UK Act of Parliament 2001 United Kingdom

Private Security Industry Act 2001

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At a glance

Enforced by

SIA

What's here

15 compliance obligations, 16 practical guides across 3 topics · 5 journeys · 2 statutory instruments

Penalty landscape

4 of 15 obligations carry imprisonment (6 months). 5 carry different penalties and 6 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Who this Act binds

Business-side actors with duties under this Act, ranked by how often they appear.

  • Any Person 8
  • Director or Officer 1

Plus 6 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.

Step-by-step journeys using this legislation

Walkthroughs that take you from a real business situation to compliance.

Relevant guidance

Practical guides for businesses affected by this Act, ordered by how closely they engage with it.

Direct — cites this Act

11 guides

Supporting — topic alignment

3 guides

Mentioned in related content

2 guides
View all 16 guides →

Other Acts binding the same actors

For each actor bound by this Act, the other UK Acts that bind them most often. Useful for understanding the full compliance landscape facing each role.

Any Person also bound by 749 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Directors and Officers also bound by 224 other Acts (top 5 shown)

What this Act requires

Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.

Schedules

Browse 2 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
s.007

Licensing criteria

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • SIA must publish and maintain licensing criteria Statutory regulator
s.009

Licence conditions

6 months imprisonment
  • Fail to comply with private security licence conditions Any Person
s.012

Register of licences

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • SIA must maintain a public register of all licensed security operatives Statutory regulator
s.014

Register of approved contractors

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • SIA must maintain a public register of approved security contractors Statutory regulator
s.022

False information

6 months imprisonment
  • Provide false information to the Security Industry Authority Any Person
Browse 12 other sections — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.002

Authority to be treated as cross-border public authority etc. for certain purposes

Read the full Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance

Authoritative sources published by regulators or government explaining this legislation.

Enforcement and responsible bodies

The regulators that administer or enforce this legislation.

SIA

Security Industry Authority

Regulates the private security industry in the UK. Issues licences for security guards, door supervisors, CCTV operators, close protection operatives, and other …

Connected legislation

2 statutory instruments

These instruments amend, apply, or refer to this Act. They may not all create direct business obligations.

Explore more

Browse legislation

Find other UK business legislation with related guidance.

Regulators

Learn more about the bodies that enforce this legislation.