The Home Affairs Select Committee had a number of reservations about the Bill particularly the cost and administrative burden imposed on SMEs and the voluntary and community-run sectors.

As a result the Home Office (HO) has published a consultation (5^th February) calling for views on a number of revisions to the Bill in relation to standard tier premises (STP) in the UK.

Broadly the aim of the consultation is to ensure compliance costs do not fall too heavily on those in scope while at the same time delivering meaningful improvements around public protection from the risk of terrorist attack.

Impact

Martyn’s Law will impose requirements  on those responsible for publicly accessible premises.

“Premises” in this context means either “(i) a building with accompanying land, including parts of buildings and groups of buildings or (ii) any other land with a readily identifiable boundary (whether permanent or not).”

STP are premises that have (subject to a couple of exceptions) a capacity of 100-799 individuals.

Those responsible for STP might be individuals or organisations that have control over premises.

The HO is of the view the consultation will be relevant to organisations, businesses, local and public authorities and those that own or operate publicly accessible premises.

Requirements

The consultation summarises the requirements (and changes) to the Bill:

• Notification. The person responsible for STP must notify the Regulator they are, or have become, responsible for them.

• Procedural measures. The person responsible for STP must have in place "such procedures that may be expected, so far as reasonably practicable, to reduce harm to the public and staff at the premises in the event of a terrorist attack." What this means, in practice, will vary from property to property; it being recognised that flexibility is needed to best achieve the aims of the Bill. However “procedural measures” will be expected to include procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. The legislation will not require physical alterations or additional equipment to implement any procedural measures.

• Standard terrorism evaluation form and specific training. The requirements in relation to each of these have been removed from the Bill as not affording sufficient flexibility.

Enforcement

The Regulator can issue a monetary penalty for non-compliance but it will not be a criminal offence to fail to comply with a compliance notice.

Consultation response

The HO expects a period of 18-24 months for implementation. This will allow sufficient time for businesses to prepare. Certain premises (i.e. broadly places of worship, premises used as childcare and primary and secondary education) will remain STP even if capacity exceeds 800.

The revisions to the Bill are intended to relieve the financial and administrative burden (“low-to-no financial cost”) on businesses and individuals impacted while delivering meaningful protection.

Should you wish to respond to the consultation you can do so here https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/martyns-law-standard-tier-consultation.

The consultation closes on 18 March 2024