Martyn’s Law – ‘first of its kind’ legislation
Last Wednesday, attendees at IFSEC 2023 had the opportunity to hear about the recommendations and insights from the Manchester Arena Public Inquiry and the subsequent introduction of Martyn’s Law – published in draft at the beginning of May as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.
The Bill sets out the requirements that, under Martyn’s Law, venues, event operators and other organisations will have to meet to ensure public safety.
‘Martyn’s Law’ is a tribute to Martyn Hett who was killed alongside 21 others in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017. At the event last week, Martyn’s mother Figen Murray spoke candidly about her journey to get changes made to the requirements on venues to ensure the safety of the public visiting them.
Nothing existed
After Martyn’s death, Figen made the assumption that venues would have much stricter security measures. When she visited a local theatre to attend a music concert some 18 months after the Manchester attack, she was shocked to realise that no security seemed to be in place. Having then researched what was in place, Figen realised that no such legislation existed and she launched a government petition – called Martyn’s Law.
Martyn’s Law requires venues to provide staff with freely available counter-terrorism training, carry out risk assessments inside and outside of their premises, mitigate any risks identified during this process and have a counter-terrorism action plan. In addition, the proposed legislation asks for local authorities to be prepared for an attack.
Crucial
Debbie Bartlett, Head of Protect and Prepare within the Home Office (Homeland Security Group), also spoke at the seminar and highlighted that the Bill is a crucial piece of legislation but also stressed that it is currently in draft form.
Recognising that those organisations affected will need help to comply, she also suggested that draft statutory guidance will be available once the Home Affairs Select Committee has issued its report following pre-scrutiny of the Bill. This could be towards the end of the summer.
While terminology such as ‘reasonably practicable’, ‘responsible person’, and ‘risk assessment’ are well recognised already in health, safety and fire legislation, they are not so well used in the area of counter terrorism and the use of these in Martyn’s Law aims to help businesses in meeting their duties.
Timeline for the Bill
The Government plans to introduce the draft Bill of Martyn’s Law to Parliament following the completion of the pre-scrutiny process. After the Bill is introduced, it will have to pass through several stages of debate and amendment in both Houses of Parliament before it can become law.
Key take aways
Prepare for the duty: the duty will necessitate changes in policies and procedures across the business. Organisations can start to prepare now, with things like staff training, risk assessment, and emergency preparedness measures.
Support for businesses: statutory guidance will be issued, and a host of support and advice is and will be available through ProtectUK – the new online information sharing platform for counter terrorism and security advice.
Staff training is crucial: managers and employees should all undergo counter terrorism training, and this must be done properly with measures in place to ensure understanding. A culture of education should start at the top. Training exercises are very important, in tandem with e-learning and other methods.
Communicate and co-ordinate: be aware of areas outside of a premises or venue that may fall within a ‘grey space’ – a business may not be directly responsible for it but will need to speak to those neighbouring them to co-ordinate the response. Plans must be shared with others around the premises or venue (such as venue operators, occupiers, police, etc.) to ensure everyone’s approach ties in.
Threats change all the time: maintaining compliance will be important and will require ongoing vigilance – approaches to preparedness must be regularly reviewed and refreshed to reflect current situations.
Competent persons scheme: the CPS aims to provide the business community with the assurance that they can successfully mitigate the risks posed by terrorist threats and fulfil their duties under the proposed Martyn’s Law. The CPS will be divided into two parts: an OfQual-approved, level 3 qualification, with the working title of Competent Person in the Workplace; and a register of peer-reviewed Counter Terrorism Specialists, with the working title of Counter Terrorism Security Specialists Register. Both schemes are under development.
Figen Murray stressed that she hoped the security sector would support the legislation and that organisations would start to get ready for it now – prepare as much as possible and use it as an opportunity to improve and refresh measures already in place. Although the introduction of this legislation could still be over a year away, preparedness is the key focus of the duty.
Other speakers at last week’s seminar included Scott Wilson, National Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator, Protect and Prepare, Dr David BaMaung, Managing Director of Able Security Consultants, and Kish Naidoo, Deputy National Coordinator, Protect and Prepare, Counter Terrorism Policing.