Guidance

Learn why we would revoke or suspend your licence

Learn more about the circumstances that can lead to a licence holder losing their licence, either permanently or temporarily.

• From: Security Industry Authority
• Published: 19 October 2020
• Last updated: 15 March 2023 — See all updates

We can revoke (take away) your licence if you no longer meet our licensing criteria. An example of when we might do this is if you are convicted of a relevant criminal offence.

We can also suspend your licence if we believe that you are a threat to public safety or that it is in the public interest to do so. An example of when we might do this is if you are under police investigation for a serious offence.

If we intend to revoke or suspend your licence we will write to you to tell you why. Our letter will also tell you how to appeal against our decision.

When we revoke your licence

We will revoke (take away) your licence if:

• you applied for it using fraudulent documents and/or using a fraudulent identity
• you allow someone else to use your licence to engage in licensable conduct
• you do not have the qualifications that you claimed to have on your application
• you receive a sentence or disposal for a relevant offence and the date your sentence restrictions end means that you fall into the ‘Automatic Refusal’ category of our licence criteria
• you do not have the right to work in the UK (unless you are a director of a UK-registered company)

We may also revoke your licence if:

• you breach our licence criteria (as set out in Get Licensed)
• you break any of the licence conditions - this includes any additional conditions that we have placed on your licence
• you do not do the training that we ask you to do
• you receive a sentence or disposal for a relevant offence and the date your sentence restrictions end means that you fall into the ‘Consider Additional Factors’ category of our licence criteria
• we decide that you are not a fit and proper person to hold a licence

We will write to you before we revoke your licence, telling you what we intend to do and why.

We will also tell you what you can do that might stop us from revoking your licence. This does not replace your right of appeal through the courts. It is an additional route of appeal that we offer so that you can appeal in a way that does not incur court costs.

If you respond to our letter we will take what you tell us into consideration. We may still revoke your licence.

If you do not respond to our letter we will revoke your licence automatically after 21 days.

Once we revoke your licence we cannot change our decision unless it is for one of the following reasons:

• our decision is found to have been based on information that is factually incorrect
• we are instructed to do so by the courts as the result of a legal appeal

You can appeal our decision to revoke your licence in a Magistrates’ or Sheriff Court. You must do so within 21 days of the revocation coming into effect.

Your licence remains ‘live’ during a court appeal. This means that you can still work during your appeal, unless we have also suspended your licence.

When we suspend your licence

We can suspend your licence for one or both of the following reasons:

• we believe that you may be a threat to public safety
• we believe that it is in the public interest to do so

For example, we will suspend your licence if:

• you have been charged with a serious relevant offence
• the police or another public body are investigating you for a serious relevant offence

Examples of what we mean by “serious relevant offence” are: terrorism, murder, manslaughter, rape, assault occasioning bodily harm (actual or grievous), battery, kidnapping, possession of indecent photographs of children, restriction of production and supply of controlled drugs.

If we suspend your licence, the suspension comes into effect immediately. You cannot legally undertake licensable activity while your licence is suspended – this includes during an appeal.

We will write to you when we suspend your licence, telling you what we have done and why.

You can appeal our decision to suspend your licence in a Magistrates’ or Sheriff Court. You must do so within 21 days of the suspension coming into effect. You can also tell us about any factual errors that may have affected our decision.

A licence suspension is not a punishment: it is a temporary measure that gives us time to look into your case and/or await the outcome of investigations being carried out by the police or other public bodies.

We can maintain the suspension until we are in a position to make one of the following decisions:

• lift the suspension and reinstate your licence
• require you to take some form of remedial action before we will lift the suspension (for example, we may require you to take additional training)
• take steps to revoke your licence

If you have been charged with a relevant offence

We will usually suspend your licence if you have been charged with a relevant offence. We may lift the suspension if you are found not guilty or the charges are dropped. Alternatively, we can maintain the suspension until we have all of the information we require to make a licensing decision. Our legal power to do this is explained in Get Licensed).

Published 19 October 2020
Last updated 15 March 2023 + show all updates

1. 15 March 2023

   Updated the links to Get Licensed so that they point to the most up-to-date version of the document.

2. 26 January 2021

   Updated the 'When we revoke your licence' section to: clarify how we will consider new criminality on the licence holder's record; clarify that "licence conditions" includes any additional conditions we have placed on the licence; make explicit that a licence may be revoked if the licence holder breaches our licence criteria. Updated the 'When we suspend your licence' section to include reference to open public investigations. Published a new version of the 'Get Licensed' document.

3. 19 October 2020

   First published.