The Security Industry Authority has said a statutory instrument laid before Parliament on 1 May 2026 would give it prescribed person status from 2 June 2026, subject to parliamentary scrutiny. This is a narrow but important change to the whistleblowing route for a regulated sector: it would allow workers to take concerns about unlawful activity in the private security industry directly to the sector regulator with the prospect of statutory protection. (gov.uk)
Under Department for Business and Trade guidance, a worker in Great Britain is protected when making a protected disclosure if the concern is raised in the public interest, relates to one of the statutory categories of wrongdoing, and is reported through an authorised channel. The same guidance states that disclosures to a prescribed person can qualify where the worker reasonably believes the matter falls within that body’s remit and the information disclosed is substantially true. (gov.uk)
The legal route sits in section 43F of the Employment Rights Act 1996, inserted by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, with the list of prescribed bodies maintained through statutory order. That background matters because the SIA is not being given a general power to hear employment grievances; it is being added to an existing whistleblowing mechanism for disclosures that match its regulatory remit. (legislation.gov.uk)
For workers and firms in the sector, the practical effect is a clearer external reporting route. A worker who believes unlawful conduct is taking place would no longer need to rely only on internal escalation or, in more difficult cases, on wider disclosures that receive protection only under stricter conditions; GOV.UK guidance makes clear that disclosures to third parties such as the media are protected only in limited circumstances. (gov.uk)
None of this removes the statutory tests. Department for Business and Trade guidance makes clear that the worker must still have a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the public interest and that it points to relevant wrongdoing, while questions about whether a disclosure is legally protected can ultimately fall to an employment tribunal or court. Prescribed person status changes the route for disclosure, not the threshold that must be met. (gov.uk)
The change also carries process consequences for the regulator. Department for Business and Trade guidance says prescribed persons may use disclosures in carrying out investigatory or regulatory functions and that most must publish annual reports on the number of disclosures received and the action taken. Separate parliamentary material describes the SIA as the body that operates the private security regulatory regime under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, so the whistleblowing channel would sit alongside an established enforcement structure rather than outside it. (gov.uk)
The SIA has said further detailed guidance will be published when the instrument is commenced. For firms in scope, that creates a short implementation window between the statement on 1 May 2026 and the planned start date of 2 June 2026: whistleblowing policies, escalation routes and staff communications may need revision so that workers understand when a concern can be taken to the SIA and what legal tests still apply. (gov.uk)