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MARTYN'S LAW

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“As an industry, we remain resolute in our longstanding commitment to keep venue visitors and staff safe.  We will work closely with Government to ensure that proposals, such as the suggested Martyn’s Law, are realistic and workable, and improve safety for all.”

Martyn's Law was included in the King's Speech - 7th November 2023

On Tuesday 7th November, the King’s Speech set out the programme of legislation that the Government intends to pursue in the forthcoming Parliamentary session. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill was included. The Bill is also known as ‘Martyn’s Law’ in tribute to Martyn Hett, who was tragically killed alongside 21 others in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017.

Ahead of introduction to Parliament, the government intends to launch a public consultation on the standard tier ensuring the Bill strikes the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises, such as village halls and other community venues.

Martyn’s Law will improve protective security and organisational preparedness across the UK by mandating, for the first time, those responsible for certain premises and events to consider the terrorist risk and how they would respond to an attack.

Any Public Accessible Location is a potential target.  It is essential that owners and operators of all such locations understand the risks faced and consider appropriate mitigations.

The key initial steps to understanding this threat and risk are:

  • understanding the terrorist threat:  motivations, targets and attack methods vary and change over time,
  • understanding the specific risks the threat poses to your site and/or organisation and how and why your site and/or organisation might be affected – either by being targeted directly or indirectly because of its proximity to neighbouring sites, businesses or organisations.

 

Read more about Martyn's Law

Why do we need Martyn's Law?

There have been 14 terror attacks in the UK since the start of 2017.

The threat picture is complex, evolving, and enduring, with terrorists choosing to attack a broad range of locations.

Martyn’s Law will improve the safety and security of public venues and keep the British public safe from terrorism.

The Bill will make sure public premises and events are better prepared for, and protected from, terrorist attacks; requiring them to fulfil necessary but proportionate steps according to their capacity size to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm. Through Martyn’s Law, premises will be better prepared and ready to respond in the event of a terrorist attack.

What will Martyn's Law do? 

Through Martyn's Law premises will be better prepared, ready to respond, and their staff will know what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.

It will enhance public safety by ensuring there is better preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. This will be done by mandating, for the first time, who is responsible for considering the risk from terrorism and how they would respond to a terrorist attack at certain premises and events.

The Bill will raise the security standard throughout the UK requiring a base level of security procedures to be in place at premises and events. Our expert security partners strongly consider that even basic knowledge will deliver a wholesale raising of the public safety bar.

Who will be in scope?

To be in scope: 

To be in scope:
  • Premises and events must be accessible to the public.
  • Premises must be used for a purpose listed in the Bill (e.g. entertainment and leisure, retail, food and drink).
  • Have a capacity of 100 or more individuals.
  • Premises may be a building or outdoor locations which have a readily identifiable physical boundary and access by express permission.
  • Provision is made in the Bill for temporary events such as festivals that have express permission to enter and a capacity of  800 or more individuals.

What you need to know about Martyn's Law

Martyn's Law tiers

Standard 

This will apply to premises with a capacity between 100 and 799 people. The Government wants to ensure businesses and venues can deliver the standard tier duty rather than imposing conditions upon them that they will struggle to meet.

This will mean the law stands the test of time, and be accessible, proportionate and deliverable for smaller venues. 

Ahead of introducing the Bill in Parliament, Government will launch a consultation on the standard tier to ensure the Bill’s measures strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises such as village halls, churches and other community venues. This follows concerns raised about the implications of the standard tier through the pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill earlier this year. 

Enhanced

Premises and events in the enhanced tier will be required to take steps to ensure preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks.

Those responsible for an enhanced duty premises or qualifying public events must take the following 4 steps:

  • Notify the regulator of their premise or event;
  • Take ‘reasonably practicable’ measures that will reduce the risk of a terrorist attack occurring or physical harm being caused. The reasonably practicable test is utilised in other regulatory regimes e.g. Health and Safety, and will enable organisations to tailor their approach to the nature of the premises, and their activities and resources;
  • Keep and maintain a security document, aided by an assessment of the terrorism risk, which must also be provided to the regulator; and
  • If the responsible person is a body corporate, they must appoint an individual as the designated senior individual for the premise or event.  

If enhanced duty premises and qualifying public events do not comply with these requirements, the regulator will be able to issue a maximum fixed penalty of the higher of £18 million or 5 per cent of worldwide revenue.

Who is responsible for requirements at a premise or events in scope?

The Bill places the requirement on the person who has control of the premises; this is usually the operator or occupier. It also places a requirement for co-operation on those with aspects of control of the premises (e.g., the owner of a premises where not the operator) where necessary to deliver requirements.

When will this legislation be introduced?

Following the conclusion of the consultation process, the Government will introduce the Bill to Parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Key facts

Since 2017, there have been 14 domestic terror attacks in the UK, and agencies and law enforcement have disrupted 39 late-stage plots.

● Since 2005, there have been at least two attacks against places of worship, with an additional attack conducted directly outside a place of worship (Finsbury Park Mosque).

● Research institute RAND Europe assessed the indirect cost of terrorism in the UK from the five attacks in 2017 to be £3.4 billion (2020-21 prices).

● Independent research conducted in 2019 showed that, without legal compulsion, counter terrorism security efforts are often deprioritised behind other legally required activities (e.g. fire safety). Resulting in inconsistent consideration and application of security processes and measures.

● 70 per cent of respondents to the public consultation in 2021 agreed that those responsible for publicly accessible locations should take appropriate and proportionate measures to protect the public from attacks and should prepare their staff to respond appropriately in the event of a terrorist attack. 

How to prepare

Event

Don't wait for the law to pass, prepare now!

Being alert to suspicious behaviour and activity in and around your site, such as people loitering or displaying an unusual level of interest in asking questions, filming or photographing

Assessing the possible vulnerabilities of your site to various attack methods, and taking suitable measures to mitigate the risks

Being security-minded in your communications, particularly online

Encouraging and enabling a security culture in the workplace, eg. ensuring that any concerns can easily be reported and will be acted upon

Considering how you and your staff would respond to an incident occurring inside, outside, or near to your building or site.

For further info on the ACT programme, please visit the ACT website.

Buyer beware 

In light of the legislation and scheme still being defined, the final details and requirements are not yet known. 

NaCTSO do not endorse any current courses or products that mention supporting either compliance of Martyn's Law or the Competent Persons Scheme. ProtectUK are unable, at this stage, to provide any assurance for third party courses that are not endorsed by NaCTSO, or not hosted on the ProtectUK site unless otherwise specified. Should you or your organisation wish to use products or purchase and attend courses that mention potential up and coming legislation or the scheme, NaCTSO can provide no assurances that these courses will support you in being compliant in the future as currently there is limited information on the final requirements and scope at this stage.

Read the full statement here

Apps, training and guidance

ProtectUK

ProtectUK app - sends real-time news and counterterrorism (CT) incident updates from UK Protect, contains the latest practical advice and guidance to help you protect your business, as well as information on how to respond in the event of an attack: ProtectUK app

How can AEO members keep updated as Martyn's Law evolves

The Cross-Association Health and Safety Working Group meet monthly to review security issues such as talent, traffic management and anti-terrorism operations at venues. The group have actively shared thoughts and submitted a collective view on the consultation in collaboration with the National Arenas Association (NAA) and continue to run Protect Duty Awareness Sessions for members across AEV, AEO and ESSA.

The working group's responsibilities include staying ahead of related legislation and building relationships with key bodies such as CPIE, CPNI, CTBIE, NPoCC, NaCTSO and SIA as well as collaborating on information sharing and best practise.

 

AEO works with AEV to develop this resource and will be updated as Martyn's Law develops

MASA- Multi Association Security Awareness Group

MASA's ambition is to represent the entire event industry, including suppliers, and to enable greater and wider outreach of government guidance, especially around counter-terror measures and intelligence. MASA will monitor the flow of information from authoritative agencies like the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), the Home Office and Home Secretary, the HS, HO and NaCTSO and cascade updates to its members. MASA will also work with associations to provide consistent and up-to-date security sections tailored to various industry guides, beginning with the AEV eGuide.

MASA will meet quarterly, one month after its representative attends the latest Counter Terrorism Business Information Exchange (CTBIE) meeting, allowing it to evaluate how the latest information affects the event industry and provide specific advice and warnings to all sectors, regions and event types.

Currently, MASA has the support of eight key organisations in the UK live event industry including AEV, Association of Event Organisers (AEO), Event Suppliers and Services Association (ESSA), Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), National Arenas Association (NAA), NOEA (National Outdoor Events Association) and The UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA).

If you are part of an Association and are not currently represented please contact Alden.

When reporting/commenting on terrorism, please be mindful of the experiences of victims and their families. Please include the following support information in reporting: Support is available for anyone who has been affected by terror attacks. Visit:  victimsofterrorism.campaign.gov.uk or call Victim Support’s free, 24 hours support line on 0808 168 9111.
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