Dismay at security industry charge

March 27, 2007: The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has responded with "dismay" to a response from the Scottish Executive justifying a 30% increase in the fees to be charged by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) in Scotland, despite the scheme not being introduced until November.

The SBPA wrote several weeks ago to the Scottish Executive's Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson MSP, expressing concerns about plans to increase the SIA's fees in Scotland, despite poor performance by the organisation in hitting its revenue targets.

In reply, the Scottish Executive says the SIA "is required to be self-funding through its revenue-raising activities, primarily licensing. The fee is, therefore, set at a level to reflect the full cost of the application process, compliance and investigation activities, as well as the direct running costs of the authority.

"The increased fee takes into account inflation over the last three years and the next two years, along with the latest estimates of the SIA's expenditure and the licensable population. In future, the fee will be reviewed annually to ensure that the SIA is able to move forward on a self-funding basis."

SBPA chief executive Patrick Browne said: "The reply from the Scottish Executive appears to wash its hands of the SIA fee increase in Scotland and is unwilling or unable to offer any clarity about why the licensed industry in Scotland should be liable for a very steep increase in the SIA charges before the SIA regime has even been introduced.

"I hope this isn't the first sign that the industry in Scotland will experience some of the problems in having the SIA introduced north of the border that the industry experienced in the rest of the UK."