Among 47 amendments to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill – better known as Martyn’s Law – are ones proposing to raise the threshold of capacity of premises that would come under the law, from the Bill’s 200. An amendment by Lord Frost, who was among the peers who spoke when the House of Lords debated the Bill in January, proposed making the minimum 300.
Committee stage – when any Bill going through Parliament gets line by line examining – was on Monday and Wednesday, and is next on Monday, February 10.
See also page 21 of the February edition of Professional Security Magazine. More in the March edition.
Threshold
The threshold for which premises will be required to come under the law has been one of the debating points. An initial draft Bill by the Rishi Sunak Government got savaged by a pre-scrutiny committee of MPs in summer 2023, partly because of the lower limit of 100. The current Bill has two tiers: the ‘standard’ covering premises with capacity from 200 to 799; and ‘enhanced’ with capacity of 800 and above. Some exceptions include places of worship of any size coming in the standard category, whose requirements will be less (and less costly). For more visit the official Protect UK website. The authorities have stressed for some years that it’s futile to seek (or pay for) consultancy or other advice on how to meet the law, before it’s made.
Background
If as expected the law is passed in the spring, the UK Government (the law is due to be UK-wide) will likely allow for at least two years for the proposed regulator and inspector, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to set out details for compliance. The campaign for such a law, that would require premises such as pubs and clubs, hospitals and cinemas, to meet a legal responsibility to counter the threat of terrorism, has been led by Figen Murray: visit www.figenmurray.co.uk/martyn-s-law.
HVM
Meanwhile the UK official National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) has released a video as guidance on designing public spaces with HVM (hostile vehicle mitigation) such as bollards or street furniture.
