Readers of our previous enews and articles will know that the previous Government pledged to introduce into Parliament legislation known as Martyn’s Law/the Protect Duty, named after Martyn Hett, one of the twenty-two victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.
The proposed duty would require those responsible for publicly accessible premises to take certain proportionate measures to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack, and to reduce the risk of physical or other harm in the event of such an attack.
In the King’s Speech today, 17th July, the new Labour Government has reaffirmed that commitment.
The legislation proposed by the former Government was called the Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. Whilst this draft is subject to amendment following a previous public consultation, the new Government has stated it will continue with this Bill which, if enacted will affect all publicly accessible premises with a public capacity of 100 or more. This will inevitably require a degree of investment in time and cost by all premises within scope.
I must stress at this stage that Martyn’s Law/Protect Duty is not law at all and no legislation to date has entered Parliament.
Poppleston Allen are well aware of the concerns operators have about the implications and costs of complying with Martyn’s Law. That is why we have been working closely with an industry leader in counterterrorism and security who has been involved with Martyn’s Law from the outset. We also ran a successful free webinar last year attended by over 100 delegates. If you would like to know more or would like to attend any future webinars we may hold, please drop us a line at martynslaw@popall.co.uk
