Martyn’s Law: enhancing safety measures at UK public venues

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, otherwise known as Martyn’s Law, seeks to enhance safety measures at UK public venues. Introduced in Parliament on 12 September 2024, it mandates security improvements across various public spaces, including shopping centres, concert halls and community centres, to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to potential terrorist incidents.

Key provisions

Risk-tiered approach

The law categorises venues into two primary tiers:

• Standard Tier venues (where you could reasonably expect 200 or more people to be present at any time) must:
  • Register
  • Put in place appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection procedures, and
  • Ensure anyone working (including volunteers) is familiar with these procedures.
• Enhanced Tier venues (where you could reasonably expect 800 or more people to be present at any time), for example shopping centres and large stadiums, must:
  • Register
  • Nominate a person responsible for compliance
  • Put in place appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection procedures to protect and communicate with people in the event of a security incident
  • Document all procedures and measures, and
  • Ensure anyone working (including volunteers) is trained on these procedures.

Duty to co-operate

Venues not in either tier might still need to comply under the Bill's "duty to co-operate". This will be useful for owners or operators of Enhanced or Standard Duty premises who cannot operate in a silo without assistance from the tenants (e.g. in a multi-let unit) or neighbours who may, on notice, require compliance with their procedures from these third parties.

Regulation

The Security Industry Authority (SIA), the UK's private security regulatory body, will enforce Martyn’s Law. The SIA can conduct inspections, gather information, serve compliance notices, temporarily close premises and issue penalty notices (maximum of £10,000 for standard duty premises and £18m or 5% of worldwide revenue for enhanced duty premises). It will also be a criminal offence to fail to comply with an information notice, provide false or misleading information or obstruct the SIA.

Reception of Martyn’s Law

Martyn’s Law is seen as a necessary step toward enhancing public safety in the face of terrorist threats. The Home Office reports that 70% of respondents to the consultation agreed that those responsible for publicly accessible locations should take measures to protect the public from attacks.

However, there are concerns about the potential financial and operational burdens associated with compliance. Where the landlord or scheme owner is the lead party, or they are required to work with the occupiers, compliance costs are likely to be recoverable via the service charge, but analysis of the service charge provisions of each lease will be required. For businesses operating on tight margins, these extra costs could potentially threaten their ability to operate out of physical premises.