The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill was one of 40 legislative priorities outlined by the new Labour Government in today’s King’s Speech (17 July).
The Bill, otherwise known as Martyn’s Law or Protect Duty has been championed by groups, including the Martyn’s Law campaign, which was established by Figen Murray following the loss of her son Martyn in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
It includes a range of measures aimed at protecting the public from terrorist attacks at live events and venues.
Two tiers of venues are laid out in the draft Bill; standard and enhanced.
- The standard tier – Premises with a maximum capacity of 100 or more people are required to undertake “low-cost” activities such as terrorism protection training.
- The enhanced tier – Premises with a maximum capacity of 800 or more people are required to invest more time into counter-terrorism measures, such as appointing a designated senior officer for the review of venue security.
The Bill also introduces a regulator, with the power to inspect and enforce the requirements for each tier. The regulator has the power to hand out sanctions and penalties for non-compliance.
Fines for non-compliance are up to £10,000 for those in the standard tier and up to £18m, or 5% of the person’s qualifying worldwide revenue, for those in the enhanced tier.
A spokesperson for the Events Industry Alliance said: “We are glad to see the reintroduction of Protect Duty legislation in the King’s Speech today, we remain committed, as an industry, to seeing measures that ensure the safety of all.
“We have been engaging with the new security minister, Dan Jarvis MP, in recent months and look forward to working closely with the new Government to ensure that any proposals from the legislation for Martyn’s Law, are realistic, proportionate and workable.”
