The Private Security Industry Act 2001
Security Industry Authority

Are investigators licensed?

There is currently no requirement for a private investigator to hold a licence.

Currently some of the activities undertaken by private investigators may be indirectly regulated through other means. For example, depending on the activities undertaken, investigators may require to be registered under the Data Protection Act, and may require a Consumer Credit Licence.

Private Security Industry Act 2001

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended) allows for licensing of private investigators and precognition agents.

Precognition agents interview witnesses for the purposes of, or in anticipation of, criminal or civil proceeding in Scotland. Proposals for the licensing of precognition agents are being considered in parallel with the development of licensing for private investigators. This is because of a similarity in the activities undertaken by both groups.

The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry.

The SIA are currently developing the approach to licensing Private Investigators. The approach will be based on the requirements of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 and will take into account the findings of consultation.

According to the Act private investigators will need an SIA licence if they are involved in any surveillance, inquiries or investigations that are carried out for the purposes of obtaining information about a particular person or about the activities or whereabouts of a particular person; or if they are involved in obtaining information about the circumstances in which, or means by which, property has been lost or damaged.

Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment

1 August 2007: The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for licensing private investigation and precognition agents was approved by the Home Office and was published.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is an important exercise that helps determine the most appropriate way to implement regulation. An RIA is designed to assess the costs and benefits of new proposals for addressing regulation issues and facilitates the development of creative, flexible and informed policies.

This consultation document sets out the options for the future regulation of the activities of private investigation and precognition agents. The partial RIA illustrates the need for licensing on the basis of the potential harms posed by these activities. It then shows different options for regulation of one or both sectors to address these harms. These range from doing nothing and allowing one or both sectors to continue to self regulate, to implementing a licensing scheme with core competency requirements attached. The partial RIA also sets out the likely cost and benefits of the options.

Licencing in 2008

7 May 2008 the SIA announced that there will be licensing of investigators, and there will be a competence criteria. They have not issued any further information on the criteria, or the implementation date.

2 September 2008 the SIA published an Interim Regulatory Impact Assessment which confirmed that there will be licensing and a competency qualification. It is expected that an order will be laid before parliament April 2009, and licencing will be introduced 18-24 months later.