What is Martyn’s Law and what should licensed premises expect?

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as ‘Martyn’s Law’, received Royal Assent in April, officially becoming an Act of Parliament. It is expected to have a 24-month implementation period.

Martyn’s Law is named after Martyn Hett, son of Figen Murray OBE who has tirelessly campaigned to have counter-terrorism measures mandated for public venues since the devastating Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 which claimed the lives of 22 innocent people, including Martyn.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will oversee the investigation and enforcement of the Act. The SIA is also responsible for producing guidance on how it proposes to exercise its functions, and we are currently awaiting that guidance. Guidance from the Home Office is also awaited.

What premises will be affected?

The Act imposes obligations upon various types of premises and the obligations differ according to the capacity of the premises.

The Act defines ‘qualifying premises’ and ‘qualifying events’. Those qualifying premises include the following:

• shops
• premises used for the sale of food and drink
• premises used for entertainment or leisure activities
• sports grounds
• libraries, museums and galleries
• halls or venues used for events, exhibitions or conferences
• visitor attractions
• hotels
• places of worship
• holiday parks
• healthcare premises
• transport stations
• childcare and educational establishments
• public authority premises
• aerodromes.

A ‘qualifying event’ is an event to which the public has access, it is expected that 800 individuals or more may be present, and measures are in place to check that those attending have paid to do so, have tickets or passes allowing access or are members or guests of a club, association or similar body.

What are the different tiers?

Where it is reasonable to expect the capacity of a premises will be up to 199 persons present at any time, those premises will fall outside the scope of Martyn’s Law. There are two tiers that premises with a capacity of 200 or more may fall into. These are ‘Standard Tier’ and ‘Enhanced Tier’.

Premises with an expected capacity of 200 to 799 will be regarded as ‘Standard Duty Premises’ or ‘Standard Tier’ and premises with an expected capacity of 800 or more will fall within the definition of ‘Enhanced Duty Premises’ or the ‘Enhanced Tier’.

The Secretary of State has the power to amend these capacities, if it is necessary to do so for public protection. These amendments are likely to be made in line with the Government’s national terrorism threat level. This is currently ‘substantial’ and if the level moves to ‘severe – an attack is likely’ or ‘critical – an attack is likely in the near future’, the capacities of each tier can be reduced to 100 for the ‘Standard Tier’ and 500 for the ‘Enhanced Tier’. The threat level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service (MI5).

What duties are being placed upon premises?

The Act requires ‘standard tier’ premises to implement ‘public protection procedures’. These are procedures which those working on premises or at an event must follow including:

• evacuation procedures;
• procedures for moving those on the premises or at the event to a place where there is less risk of physical harm being caused;
• procedures to prevent individuals entering or leaving premises or events; and
• procedures for providing information to individuals on the premises or at the event.

The legislation does not require physical measures to be implemented for ‘Standard Tier’ premises; however, those responsible for premises/events and those working within those premises or at events must be trained upon the procedures which have been implemented.

‘Enhanced Tier’ premises and ‘qualifying events’ must implement ‘public protection procedures’ and ‘public protection measures’. ‘Public protection measures’ relate to:

• the monitoring of the premises or event and their immediate vicinity;
• movement of individuals into, out of and within the premises or event;
• physical safety and security of the premises or event; and
• security information in relation to the premises or event.

The ‘Enhanced Tier’ duties will require more measures to be implemented, and these can be achieved by physical measures or processes which promote each of the objectives listed above.

If you have questions or concerns about Martyn’s Law, please contact licensing lawyer Sarah Taylor.