry at large recognise their full importance. Stressed Hay: “NOS have so far been approved for close protection, key holding and alarm response, and are pending for port security, investigation services and technical surveillance countermeasures.” In the meantime, additional training and qualification specifications have been developed for accredited persons deployed on Community Safety Accreditation Schemes as well as key holder and alarm response officers.

In Hay's eyes, all of the above achievements demonstrate that SITO is “a thriving, vibrant and responsive organisation.”

Dawning of a New Era

BSIA and SITO chief executive David Dickinson’s Opening Address then spelt out – in no uncertain terms – that although SITO is now a great success story, even more development is necessary. Where, though, does SITO fit in to the new Skills for Security body? Dickinson was quick to answer the salient question on everyone’s lips.

“Over the past three years or so, SITO has successfully reinvented itself as a more responsive, more effective and, most importantly of all, a more supportive organisation,” he said. “Wearing my BSIA Hat, I knew that it would be vital for all of the experience and knowledge held within the SITO Team to be put at the disposal of the new body. I also know it’s crucial that Skills for Security must not only be independent, but be seen to be so. That is why the Council of the BSIA has agreed to divest itself of SITO. We have provided start-up capital for the new body, that’s true, but let me emphasise one thing. The BSIA will have one seat on the Board of Skills for Security and one vote. We will happily co-operate and move forward alongside its other constituent member organisations.”

Dickinson unveiled plans for establishing a sectoral consultative committee structure of practitioners who are “deeply involved” in their specific sector, and who will be asked to take a detailed look at the skills requirements and/or shortages within their sector (and then make detailed recommendations – via a Stakeholder Committee – to the Board of Skills for Security).

In an impassioned delivery, Dickinson continued: “Suppliers of educational solutions such as the awarding bodies, higher education establishments and training providers will be represented by a separate Forum. The skills body will be highly reliant on the involvement and sectoral expertise available within these communities. It will welcome expressions of interest from the security industry at large and, indeed, the wider business community."

Visions of the future

Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington has accepted the post of chairman of Skills for Security, and his opening salvo left no-one in any doubt as to his beliefs. “The skills, knowledge and innovation of organisations offering services and products in the private security industry will be the most powerful driver of its economic prosperity. The determining factor for every industry sector has now, without a doubt, become the quality of people behind that innovation.”

Security Management Today is in total accord with this particular statement. It’s certainly right to say that never before has it been so imperative we ensure security staff are totally competent, fit for purpose, well-informed and well-equipped to carry out their duties. In Lord Stevens’ own words: “SITO has provided the industry with an island of stability amid the shifting sands of change, but we must now build upon that and embrace the future.” In parallel with this desire, he continued: “Skills for Security must be a dynamic, responsive and influential organisation.”

One major initiative to support these objectives is already underway. A project team consisting of SITO, SIA, LSC and QCA representatives is presently working with employers to design a new flexible vocational qualification for security operatives. One that will, in time, replace NVQs. “We anticipate that the piloting of this new approach will begin in the first quarter of 2006,” added Lord Stevens.

Exhibiting a good deal of foresight, the QCA has also agreed to fund a number of research projects early in the New Year, one of which will allow Skills for Security to establish the extent (and relevance) of training that does not currently lead to formal qualifications. “This is an extremely important area,” suggested Lord Stevens. “Good quality training is every bit as crucial to the industry as qualifications.” It is highly likely the findings of this particular project will also inform the development of a Professional Register of Trainers, a Course Accreditation Scheme and an Approved Training Provider (Company) Scheme. “Industry consultation has identified all of these as desirable outputs,” explained Lord Stevens, “so we are duty-bound to pursue them.”

The former Metropolitan Police Commissioner didn’t miss what turned into an ideal opportunity to reiterate earlier comments that Skills for Security will be motivated and driven by the needs of employers.

“To that end,” he stated, “a number of Sector Consultation Groups, a Sector Management Committee, an Awarding Body Forum and a Higher Education Forum will come into being to deliver a completely joined-up approach.”

For Lord Stevens, “1 January 2006 is the day when the private security industry takes its future into its own hands.”

A Commitment to Professionalism

Next to address the audience was Peter Hermitage who, as chairman of the SIA, delivered the Keynote Address under the heading: ‘A Commitment to Professionalism’.

Of late, there has been much talk of the need for professional approaches in the private security industry, but what exactly are we talking about? What is ‘professionalism’? What does the term stand for, and how does it manifest itself in the real world?

We most certainly need a professional model for the security sector. Indeed, this is something for which The Security Institute is striving on behalf of public and private sector managers alike.

It’s always helpful to begin with a definition, and Peter Hermitage had delved into the Oxford English Dictionary as a way of framing his discourse. “The traditional view of a profession,” recalled Hermitage, “is that of a vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced learning or science. For the National Board of Medical Examiners, professionalism is founded on knowledge and skills. From that hang several ‘essentials’… Honour and integrity, altruism, respect, responsibility and accountability, leadership, excellence and scholarship, compassion and a genuinely caring attitude.”

To many customers in this industry, the word ‘professionalism’ means the delivery of a quality security service by individuals exhibiting integrity and not a little skill, but at what point does that professionalism begin?

“Is a security officer a professional?” pondered Hermitage. “Where in the organisation does professionalism start? Indeed, where should it begin?”

Many feel that professionalism in any company will only arise if there is buy-in at the top. “We need more industry leaders who know what they are about, and where they are taking their organisation for the greater good of all,” said Hermitage. “The exploitation of knowledge and technology is crucial here, and will undoubtedly be of assistance when it comes to the development of new markets.”

The model for our industry

As you might expect, the SIA chairman’s model of a professional approach to be adopted by the security industry is also founded on knowledge and skills. In Hermitage’s eyes, security companies should be very clear on their skills requirements before they recruit and train. It is also important, he feels, to link training and development with the business objectives. “If not, it is money wasted.”

Good business practice is essential. Security companies should always be looking to solve the client’s problems, and pre-empt them wherever possible. “We need to ensure that security contracting becomes a sustainable business proposition that realises a realistic profit for service providers,” urged Hermitage. “One element of that centres on sound leadership and management skills. Those in positions of power in the contract fraternity must be open to new ideas.”

Ethical standards in business are paramount as far as Peter Hermitage is concerned. “The directors of security companies must deliver on what they promise,” he suggested, “commit to fairness in employment and create a valued, diverse workforce. What we mustn’t lose sight of, however, is the context of professionalism in relation to current trends across the industry” (including high staff turnover and security contract wins based on price, not quality).

So how do we change matters for the better? It is the industry’s poor public image that has weighed heavily on its collective shoulders for too long. There has been far too much finger-pointing as to who is responsible for that state of affairs. It is now high time that interested stakeholders determined to work as one in realigning the status quo for the good of all.

There’ll never be a better opportunity to do so, that’s for sure.