To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications received by the Security Industry Authority are waiting to be processed; what the average waiting time is for processing such applications; what steps he has taken to reduce waiting times; when he expects the backlog of applications waiting to be processed to be cleared; and if he will make a statement. (101322)

Applications received are currently being immediately checked and entered onto the Security Industry Authority (SIA) processing system. At 14 November the SIA had 17,220 applications in the processing system.

Valid applications which are not subject to further inquiries about qualifications, identification or criminality are normally processed in approximately six weeks.

Under a contingency plan adopted by the SIA two extra processing centres were set up to clear the backlog of applications waiting to be logged onto the licensing system. There is currently no backlog in placing applications onto the SIA’s licensing system.

The SIA has now deployed extra staff to assist with those complex applications which require further checks.