Action on security cowboys

New laws to tighten up private security businesses are to be introduced after charges that the industry employs murderers, rapists and burglars.

The move, to be announced by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, on Tuesday, will mark a big change for the industry which is currently free to employ anyone as security guards. Speaking to the industry's trade association, he will stress the Government's alarm at abuses in a sector which has experienced rapid expansion.

The private security industry now employs more people than the police, but at present there is no obligation to check for criminal records. Ministers also acknowledge the existence of cowboy operators, who often have criminal records themselves, and set up rogue companies.

Legislation will follow detailed consultation. One possibility is a national register for security guards or an agency to vet appointments.

During a previous nine-month-long inquiry, the home affairs select committee heard evidence about firms employing convicted killers, rapists and burglars, and using their operations as a front for protection rackets. In 1995 police estimated that about 2,600 crimes a year were committed by security guards. Then the unregulated industry employed more than 160,000 people.

The committee called for a government agency to be set up to vet and license guards and their companies, as well as laying down minimum training standards, but the Tories failed to act on the recommendations.