SNP conference: Warning over axing security quango

PLANS to scrap the body tasked with keeping criminals out of the security industry have been branded "very dangerous" at the SNP annual conference.

It follows concerns voiced by Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Stephen House that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) was set to go in a cost-cutting drive to reduce the number of quangos.

Renfrewshire Council leader Derek Mackay yesterday said the body had a "very serious role" in tackling organised crime and should not be scrapped.

"It is the wrong target and it is very dangerous for the people of Scotland," he said. "They assess whether our security guards and their companies are fit and proper people.

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"I say to the UK government: you are not fit and proper people if you abolish this particular organisation."

Mackay said it was worth employing "a few extra lawyers and accountants" to crack down on organised crime.

He said: "If we turn back the clock ten years - before this legislation was introduced - there were murders, there was violence, there were development sites in flames as the bouncers and security guards fought with each other for their patch."