DISABILITY AWARENESS TRAINING FOR SECURITY STAFF

That this House is concerned by recent reports of discrimination by security staff, in particular door staff in clubs and bars, against people with disabilities; notes with concern the lack of focus on disability in the training specifications set out by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), which regulates the private security industry in the UK, as recently highlighted by the Disability News Service; further notes that there is no reference to disability or disabled people in the SIA's specifications for physical intervention skills or for communication skills and conflict management for door supervisors, and only one mention of people with a disability in the specialist module for door supervisors; believes that the training and policies of security staff must take account of the particular characteristics and needs of disabled people, and that failure to do so may result in unlawful discrimination as defined in the Equality Act 2010; and supports Enhance the UK's campaign for immediate steps to be taken to ensure that appropriate disability awareness training is given to all security and door staff.