WHAT IS HAPPENING?

• The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill is currently at the Report stage in the House of Lords. It is anticipated that it may become law around the eighth anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack (22 May).
• Those responsible for qualifying premises will be mandated to take reasonably practicable measures to improve public safety.
• The extent of requirements will be based on a tiered approach with premises and events either falling in the 'Standard or Enhanced Tier', subject to capacity thresholds.
• The Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry identified failings in security arrangements which led to the recommendation of a 'Protect Duty', to ensure a coherent and proportionate approach to protective security in public spaces.  This, together with the tireless campaign, by Figen Murray OBE, the mother of Martyn Hett, to improve security has led to the development of Martyn's Law.

WHAT DOES THE BILL DO?

• The Bill is being introduced to ensure public premises and events are better prepared and ready to respond to terrorist attacks by taking reasonably practicable measures to mitigate the impact of a terrorism attack and reduce physical harm.
• The measures required in the Bill vary according to the capacity of the premises or event:

'standard tier'  qualifying premises and events (capacity of more than 200 but fewer than 800 people who may be present at the same time)

• those responsible will be required to notify the regulator of their premises and put in place reasonably practicable procedural measures to keep the public safe. The requirements for organisations at these smaller premises will be focused on simple, low-cost activities surrounding policies and procedures.
• In scope are premises wholly or mainly used for a qualifying activity including retail, the sale of food or drink, pubs, nightclub and entertainment venues, hotels, museums, galleries, healthcare and education.

'enhanced tier' qualifying premises and events (capacity of more than 800 individuals who may be present at the same time)

• those responsible will be required to put in place public protection procedures and measures that could be expected to reduce, so far as reasonably practicable, both the risk from an attack occurring at the premises or event as well as the risk of physical harm being caused if an attack was to occur.

RESPONSIBLE PERSON

The Bill introduces the concept of a "responsible person". The responsible person may be an individual, but in many cases, it is anticipated to be an organisation and will differ depending on whether they are responsible for the premises or an event. For premises, it will be the person who has control of the premises in connection with one of the uses identified in the Bill. This will usually be the premises operator; for example, if a person leases a building for retail use as a shop and is in control of the building for that use, they will be the responsible person. 

It is possible for there to be multiple responsible persons, for example, in a shopping centre, the retail lease tenant will be the responsible person, provided the lease confers on the tenant sufficient control of the property. However, the landlord that holds the lease for, and operates, a shopping centre might also be the responsible person.

For qualifying events, in most cases the responsible person will be the event organiser, but it will depend on whom maintains control of the site.

The Home Office has confirmed that once on the statute books later this year, businesses will be given a lead- in time of at least 2 years to understand and implement their new obligations and allow for the new regulator to be established. There will also be dedicated guidance so that those affected will have the required information on what to do and how best to do it.

For businesses with multiple affected premises, it is advisable to review the existing guidance, monitor the publication of new guidance and assess within the organisation who the responsible person will be and the practicalities around their duties for the business.