The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has published the first edition of a new quarterly compliance and enforcement report. It covers April to June 2026 and shows the regulator revoked 1,553 licences, refused 475 and suspended 378 in those three months. The SIA says it will update the report every three months.
What the report shows
The SIA says: "As of September 2026, there are more than 447,500 licence holders in the UK." For 1 April to 30 June 2026, it reports:
Licences: 475 refused, 378 suspended and 1,553 revoked. The full-year figures for April 2025 to March 2026 were 1,710 refused, 2,164 suspended and 8,286 revoked.
Intelligence: 2,578 intelligence reports received, of which around 60% were directly relevant and detailed enough to act on, and 997 were substantiated and subject to further regulatory action. The SIA received 12 whistleblowing reports. It has been a prescribed body for whistleblowing since 2 June 2026.
Casework: 230 intervention cases opened.
Inspections: 1,054 licence inspections (5,068 in the previous full year) and 63 unannounced visits to training centres (134 in the previous full year). The SIA also recorded 80 improvement requirements and 11 restrictions on learner registrations; the SIA did not record either figure last year. The SIA names Operation RESOLUTE as its response to the risk of serious malpractice and qualification fraud in licence-linked qualifications.
Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS): 9 approvals withdrawn (27 in the previous full year).
Prosecutions: 5 people and businesses convicted (15 in the previous full year).
The SIA notes that some regulatory action is subject to confidential or legal process and is not included. One quarter set against a full year is not a trend, and the report does not break down revocations by reason.
What changed
The quarterly report replaces two older pages. The SIA's change note on its enforcement guidance, dated 8 October, says it removed its "SIA enforcement report" and "SIA prosecutions" pages and replaced them with the new quarterly report.
What it means for the industry
For licence holders, the report sets out why licences are revoked, including losing the right to work in the UK, committing a serious criminal offence, and breaching the licence criteria or licence conditions. Breaching a licence condition is a criminal offence under section 9 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001, with a maximum penalty of 6 months' imprisonment, a fine, or both. On suspension, the SIA says: "A suspension takes immediate effect." A suspended licence holder cannot legally work in any licensable sector. Its listed reasons for suspension include concerns about the validity or legitimacy of qualifications.
For employers and ACS firms, revocations at this rate mean a licence that was valid at onboarding may not be valid today. Check the licence status of your own staff and of every subcontractor regularly, not only at the start of a contract. Firms in the ACS should note that 9 approvals were withdrawn in one quarter.
For anyone who sees wrongdoing, a worker who reports suspected wrongdoing to the SIA can, in certain circumstances, now be legally protected as a whistleblower.
