Vigilance can reveal that the Home Office has begun the search for the next Chair of the Security Industry Authority ( SIA), one non-executive Board member, and one non-executive Board member for Scotland.
A source at the SIA said the SIA Chair would work closely with other Board members and the Chief Executive to provide overall strategic leadership of the Security Industry Authority, adding as the SIA moves towards the introduction of a new regime for business regulation, the Chair would work strategically to lead the Board in delivering effective transition and change.
The source revealed the Chair would form strong working relationships with the Chief Executive, SIA Staff, the private security industry, enforcement partners, and other stakeholders, to promote effective regulation and ensuring public safety.
They will ensure that the Board fulfils its responsibilities for the governance of the SIA and that staff maintain their focus on delivering change and the overall aims of the SIA as established by the Board and Ministers.
In another development the SIA has signed a five year, £13 million contract with Tata Consultancy Services Limited.
Following the completion of a tendering process, TCS were assessed to be the most competitive based on the pre-defined evaluation criteria.
The contract is for new systems to support the delivery of the SIA's future licensing, approval and compliance operations. The new services are planned to commence at the end of June 2014.
SIA Director of Service Delivery Stephen McCormick said: "We are pleased to have agreed and signed a contract with TCS. The new services that TCS will provide will streamline our processes, making them simpler to use, and will encourage industry self-service."
Also, the SIA hasthus far issued its one millionth licence since the first two were issued in Portsmouth in April 2004.
An application for a Security Guard licence through the SIA's e-Renewals service was accepted and took the overall licence count to one million.
The granting of the licence comes the same week as the SIA launched its new licence application service through the Post Office, which makes it quicker and cheaper for people to get licensed.
Bill Butler SIA Chief Executive said: "This is a great achievement for the SIA and the private security industry as a whole. We've seen the industry grow in many ways since regulation began and we hope that with our new licence application process with the Post Office, we will be issuing more licences."