Door security staff shortages in the night time economy are becoming critical, says Michael Kill, CEO of the trade body the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). He said that the association carried out a survey a few months ago which found that security resource in the sector was only at 70 per cent, ‘and I am afraid that the situation has only deteriorated further’.
He said: “Whether it is through acting as a first line of defence against a terrorist attack, or intervening to break up violent incidents, licensed security staff are fundamental to public safety. The current shortages are beginning to put the public in real jeopardy.”
“Like in other sectors currently seeing shortages, this is a long term issue and decline in security resources can be tracked back at least three years, but this has been hugely exacerbated by the pandemic with many licensed staff leaving the sector when the bars and clubs closed and now choosing not to return. Brexit hasn’t helped either, but it is far from the only factor at play here.
“There are steps the Government can take to ease the problem, whether that be funding training initiatives, streamlining new training requirements, or tackling shortages through legislation – and I would also like to see them revisit the issue of temporary visas to assuage the crisis. Government must come to the table and look at these solutions we are putting forward as sector – this is a serious problem, which, if left alone, may lead to a tragedy.”
Background
The shortage of staff – let alone trained and qualified staff – and the suggested remedies are echoed across the hospitality sector, and services more generally, from pig slaughterhouse butchers to heavy goods vehicle and petrol tanker drivers. In an interview in the September print edition of Professional Security magazine, Steve McCormick, director of licensing and standards at the regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA) commented on industry calls and complaints – appeals for unbadged stewards to be allowed to do door work, to make up for a lack of door staff for hire; and grumbles about staff being ‘poached’ off doors and offered ‘cash in hand’.
As Steve began by saying, the whole economy is struggling to re-populate its workforce; and the Authority points to its licensing figures, that more people hold a door badge than ever. The SIA month on month was seeing 10 per cent more applications for door licences than it would expect, at pre-pandemic levels. However, holding a door badge does not mean that door staff are doing door work – with the door badge they are able to do non-door contract guarding work, such as at a quarantine hotel. Or, door staff have chosen to leave the sector sector altogether and taken up, say, warehouse work, with less occupational violence.
