The Home Office has set out its proposed ‘Protect duty‘; a legal requirement for safety and security of public venues and spaces from terrorist attacks.
The Home Office says its proposals have been championed by victims’ groups, including the Martyn’s Law campaign which was set up by Figen Murray, whose son, Martyn, was among victims of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I have heard first hand from those who have sadly lost loved ones in horrific terror attacks, and thank them for their tireless work to ensure others do not share their tragedy.
“This Government has already taken significant steps to amend our powers and strengthen the tools for dealing with the developing terrorist threats we face, and we will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. That is why we want all organisations responsible for public venues and spaces to put public safety and security first.”
Figen Murray, the mother of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena suicide bomb said: “Today is a major stride towards making our country safer from terror attacks. I want to thank the government for taking this step. To make Martyn’s Law a reality is of huge relief and I look forward to making a lasting difference with all of those who have supported it.”
The consultation will run for 18 weeks, to July 2; and will seek views on:
who the duty should apply to – the consultation document suggests from hotels to hospitals to parks and beaches;
what it will require stakeholders to do;
how compliance should work; and
how the Government can support the ‘publicly accessible locations’ that the duty applies to.
The Home Office says that its intention is that the duty would apply to specified owners and operators of public venues, large organisations and those responsible for public spaces. It would require those places covered by the duty to consider terrorist threats, and consider and implement appropriate and proportionate protective security and organisational preparedness measures.
However when the duty was trailed by speeches by Home Office minister James Brokenshire (to the think-tank RUSI) and Home Office official Shaun Hipgrave (to the International Security Expo online event) late last year, as featured in the January print edition of Professional Security magazine, it was suggested that the duty would apply much wider than concert and other venues; to supermarkets and even coffee shops.
Professional Security also featured security managers who would be likely to have to work to the proposed duty, who were sceptical of whether the duty was workable; whether budget would be forthcoming for training for staff; where the expert guidance would come from (a lack of authoritative guidance on counter-terror in 2017 having cropped up at the Manchester Arena inquiry) and who if anyone (counter-terror police advisers, CTSAs?) would audit and enforce the duty; and what if any would be the penalties for non-compliance.
The Home Office speaks of working with the official Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) ‘to extend the reach of appropriate advice, guidance and training across all sectors’.
To recap, it was only in February 2020 that the Home Office took up the cause of ‘Martyn’s Law’ and, unusually, ahead of the opening of the Manchester Arena inquiry, delayed due to the covid pandemic, said that it was going to go out to consultation about such a duty.
