Protect Duty “Martyn’s Law”

Protect Duty “Martyn’s Law”

We wanted to share some information with you released from the Home Office following both the commitment given by the incoming Labour Government with the inclusion in The King’s Speech on 17 July as part of the programme of legislation the Government intends to pursue in this Parliamentary session. The Bill was introduced to Parliament on 12 September 2024 and is currently undergoing Parliamentary scrutiny.

Introduction:

The Kerslake Report (following the Manchester Arena Attack) highlighted preparedness and communication as key elements in both deterring and reactions to an attack. In addition to the official report Figen Murray, mother of Martyn Hett, who was killed in the Manchester Arena attack. Her campaigning has been crucial in driving this Bill forward and where the popular reference to Martyn’s Law is derived from.

As previously noted this is a continuation of the UK’s reaction to the complex threat picture which must be considered in an ever changing terrorist approach to promote their own agenda or influence policy.

As such, the proposed introduction of of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (referred to as Martyn’s Law), is intended to improve the current preparedness of a range of premises/venues and event locations which have in recent years been targeted.

The aim of the Bill is to impose a structured duty for consideration which, in the implementation, would likely result in the reduction of harm and save lives simply because the process has been developed and key partners would know what to do in the event of an attack.

There are three main points to comprehend as below, should you have the need, please flag to HornerSalus if you have any questions or queries.

1. What is Martyn’s Law?

Martyn’s Law (the Bill) is intended to keep people safe, enhancing our national security and reducing the risk to the public from terrorism by the protection of public venues. As with all legislation, it will both define the criteria of premises that it applies to and identify a responsible person mandating security guidance for event organisers and venues, and those responsible for publicly accessible locations. The identified responsible person is to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures. The legislation will ensure parties are prepared, ready to respond and know what to do in the event of an attack. Improved preparedness and proportionate steps taken to ensure consistent and clear requirements.

-When will this become law?

The Bill was introduced on 12/09/24 and is currently going through Parliamentary scrutiny known as readings.

It is not possible to give a date on when it will become law. There will be a lead in time allowing for those captured by the duty to prepare for commencement, and as soon as the parliamentary timetable is known this will be sent out. 

Dedicated guidance and support will be provided for duty holders to ensure that those within the scope have the required information on what to do and how best to do it.

The Bill is not yet law and its provisions are subject to change during the Parliamentary stages.

2. Who will it affect?

The Bill sets out two criteria whereby a premises will fall under the scope of the Bill, these are:

1. Premises as defined in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (a ‘premises’ is defined in the Bill as being a building (a building includes part of a building or a group of buildings); or a building and other land.)

2. Wholly or mainly used for one of more qualifying activities

3. Meet the thresholds for individuals present at a premises

Exclusions: parks, gardens, recreation grounds, sports grounds and other open-air premises used for recreation, exercise or leisure – unless they have staff to check that members of the public are permitted to have access.

Note: the responsible person for the premises will usually be the operator of the building (not necessarily the freeholder) can be the leaseholder/tenanted occupier or hirer of the space. (If the premises is a designated event space the operator would normally be the Responsible person not the hirer).

Events that satisfy the following four criteria fall within scope of the Bill:

1. The event must take place in a premises as defined in clause 3 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

2. Host at least 800 attendees at the same time

3. Meet the ‘express permission’ criteria for public access*

4. Be accessible to members of the public**

*employed, or volunteer event staff who verify that attendees meet entry conditions. These conditions relate to checking that people have paid to enter or have invitations or passes allowing access – this aspect is in relation to a defined event space (within a public space) that excludes those without ticket.

**at this point it is understood that a private event would be excluded – definitions are required.

Note: A qualifying event can occur within standard duty premises, hosting a one-off event with over 800 attendees, but the premises will remain in the standard tier, outside of the event – in this instance the event organiser will be the identified responsible person for the purposes of the enhanced approach for the duration of the event live period.

3. What do qualifying premises need to do?

The Bill will impose a duty on the owners and operators of certain locations to increase their preparedness for and protection from a terrorist attack by requiring them to take proportionate steps, depending on the size and nature of the activities that take place there.

Proportionality is a fundamental consideration for this legislation. It will therefore establish a tiered model, linked to the activity that takes place at a location and its capacity:

–A standard tier – This will apply to qualifying locations with a maximum capacity of over 200 – 799 (including staff).

Duty holders (responsible person) will be required to undertake simple yet effective activities to improve protective security and preparedness. This could include larger retail stores, bars, or restaurants.

Standard duty holder (responsible person) will need to ensure that the following basic procedures are put in place:

Evacuation, invacuation, lockdown, and communication.

These procedures must be effectively communicated with all necessary personnel, including employees, volunteers and contractors as well as those hiring premises. Under the standard tier these procedures should consider premises’ nature and available resources. Procedures should be reviewed annually.

The Bill does not require physical alterations to buildings, nor investment in equipment.

–An enhanced tier – This will apply to premises/events with a capacity of over 800 and as identified a greater risk and requires stronger public protection measures. This could include live music venues, theatres, and department stores and defined public spaces (with boundaries and an entry requirement i.e. a ticket).

The identified duty holder (responsible person) must ensure that appropriate public protection procedures are in place, in line with those outlined for the Standard Tier. In settings where the premises is owned or operated by an organisation a Designated Senior Individual (DSI) must be identified – this is the individual who will has the responsibility for the management and implementation of the duties assigned to the responsible person.

Responsible person or Designated DSI (where applicable) with role to include:

• Monitoring and reporting suspicious behaviour (within or locally to the premises) – this may include increase staff vigilance/training, updating security systems and development of a control room for centralised approach to ensure decision makers are informed and actively engaged with the procedures.

• Controlling movement – entry and exit procedures to be robust and look to support the additional vigilance with search procedures, conditions of entry, Staff awareness and training.

• Physical security – increasing the physical security provisions with CCTV, barriers, locks, external furniture Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) and cordons (controlled).

• Securing sensitive information – ensuring key security and safety information is not freely available – limiting details contained within floor plans and websites and restricting access to key information specific to the measures in place to meet the protect duties.

It is expected that this will involve additional resources and potential changes to the premises or event space commensurate with the risk identified and the potential for attack.

For both tiers all steps and actions should be documented and may include – a risk assessment and security plan, (considered to be at a ‘reasonably practicable’ standard), will be required to be submitted to the regulatory body identified as the Security Industry Authority (SIA) – details of the standard and process have yet to be formalised.

The SIA is being given powers which include access to inspect the premises and compliance with the submitted plans and procedures. This will be undertaken on a consent basis with a notification period of 72 hours, note without consent or in certain circumstances the SIA inspectors can apply for a warrant to gain access and perform their duties.

SIA duties will include observing that the procedures and documentation are in place as well as physical interviews to establish compliance.

Enforcement options proposed to be available to the SIA would be issue of compliance notices, restriction notices, civil sanctions and monetary penalties (details of these are as yet unconfirmed).

Offences or potential breaches include, Failure to comply with SIA notices, providing false information, obstructing the SIA.

Offences can be considered as both civil and criminal and if proven, may lead to financial penalties and criminal conviction for non compliance.

It is of note that SIA do not have powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Links to original content from the UK Government and Police federation can be found below:

Gov.UK – Home Office Martyn’s Law Fact sheet 

Gov.UK – Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill 2024: factsheets

Police – Protect Uk Martyn’s Law

HornerSalus are registered at ProtectUK (since 2022) following developments and looking to be at the front of its impact on the events industry for both venues and event organisers