Both the Manchester Arena Inquiry and London Bridge Inquest called for the introduction of legislation and guidance to protect the public in publicly accessible premises. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, more commonly referred to as "Martyn's Law" in tribute to Martyn Hett, a victim of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017, seeks to introduce duties on persons responsible for certain premises and events to ensure they better prepared and ready to respond to a terrorist attack.

Martyn's law has now started its Parliamentary journey having been introduced to Parliament on 12 September 2024. Whilst we do not know what the final version of this legislation will look like, once enacted, in terms of the duties owed and how they will be fulfilled but it is worth considering now which businesses the Bill is likely to affect and how they might be regulated.

Who will Martyn's Law apply to?

The measures to be brought in by Martyn's Law will apply to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and will apply to premises, defined as a building or buildings and land wholly or mainly used for one or more of the qualifying activities set out in Schedule 1 of the draft Bill. The activities are wide ranging and will cover all manner of venues including shops, food and drink venues, night clubs, hotels, sports grounds, exhibition halls, hospitals, primary and further education establishments. For any premises to be within the scope of the Bill it must be reasonable to expect that from time to time there may be 100 or more individuals present on the premises at the same time. The Bill, as currently drafted, recognises 2 tiers of premises. "Standard tier" premises are those that may host 100 to 799 individuals at the same time with "enhanced tier" premises, which will have more onerous requirements, hosting 800 plus individuals at the same time.

Certain premises are excluded. Parliaments and devolved Governments are not included as it is recognised that they already have existing security measures and procedures in place that are comparable to the Bill's requirements. Parks, gardens, recreation grounds and sports grounds will also be excluded unless those places have individuals engaged or employed by them to secure or check members of the public seeking access have paid or have invitations or passes allowing access. Certain transport premises, such as port facilities, national rail and underground premises, already subject to existing legislative requirements to mitigate threat are also excluded.

How will Martyn's Law be Regulated?

On 12 September 2024, the Government announced that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will be the body responsible for regulating Martyn's Law.

The SIA have stated that their primary aim will be to support, guide and advise businesses on implementing the requirements of the Law, favouring a more collaborative approach. Whilst it will have enforcement powers and will be able to impose sanctions, the SIA expect these only to be used where there are serious and persistent cases of non-compliance.

Whilst that may be the SIA's stated aim, the Bill does set out a whole raft of enforcement action one might expect where a duty holder falls foul of the regulatory requirements placed upon them by Martyn's Law.

The Bill in its current form will empower an SIA enforcement officer to impose compliance notices and restriction notes on regulated premises, and gives the SIA the power to impose civil penalty notices of up to £10,000 for standard duty premises and up to £18m or 5% of worldwide revenue for enhanced duty premises or qualifying events. It also will have the power to shut down enhanced duty premises in certain circumstances. An appeals procedure will be available in terms of any civil enforcement taken.

Further, the Bill creates criminal offences for failing to comply with compliance or restriction notices and for providing false or misleading information or otherwise obstructing an SIA officer.

The Bill also contains a provision similar to that found under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 whereby directors, managers and secretaries or other similar officers of a body corporate will be guilty of an offence committed by that body corporate if it is proved to have been committed with their consent, connivance or attributable to any neglect on their part.

The penalties that can be imposed on individuals found guilty of any offence are up to 12 months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £10,000 on summary complaint and 2 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine on indictment.

Next Steps

We will be monitoring the progression of this Bill through Parliament and whilst there may be some relevant changes to be made, it is unlikely that the regulatory aspects will change to any significant extent.

The Government will be required to issue guidance on how duty holders can comply with their responsibilities under the new Bill and this will be released in due course. As with other statutory guidance, proof of compliance with such guidance will assist in demonstrating a duty holder has complied with its duties. The SIA are also required to issue guidance on how they will seek to enforce this legislation so that duty holders will have clarity on how they can best protect themselves from enforcement action.

We will continue to monitor the Bill's progression through Parliament and provide updates but if you want to get ahead and understand more fully how this legislation may affect you and your business please do contact Clare Bone or your usual Brodies contact.

Contributor

Clare Bone

Partner & Solicitor Advocate