LESSONS LEARNT FROM ILEGAL WORKER CONTROVERSY

As 7000 Security Industry Authority licences are revoked, the British Security Industry Association confirms that lessons have been learnt from the illegal worker controversy that has dogged the security industry over the past few months. BSIA Chief Executive, David Dickinson, comments: "Since the incidence of illegal working in the industry was revealed, our members have been determined to tackle the problem. By working closely with the regulator and the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) and by exchanging best practice, we have made significant strides in eliminating illegal working and the revocation of licences finalises this process." "BSIA members have been particularly concerned by the prevalence of high quality forged documents in use by individuals and will continue to work with the BIA to ensure that they are equipped with the tools to identify them in future." "It should be noted however that the number of licences revoked by the SIA does not automatically mean that there were exactly that number of illegal workers employed within the industry. We believe that a significant number of licence holders now face the prospect of having their licences revoked, whilst still having the right to work. In short, the failure of an individual to demonstrate their right to work or to respond to a letter sent to them by the SIA for whatever reason – be it failure to inform the SIA of a change of address or complacency – will mean that their licence may have been consequently revoked. Employers have not been in any position to influence or affect this process, because they are outside the communication process between the SIA and the licence holder. Consequently, we may never know the final number of illegal workers that have been employed within the industry."