How to be best prepared ahead of the Martyn’s Law was the subject of a recent joint webinar by the business body Resilience First, and Pool Re. Speakers warned of pitfalls to avoid, such as scammers offering compliance consultation services, promising compliance before the law is even set out.
Robin Hibbert, Director, Company Operations, Heart of London Business Alliance said: “The introduction of Martyn’s Law is likely to lead to an increased demand on security and facility and venue management services. As organisations seek to ensure compliance with the new regulations, security companies will need to comply with the new regulations and guidelines. This will certainly make changes to training and operational procedures as well as increase scrutiny from regulatory authorities.”
As background; the chairman of the inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, Sir John Saunders, supported a proposed ‘Protect Duty’ on those responsible for publicly accessible venues and events to take steps to reduce the risk to the public from terrorist attacks. In a draft Bill published by the Home Office, premises with capacity of 100 to 799 would be subject to a standard duty, intended minister say to be relatively light touch and low cost to implement. Venues with capacity of 800 or more, and qualifying public events, would be subject to an enhanced duty, potentially entailing more onerous and costly requirements.
Clare Rogers, Senior Operations Manager (Services), at the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) said: “Whilst the private sector has generally been willing to accept advice, difficulties have arisen when it is unclear where responsibility lies or where mitigation requires significant expenditure to address this issue. The bill would create a scheme under which publicly accessible venues and events would be required to take certain steps to reduce risk, such as terrorism protection, training, risk assessment and mitigation, and maintaining security plans.”
The Home Office estimates that there are over 270,000 locations within the standard tier and over 24,000 locations within the enhanced tier. This could have a significant impact on insurance.
Chris Medhurst-Cocksworth, Head of Pool Re Solutions, said: “The general level of understanding of terrorism is perhaps not as good as it could be. Companies who provide security and guarding capabilities are saying they are having to considerably increase their liability insurance. But that’s probably just from a lack of understanding of what the threats are. I think we need to make sure that everyone who’s involved has a better understanding of what terrorism in the UK is and how to mitigate it.”
Background
The legislation has yet to go through Parliament; the next clue to its likelihood will be the King’s Speech in the autumn. Resilience First suggests that businesses begin thinking about their provisions and capabilities for training as well as revisions to their security plans. They should also turn to trusted official bodies for support and expert advice, or to seek latest updates, such as through ProtectUK, a platform run by the Home Office, Counter Terrorism Policing, the UK official NaCTSO and Pool Re (the government’s arm’s length re-insurance capability for terrorism insurance).
Events
Among Resilience First’s planned events for members are a dinner with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in London on November 22.
