It has been warned that lives could be at risk as UK nightclubs struggle to find bouncers amid staff shortages.
Bosses at the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and UK Door Security Association said that 75% of members surveyed – including nightclubs, bars and pubs – felt that security staff shortages were impacting on their ability to protect the public. Meanwhile, around 60% of businesses felt this was impacting on public confidence to go on nights out.
WalesOnline reports that the trade groups believe it essential that the government intervenes to help resolve the crisis. Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the NTIA, said: “We are simply running out of time. The sector has been raising the alarm about security resource concerns for the last few years and we are only now slowly starting to engage with the Government on this crisis.
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“The summer is approaching very quickly, and we need a government intervention to remedy the situation before we are potentially subject to another tragedy where lives are lost, and we are left to take action retrospectively.”
The figures come against a backdrop of an increased focus on the safety of women at night following anti-spiking campaigns and the recent recommendations by the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry into Spiking. The Government is also expected to place a duty on businesses to protect the public from terrorist threats following recommendations from the Manchester Arena inquiry, the NTIA said.
There was also a stern warning from 77% of businesses who thought the situation may deteriorate further as the most experienced security staff were diverted towards other roles or festivals over the summer. Bosses said the Government needed to act now before staff resources potentially weakened as a result.
Mr Kill added: “The current Private Security Act is not fit for purpose, the regulator is struggling to control the market without the relevant tools and we are about to embark on one of the busiest event seasons for the last decade following on from the pandemic.
“Government needs to act – and act fast.”
