What you need to know about Martyn’s Law:
The Bill builds upon the Protect and Prepare strands of the Government’s wider counter terrorism strategy, CONTEST. This Government has been conscious of the need to ensure the Bill strikes the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on premises and events.
The provisions in the Bill have been developed following engagement with the Martyn’s Law campaign team, expert security partners, businesses and local authorities, including two public consultations and pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill. The feedback received from this scrutiny has been reflected in the Bill.
The Bill establishes a tiered approach, linked to the activity that takes place at premises or an event and the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present on the premises at the same time. In addition to this, certain larger premises and events must also take steps to reduce the vulnerability of the premises to terrorist attacks.
Smaller premises in the standard tier will be required to have in place appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection procedures to reduce the risk of physical harm in the event of an attack. Some actions could be as simple as locking doors, closing shutters and identifying a safe route to cover.
The requirements for these smaller premises are focused on simple, low-cost activities surrounding policies and procedures, with costs relating to time rather than physical measures. The aim of these requirements is to improve staff preparedness and responses.
There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in this tier.
Those responsible for larger ‘enhanced tier’ premises and events will be required to have in place reasonably practicable public protection procedures and measures that could be expected to reduce the vulnerability of the premises/event or the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an attack were to occur there or nearby. For example, an enhanced duty premises will be required, insofar as reasonably practicable, to implement measures relating to the monitoring of the premises and their immediate vicinity. They will also be required to document compliance and provide this to the regulator.
Dedicated guidance and support will be provided for duty holders to ensure that those in scope have the required information on what to do and how best to do it. The guidance will be easy to follow, needing no particular expertise.
Prepare to act, protect the public
Martyn's Law Q&A
How has the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill changed?
The addition of Reasonably Practicable in both tiers
• The ‘reasonably practicable’ standard of requirements is now applicable in both tiers.
• This is designed to allow procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event.
• This will enable duty holders to take into consideration what is within their control and the resources they have available to them, as well as what is suitable and appropriate for their premises or event.
The increase in Standard Tier threshold
• We have raised the standard tier threshold from 100 to 200.
The move from capacity to reasonable expectations
• The Government have moved away from requiring an assessment of the capacity of premises.
• This approach enables a more accurate representation of the number of individuals at premises.
• This provides for a fairer basis for responsible persons to understand whether their premises meet the qualifying thresholds.
The announcement of the SIA as the regulator
• It is the Government’s intention that the regulator function of Martyn’s Law will be delivered by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
Who will be in scope?
Premises that satisfy the following three criteria fall within scope of the Bill:
1. Premises as defined in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill
2. Wholly or mainly used for one of more qualifying activity
3. Meet the thresholds for individuals present at a premises
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.
4. Be accessible to members of the public.
What will the Bill require?
The Bill requires those responsible for certain premises and events to take steps to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm in the event of a terrorist attack occurring. In addition to this, certain larger premises and events must also take steps to reduce the vulnerability of the premises to terrorist attacks.
It establishes a tiered approach, linked to the activity that takes place at premises or an event and the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present on the premises at the same time. The requirements vary accordingly, acknowledging that larger venues and events may be impacted to a greater extent by an attack and should be expected to do more.
Standard duty premises
• Persons responsible for a standard duty premises, i.e. qualifying premises where it is reasonable to expect that between 200 and 799 individuals may be present at the same time, will be required to:
o notify the regulator of their premises; and
o put in place appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection procedures (as set out in Clause 5 of the Bill).
• These procedures are to be followed by people working at the premises if an act of terrorism was to occur at the premises or in the immediate vicinity, which may be expected to reduce the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals. This includes ensuring there are procedures in place to provide information to individuals on the premises and to evacuate, invacuate or lockdown the premises.
• The requirements for standard duty premises are focused on simple, low-cost activities surrounding policies and procedures, which are to be followed by staff in the event of terrorist attack or suspected terrorist attack occurring. The aim of these requirements is to improve staff preparedness and responses.
• There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in this tier. Furthermore, the reasonably practicable element will enable standard duty premises to tailor their approach to the resources they have available.
Enhanced duty premises and qualifying events
• Enhanced duty premises and qualifying events are premises or events where it is reasonable to expect that 800 or more individuals may be present on the premises or attend the event at the same time. In addition to the same procedures as standard duty premises, persons responsible for enhanced duty premises and qualifying events will be required to:
o notify the regulator of their premises/event;
o put in place appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection measures that could be expected to reduce both (i) the vulnerability of the premises or event to an act of terrorism occurring at the location, and (ii) the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an attack was to occur there or nearby. For example, an enhanced duty premises will be required, insofar as reasonably practicable, to implement measures relating to the monitoring of the premises and their immediate vicinity;
o document the public protection measures in place, or proposed to put in place, and to provide this document to the regulator. This document should include an assessment as to how those measures may be expected to reduce, so far as is reasonably practicable, vulnerability and risk of harm.
o Where the responsible person for an enhanced duty premises or qualifying event is not an individual, they must appoint an individual as a designated senior individual with responsibility for ensuring that the relevant requirements are met.
What is the role of the regulator?
- The role of the Regulator is to support, advise and guide those responsible for premises and events in meeting the requirements of this legislation.
- Due to the seriousness of some actions and in line with other regimes, the regulator will also have the ability to impose a range of sanctions such as fines.
- Providing a toolkit of sanctions will ensure that the regulator is able to tailor any enforcement action according to the nature of the breach which will help to ensure a proportionate response.
Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Regulator factsheet
Who is responsible for requirements at a premises or event in scope?
- The responsible person must ensure the requirements of the Bill are met for a qualifying premises or event. Whilst this person may be an individual, in many cases it is anticipated to be an organisation.
- The identity of the responsible person will differ depending on whether they are responsible for a premises or an event. For a premises, the responsible person is the person who has control of the premises in connection with its Schedule 1 use/s.
- For an event, the responsible person is the person who has control of the premises at which the event is taking place in connection with their use for that event.
Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Responsible person factsheet
Will all venues have to implement expensive protective security measures?
- The Bill will not require those responsible for standard tier premises to purchase or install any additional equipment to what they already have in place. The requirements focus on increasing preparedness through ensuring there are effective public protection procedures to be followed in the event of a terrorist attack occurring.
- Those responsible for enhanced tier premises and qualifying events must put in place reasonably practicable public protection procedures and measures.
- The ‘reasonably practicable’ standard of requirements, now applicable in both tiers is designed to allow procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event. This will enable duty holders to take into consideration what is within their control and the resources they have available to them, as well as what is suitable and appropriate for their premises or event.
Will Martyn’s Law apply to all of the UK?
- Yes. The legislation will apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as national security is a reserved matter for the UK Government.
Will volunteers and staff be made liable for harms?
- In the event of an attack, the only individual responsible for such horrific harm is the attacker(s). The State, through our security services and counter terrorism police, works to counter and prevent attacks, not those within scope of the Bill.
- An individual who only works or volunteers at premises or an event cannot be liable under the Bill. Responsibility for complying with the Bill’s requirements will always remain with the responsible person, with a similar determination to Fire Safety legislation which is premised on the concept of control. This might be an individual in some cases, where they run an event or premises, but, in most cases, it will be a business or other organisation.
- Further, the civil liability clause within the Bill means that claims for damages cannot be brought against a responsible person for breach of statutory duty in failing to fulfil the requirements of the Bill.