New Security Measures Legislation Martyn’s Law
The Public Protection Partnership will be involved in helping to promote new government legislation which aims to improve anti-terrorism measures for large public venues when the draft legislation is introduced in the spring of 2023. The new laws will aim to increase preparedness of venues, help to deter attackers and reduce the severity of attacks.
This new legislation, named “Martyn’s Law” after one of the victims (Martyn Hett) of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017, aims to prevent similar tragedies by examining any missed opportunities to prevent the Manchester bombing, and requiring by law that security measures such as increased staff training or optimal CCTV coverage be implemented to ensure they are not missed again.
The measures, dependant on venue size, refer to locations with a capacity of 100 or more people (standard tier), with additional requirements for locations with a capacity of 800 or more people (enhanced tier). This is based on the potential severity of an attack, while minimising the costs to smaller businesses who may struggle to implement unnecessarily high levels of security.
Any business can of course volunteer to improve their anti-terrorism measures, but only venues with a capacity of 100 people or more will be required to act in accordance with Martyn’s Law.
According to the Home Office on Gov.uk, at the standard tier businesses will: “undertake low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve preparedness. This will include training, information sharing and completion of a preparedness plan to embed practices, such as locking doors to delay attacker’s progress or knowledge on lifesaving treatments that can be administered by staff whilst awaiting emergency services.”
In addition to the standard tier requirements, venues with a capacity of 800 people or more will: “undertake a risk assessment to inform the development and implementation of a thorough security plan. Subsequent measures could include developing a vigilance and security culture, implementation of physical measures like CCTV or new systems and processes to enable better consideration of security.”
The role of the Public Protection Partnership will be to launch awareness campaigns to ensure relevant businesses and event organisers are familiar with the new legislation and how they can accommodate it. Advice and Guidance on Martyn’s Law will be added to the PPP website and will be promoted through the work of the Safety Advisory Group and Licensing Service. We will continue to work with our Thames Valley Police and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service colleagues to put in place preventative action plans against terror attacks.
Additional advice and guidance is available on the ProtectUK security hub:
https://www.protectuk.police.uk/
Link to The Public Protections Safety Advisory Group see below:
https://publicprotectionpartnership.org.uk/licensing/safety-advisory-group-sag/
