Altogether the SIA has awarded a total of £113,000 to nine charities and community enterprise groups. The grants will come from a special SIA fund that uses ill-gotten cash confiscated from individuals convicted of criminal offences within the private security industry.

The awards and beneficiaries for the grants are:

• £25,000 to EY Foundation: Secure Futures programme (a previous beneficiary)
• £20,000 to The Prince’s Trust for ‘Get Into’ Security initiative (a previous beneficiary)
• £13,630 to ProtectEd, for its SecurED research initiative
• £12,500 to PTSD Resolution, rehabilitation for former service personnel, many of whom are security personnel suffering mental health issues following active service
• £10,000 to Argus Community Interest Company, which offers specialist security training in County Durham
• £10,000 to Young Enterprise, for its initiative to support 600 students in Stoke
• £10,000 to Global Vision Initiative, a Manchester-based community enterprise supporting women and girls from a range of communities
• £7,257 to Samsons Academy for its SIA Training and Certification Courses in Bedford
• £4,619 to Banana Enterprise Network for the purchase of personal alarms and a safety app for this Bolton based charity

Pete Easterbrook, the SIA’s Head of Criminal Enforcement, said:

We believe that crime should not pay, so it’s fitting that illegally acquired money should be taken from criminals and used for the benefit of society and, especially for the protection of the public.

This money will support organisations with a focus on protecting the public. This includes charities actively preventing violence against women and girls; supporting young people who are searching for post-education careers in security and protecting vulnerable people in higher education.

Money from this fund will also continue to support the rehabilitation of service personnel with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Michelle Russell, Chief Executive of the SIA said:

We are delighted to award nine charities and social enterprises from the funds derived from court orders following our pursuit of the proceeds of crime. This year’s beneficiaries are a reflection of some great work underway by charities from across the UK all contributing to public protection.

Further information:

The SIA has held powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) since 2015. This allows the SIA to undertake financial investigations and seek confiscation orders against companies and individuals who make a profit from criminal activity. POCA is a law that ensures any money made from criminal activity can be recovered.

Since 2017 the SIA has been pursuing financial recovery from convicted criminals following prosecution. Where the SIA has brought a prosecution and there has been a conviction, the SIA may undertake confiscation proceedings against those convicted. If successful, the SIA receives a percentage of the confiscated money. The proceeds must be used to either fund good causes or further SIA’s financial investigations.

Read the SIA’s blog ‘The Proceeds of Crime Act (2002)’, published in 2019.

The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.

For further information about the Security Industry Authority visit www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (SIAuk).

• New UK sanctions target the daughters of President Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

• Government analysis shows more than £275 billion of Putin’s war chest has been frozen by co-ordinated UK and international sanctions in recent weeks.

• Russia heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union as sanctions hit Putin’s ability to wage war in Ukraine.

The lavish lifestyles of the Kremlin’s inner circle will be further targeted from today as the UK sanctions the daughters of President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova, the daughters of President Putin, and Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova, daughter of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, will be subject to travel bans and asset freezes.

The UK has coordinated these sanctions with the US, in another show of global unity on action against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. This follows the UK’s sanctioning of Polina Kovaleva, Sergey Lavrov’s step-daughter on 25 March.

These designations come into force as new analysis shows the devastating impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia’s economy in recent weeks. Sanctions imposed by the UK and its international partners are having deep and damaging consequences for Putin’s ability to wage war, with £275 billion – 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves – currently frozen.

The analysis shows Russia is heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as estimates for Russia’s GDP growth in 2022 now range from -8.5 per cent to -15 per cent. Longer term, expert predictions suggest a continuing economic hit, with GDP growth depressed as the country is cut off from Western technology.

The Kremlin faces tough choices at home as a result of its aggression abroad. Sanctions imposed in response to Putin’s abhorrent actions have triggered rapid inflation, with average consumer prices up 8.67 per cent since the invasion.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

Our unprecedented package of sanctions is hitting the elite and their families, while degrading the Russian economy on a scale Russia hasn’t seen since the fall of the Soviet Union.

But we need to do more. Through the G7, we are working with partners to end the use of Russian energy and further hit Putin’s ability to fund his illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.

Together, we are tightening the ratchet on Russia’s war machine, cutting off Putin’s sources of cash.

By freezing the assets and limiting the travel of Putin’s allies, the UK Government is sealing off reservoirs of cash funding the conflict, while also making sure those who have benefited from Putin’s rule feel the consequences.

Oligarchs and other wealthy Russians are amongst those hit hardest by the sanctions, which have drastically limited their access to luxury consumer goods and access to international markets.

The defence industry is also being targeted by Western sanctions, with the UK already having led the way in sanctioning Rostec, United Aircraft Corporation, United Shipbuilding Corporation and the world’s biggest main battle tank manufacturer, Uralvagonzavod. Sanctions against Kronshtadt, the main producer of Kronshtadt Orion drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles widely used during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will now make it harder to replace these drones.

Restricting access to assets and components will have a material effect on the speed and efficiency with which weapons manufacturers can supply Putin’s war effort.

Russia’s narrative that Western sanctions have caused the rise in global food prices is a blatant lie. We stand in solidarity with our partners across the world who have to bear the rising price of President Putin’s unilateral choice to wage war in Europe. The resulting rise in food insecurity is being felt disproportionately by the most vulnerable and we will pull every lever we have to keep markets open and protect food supplies.

The Russian leadership must immediately allow safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access and make safe passages work, enabling humanitarian aid to be delivered to besieged cities and civilians to reach safety.

Background

• Since the unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine began in February, the UK has sanctioned over 1,200 individuals and businesses – including 76 oligarchs and 16 banks with a global net worth of £150 billion and £500 billion respectively.

• Asset freeze – An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person and which are held in the UK. It will also prevent funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person.

• Travel ban – A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual be an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.

• Transport sanction – Recently introduced powers make it a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to fly or land in the UK and give the government powers to remove aircraft belonging to designated Russian individuals and entities from the UK aircraft register, even if the sanctioned individual is not on board. Russian ships are also banned from UK ports.

• The UK Sanctions List is updated every time a decision is made to make, vary or revoke a designation. The list is published on GOV.UK and sets out which people, entities and ships are designated or specified under regulations made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, and why.