The impact of the Private Security Industry Act 2001

In the United Kingdom (UK), private security contractors are taking on increasingly prominent roles, their market failures are becoming ever more controversial, and the public regulator responsible for controlling their activities – the Security Industry Authority (SIA) – is undergoing major restructuring. Now is therefore a good time to reflect on the successes, failures and prospects of UK security regulation. With this in mind, the article advances an up-to-date and comprehensive evaluation of the SIA's regulatory practices. Its headline findings are twofold. First, the picture is mixed: the SIA has succeeded in meeting its two core regulatory objectives – to reduce criminality and to raise standards – but only to a degree. Second, context matters: in order to understand SIA's performance, it is necessary to interpret its activities within the broader UK regulatory environment, in particular, the Better Regulation agenda.