Martyn’s Law is also known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill[1]. This draft Bill would impose a requirement on those responsible for certain venues to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures. The legislation would ensure that people are prepared, ready to respond and know what to do in the event of an attack. It would do this through training, risk assessment and mitigation, and security planning.
The Bill reflects the fact that the national threat level from terrorism is currently “substantial” meaning an attack is likely. The proposed legislation is intended to apply only in relation to certain premises known as “qualifying public premises”. These would be premises who have a capacity of 100 or more individuals and are used for a range of purposes including places of worship, education and childcare. There would be two tiers of premises: standard and enhanced tier.
Under the proposed legislation, standard tier sites (those with a maximum capacity of 100 to 799) would need to complete the evaluation template to make sure they are better prepared to respond quickly to terrorist attacks and save lives. Enhanced tier sites would need to undertake more complex requirements reflecting their higher risk profile.
The proposed legislation would create new criminal and civil offences, with a new regulator set up to enforce it. It would be a criminal offence to fail to comply with a contravention or restriction notice, or to provide false or misleading information to the regulator. These offences all include personal liability on the part of directors, managers, secretaries or other office holders. The exact level of fines to be imposes for these offences are yet to be determined but are intended to be significant. Additionally, the regulator would be provided with inspection powers to allow inspection in respect of compliance with the Bill’s requirements. Those responsible for a premises would be required to register it would the regulator.
The requirements created by the Bill sit separately from other legislative requirements and therefore bodies should continue to comply with their other duties such as those under Health and Safety legislation.
What does the Bill mean for Places of Worship?
Places of worship would be standard tier irrespective of capacity – unless they charge a fee for entry. To be a “qualifying public premises” a place of worship must also be:
- Accessible to the public (or a section thereof) including only in part; and
- Have a public capacity of 100 or more individuals.
It is important to note that the criterion looks at capacity rather than attendance. Therefore, even if a place of worship only has a few attendees if it is possible to host 100 or more individuals, they would be within the scope of the standard tier requirements.
Additionally, the Bill is likely to mean that places of worship which are not open to all of the public would still be within the remit of the Bill provided they meet the capacity thresholds. This is because they are accessible to a section of the public.
Examples of such places of worship include:
- Mosques which do not have a section for female worshipers (sisters)
- Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints which are only open to certain members of the faith.
- Exclusive brethren church which are open only to members of their denomination.
If a place of worship is considering charging a fee for entry, then they should consider the implications of doing so on their obligations under the Bill. The Bill refers to a “fee for admission” to the premises rather than fees for a specific event at the place of worship. It therefore appears that charging for an event or a series of events at an otherwise free to access place of worship would not shift the tier from Standard to Enhanced tier. However, this point is not expressly address in the Bill or Explanatory Memorandum.
For standard tier location low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve preparedness would be required. These would include:
- training
- information sharing
- completion of a preparedness plan to embed practices (such as locking doors to delay attackers progress or knowledge on lifesaving treatments that can be administered by staff whilst awaiting emergency services)
The evaluation would need to be reviewed each time a material change is made to the premises or to the use of the premises, or after 12 months whichever is sooner.
What is next?
A consultation conducted by the Home Office was recently concluded and the next few months will be spent reviewing the responses to the consultation. Even if the Bill is introduced and proceeds to Royal Assent without much change, it is expected that there will be a significant delay before implementation. This is to allow those affected to have sufficient time to understand and prepare to comply with the new obligations. At this stage it is advisable that relevant individuals/entities should consider whether their place of worship falls within the scope of the Bill and if so whether the standard or enhance tier would apply.
LBMW has a specialist Charities team which can provide practical guidance and assistance for Charities on their compliance obligations. Please contact us for more information on how we can help.
For more information please contact Khalid Sofi (Khalif.Sofi@lbmw.com), Ian Blaney (Ian.Blaney@lbmw.com) or Rebecca Martin (Rebecca.Martin@lbmw.com)