So is it Fraud or sheer incompetence by Government Department?

Kia Ora,

Well in follow up to a recent post about the new security licensing regime here in New Zealand have noticed something else that are in the process of bringing to authorities attention.

Whilst everyone is heated up over the poor renewal process, overlooked has been the fees area.

Now the first part that appears could be fraudulent is the issue of transfer fees. Most would say but we have always had to pay transfer fees.

Yes there have always been transfer fees to transfer a COA(Certificate of Approval) from one license holder to another. Under the new regime though the COA belongs to the guard so therefore there is no one to transfer the COA too.

The other issue that appears to be fraud by double dipping is the fee licence holders are to pay for the number of COA's working for them.

It actually flies in the face of how security works in New Zealand especially in the crowd control area.

To have enough work people need to in the New Zealand Security industry work for several companies at the same time.

Now if you were licensed under the old system with a COA you needed to ask permission of the license holder to do so & in the crowd control area you didn't need to have a COA at all.

Crowd control has been until now a core group who have security as their livelihood & a lot of on call people for bigger events. When short it has been use recruitment agencies to supply what are effectively labourers, or groups such as martial arts clubs or sports clubs as way of fund raising. None of whom really know what they are doing in sometimes potentially quite dangerous situations.

Under the new system the guard holds the COA & therefore could be working (as I was in the early days with my own individual licence as opposed to a COA) as an employee for up to six companies. So when the Ministry of Justice wants a return of those working for a license holder the Ministry could be collecting the same fee six times over for one person. Effectively committing a form of fraud called double dipping.

Removal of the ability to work for several companies at a time would cause major issues as it would effectively mean many events would not be able to go ahead. New Zealand already operates in the security sphere well below par & this would just drive it down even further.

If they want revenue gathering ideas they are better to look at the training regime.

First point is get ETITO(better known as EIEIO because they are a joke) out of security industry involvement. They don't know anything about security or training.

Next remove the minimum four month course for funding requirements. Put in an effective system for recognition of prior learning &/or experience. That is much better than present system where those with less experience or training are often assessing those with more.

That would allow a three week base security course to be set up using military system of training (BHL/BHE) as it works for a practical industry. In fact I have seen it used in current system & those who come from courses using it are much higher in level of competency.

Following the three week basic course it would then be followed by the courses in areas you wish to work in. Some courses would only be one to two days.

Each new area can be endorsed on your records since the actual COA is no longer a card but a certificate. The photo ID has a number which police etc could check through the computer system.

Overall recent issues show the lack of real consultation or understanding of the industry by those who put the legislation together or are trying to implement it.

www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz