Home Office regulations made on 23 April 2026 and laid before Parliament on 27 April 2026 are due to take effect on 1 June 2026 across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The instrument amends the 2007 licensing regulations and the 2007 Approved Contractor Scheme rules, changing both how multi-licence discounts are applied and what approved contractors pay each year for licensed staff. (changeflow.com) For the sector, this is a targeted regulatory adjustment rather than a wider redesign of SIA licensing. The structure of licensed activity stays in place, but the point at which fee relief is given will change for some applicants and the recurring per-head charge for approved contractors will rise. (changeflow.com)
The licensing amendment creates a clearer rule for bundled applications. Where an applicant submits a single application form for two or more licences, each additional licence after the first will attract a 50% discount, except where the additional licence relates to vehicle immobilisation. (changeflow.com) That matters because the SIA licenses several distinct activities, including door supervision, CCTV, security guarding, key holding and close protection. Workers and employers operating across more than one licensable activity now have a more direct route to securing multiple permissions through one submission, provided the applications are lodged together. Vehicle immobilisation remains outside the 50% rule, and in the current SIA regime that activity is confined to Northern Ireland. (gov.uk)
Fee context is important. The SIA confirmed that, from 1 April 2026, the temporary £20 rebate ended and the standard individual licence fee returned to the statutory £204. (gov.uk) On that basis, each qualifying additional licence submitted on the same form would cost £102 from 1 June 2026, while an excluded vehicle immobilisation licence would remain at the full £204. That is an inference from the 50% formula in the new regulations and the SIA's current licence fee. (changeflow.com)
The practical effect is administrative as much as financial. The amendment favours applicants who plan their licensing needs in advance and submit them together, rather than sequencing separate applications over time. That reading follows from the single-form condition in the amended regulation. (changeflow.com) For employers, the compliance point is straightforward. Firms that recruit into multi-activity roles, or move staff between guarding, CCTV and door supervision functions, may need to review onboarding and renewal processes before 1 June 2026 so that qualifying applications are consolidated where appropriate. (changeflow.com)
The second change is aimed at companies rather than individuals. The instrument raises the annual Approved Contractor Scheme fee from £15 to £25 for each person undertaking licensable conduct. The SIA describes the scheme as a voluntary quality assurance scheme for private security companies, and its current guidance still reflects the outgoing £15 rate ahead of the June commencement date. (changeflow.com) In cash terms, that is a £10 rise per licensable worker each year for firms in the scheme once the amendment starts. The impact will scale with workforce size, so larger contractors will see the clearest effect on recurring compliance costs. (changeflow.com)
Taken together, the measures pull in two directions. Individual applicants who need more than one licence may find the discount route easier to use from 1 June 2026, while approved contractors face a higher annual per-head charge. (changeflow.com) The immediate task for security businesses is preparation rather than interpretation. Applications received by the SIA on or after 1 June 2026 will fall within the revised discount arrangements, so firms with staff who need multiple licences should decide now whether those applications ought to be packaged together, and Approved Contractor Scheme members should budget for the higher annual fee from the same date. (changeflow.com)