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By Sally Watson, 9 May 2001 17:01

NEWS Home Office minister Charles Clarke pushed the Private Security Industry Bill through its final stages yesterday afternoon, shortly after the breakup of Parliament was announced. Opposition MPs backed a last ditch attempt to exempt the IT industry from the Bill's proposals to license all security contractors, but in a packed chamber, Labour backbenchers remained loyal - rejecting the amendment 315 to 111. Despite the defeat, Clarke acknowledged the fears raised by industry associations including the CBI, the CSSA and the Foundation for Information Policy Research. "It is our fundamental principle to ensure the Bill is targeted at those specialist providers of security services who we have indicated we want to regulate, and that we do not inadvertently catch groups that are not relevant to our policy aims," Clarke told MPs. The Bill is primarily aimed at rogue wheelclampers and nightclub bouncers, but according to Clarke the definition of security consultant is deliberately broad. "We want it to remain usable in the face of changing security systems," he said. Once the Bill becomes law the government has pledged to hold a full consultation via the Department of Trade and Industry before it could be applied to information security consultants. But the assurances are unlikely to satisfy the Bill's opponents. A spokesman for the CBI promised to continue lobbying to see the legislation corrected. "Consultation on secondary legislation creates more problems than it solves," the CBI said in a statement. "It simply obliges the DTI to carry out a consultation in which all affected parties - the industry itself and users - are likely to say that regulation is unnecessary. "Given that there has been no demand for regulation in the first place, is this a worthwhile use of the DTI's and industry's time and resources?"