SIA gains prescribed person status for whistleblowers. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/greater-protection-for-whistleblowing-to-the-sia-now-in-place))

On 2 June 2026, the Security Industry Authority became a prescribed person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. In plain English, that means people working in private security now have a clearer protected route to tell the regulator about suspected wrongdoing, and they may have stronger legal cover if an employer punishes them for speaking up. GOV.UK says the change followed a Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament on 1 May 2026. (gov.uk) For readers outside the sector, this matters because private security staff are often the people who spot trouble first: unlicensed guards, fraud, unsafe conduct, criminal offences, or risks to the public. If those workers stay silent because they fear losing shifts or being pushed out, the wider public can lose too. (gov.uk)

A prescribed person is not just any outside body. The Department for Business and Trade says it is a regulator or authority officially named in law to receive protected disclosures about matters within its remit. For the SIA, the published prescribed-person list says that remit covers offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, whether people or firms are fit and proper to hold an SIA licence or approval, and conduct that may undermine regulation of the sector. (gov.uk) **What this means:** if you work in the industry, you do not have to choose only between staying quiet and telling your employer. Where the concern falls within the SIA’s remit, the law now recognises the regulator as a proper channel too. (gov.uk)

Not every workplace problem is whistleblowing. The SIA says a whistleblower is a worker reporting certain types of wrongdoing in the public interest and in good faith, while the government’s wider guidance says the report must concern a protected category of wrongdoing and be made through the right channel. A row about rota patterns or pay on its own is usually a grievance, not whistleblowing. (gov.uk) In this sector, examples the SIA itself gives include unlicensed security, companies falsely claiming approval, theft, training malpractice, and employers paying below the National Minimum Wage. The reporting form also highlights excessive force, predatory behaviour and hate crime offences as issues the SIA wants to hear about. (gov.uk)

The new arrangement does not force people to put their name on the line in one fixed way. SIA guidance says workers can report openly, confidentially, or anonymously. Open reporting may make it easier to show an employment tribunal that later mistreatment happened because of the disclosure, while confidential or anonymous reporting may feel safer at the start but can make follow-up and proof harder if an employer guesses who spoke up. (gov.uk) That is worth pausing on because legal protection on paper and real-world confidence are not always the same thing. The SIA says it will try to protect identities where it can, but it also warns that some details may have to be disclosed during an investigation or criminal prosecution. (gov.uk)

The practical side matters as much as the legal wording. The SIA says it has redesigned its GOV.UK reporting form to support protected disclosures and other reports, and says the new form is meant to collect information that is more useful for investigations and criminal enforcement. Separate GOV.UK guidance says reports can lead to referrals to police, licence suspension or revocation, sanctions against approved contractors, inspections, or prosecutions. (gov.uk) **What this means for you:** a whistleblowing system only works if the route is easy to find, easy to understand and likely to lead somewhere. A confusing form can silence people just as effectively as an intimidating manager can. The SIA appears to be trying to remove that barrier. (gov.uk)

In the official announcement, SIA chief executive Michelle Russell said the regulator depends on people prepared to call out wrongdoing, and City Security Council founder David Ward welcomed the move as a way to give frontline staff a trusted route to raise concerns with the regulator. GOV.UK also says the SIA consulted Protect, the whistleblowing charity, on how to help whistleblowers feel confident in making disclosures. (gov.uk) That backing matters because culture can be the difference between a right that exists and a right people actually use. If employers want trust, they need more than posters about speaking up; they need fair investigations, protection from retaliation and a record of acting when concerns are raised. (gov.uk)

There is also a next chapter. The SIA says its prescribed-person status currently covers its role as regulator of the private security industry, and that whistleblowing under Martyn’s Law is planned to be added when that law is implemented, which the announcement says is expected in spring 2027. The SIA guidance also says it will publish annual reporting on protected disclosures and the action taken, without identifying whistleblowers. (gov.uk) So the big lesson here is straightforward. Workplace rights and public safety often depend on whether people can raise alarms without losing their livelihood. This change will not solve every problem in private security, but it gives workers a clearer, more official path to be heard. (gov.uk)