Lord Henley is a Conservative party peer and has joined the Home Office ministerial team from DEFRA. He entered the House of Lords in 1977 and has held a number of front bench positions both in Government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major as well as in Opposition.

In his new role as Minister for Crime Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction, Lord Henley's brief will include the drugs strategy, licensing and community activism. He will also lead all Home Office business in the House of Lords.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "I want to thank Baroness Browning for her contribution to Government. In her time at the Home Office she has taken forward work to help prevent crime and reduce anti-social behaviour in our communities and has played a vital role in taking our plans to reform policing and give greater accountability to the public through the Lords. I wish her the very best for the future. I'm pleased to welcome Lord Henley to the Home Office and look forward to working with him to deliver our key priorities."

BSIA Chief Executive, James Kelly, is keen to engage with Lord Henley at the earliest possible stage, with issues such as cash in transit robberies, police budget cuts and CCTV regulation high on the agenda.

“The BSIA has long been at the forefront of improving industry standards and working with key government Ministers, in addition to the Police, Home Office and industry bodies is crucial in our bid to ensure best practice within the private security industry.” comments James.

James continues: “Looking to the near future, I look forward to meeting with Lord Henley, in order to provide him with a useful initial briefing on the issues facing the private security industry in these challenging times.”