To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role her Department has in determining the fees charged by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) for licences; what plans she has to meet SIA representatives to discuss licence fees; and what assessment she has made of the effects of SIA licence fees on the security industry. (203578)

The Secretary of State, by using section 8(7) of the Private Security Industry Act 2001, sets the fee to be paid on application for an SIA licence. The fee is set by means of a statutory instrument made by negative resolution procedure. The current fee of £245 has been in place since 6 April 2007 and was set under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (Licences) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/810).

The SIA is required to be self-funding. The fee is not set to make a profit. Home Office officials are regularly in touch with the SIA to discuss a range of financial matters including the licence fee.

Consideration of the impact of SIA licence fees on the security industry was contained in a regulatory impact assessment published in January 2007 in connection with an increase in the fee from £190 to £245 (Updated Regulatory Impact Assessment to Reflect New Licence Application Fee and Charges published in January 2007 and updated in March 2007 http://www.the-sia.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8179D6CO-8B48-47CA-937D-DFB6A5COFF01/0/sia_licence_fee_ria.pdf).