In September 2024 the Government introduced the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (the "Bill") into Parliament. Dedicated to Martyn Hett (a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing), the Bill - known as Martyn's Law - is intended to strengthen public safety by requiring a new duty on those responsible for premises and public events to "increase preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks at public venues." The Bill follows one of the recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry (the "Inquiry") to introduce primary legislation that implemented "an obligation for those with responsibility for publicly accessible locations to consider and, where required, implement security measures in order to protect the public."

Martyn's Law will apply to 'standard' and 'enhanced' tiered premises. The former, being a location with a capacity of more than 200 but less than 800 people. The latter being premises or events with a capacity of more than 800 people. Although the Bill mutually uses the wording "appropriate and reasonably practicable" to describe the measures each type of premise will need to adopt, in essence: the larger the premises, the greater the obligations and procedures required to ensure public safety. The obligation to implement the measures will fall to the responsible person, that being whoever is in control of the premises in connection with its use. This could be a tenant, property owner, or more than one party (depending on the circumstances). In the case of premises or events which would fall into the enhanced tier, where the responsible person is not an individual, they must designate a senior individual who is concerned in the management or control of the premises / event. 

The Bill also gives the Security Industry Authority powers to enforce non-compliance. This could be a fine of up to £10,000 for standard tier premises, and £18 million or 5% of worldwide revenue for enhanced tier premises or events. If non-compliance continues, standard tier premises could face a daily penalty of up to £500, and enhanced tier premises up to £50,000. 

Our recent passle post covering the Statutory Inquiries Committee's report “Public inquiries: Enhancing public trust”, highlighted the House of Lords’ concern that, as the government is not obliged to implement inquiry recommendations (despite often publicly accepting them), they can often suffer from inaction. Martyn's Law, however, serves as an example that positive action can be taken and that the recommendations raised by public inquiries may even find their way into legislation.  

With the Bill now in Parliament (and set for its second reading on 14 October), it will hopefully see a key recommendation from the Inquiry come to fruition. This will not only help to reduce the risk of similar tragedies reoccurring, but more broadly challenge the concern that the recommendations of public inquiries are being undermined. The Bill's factsheet states that guidance and support will be provided to ensure the relevant duty holders have information "on what to do and how best to do it"; in the meantime those who may be deemed to be a 'responsible person' will wish to monitor the passage of this legislation and the responsibilities the new duty will bring. 

If you would like to discuss how this subject might impact your business, please get in touch with our Public Inquiries and / or Health and Safety team. 

Article written by Nick Mills and Gemma Ludgate