At Risk Box we work with a number of venues, festivals and event organisers on how to protect their businesses and themselves from a range of risks, primarily through insurance. One of these key exposures is potential liability arising from terrorist incidents.

Whilst Insurance can be vital in stepping in when the worst has happened, preventing the worst from happening is always better. That is why we are interested in seeing how Martyn’s Law will function when it comes into effect.

Our friends at NQ Legal have been closely monitoring the situation, and are in a position to explain quite what Martyn’s Law is, how it will work and what it will mean to those businesses that are in control of spaces that attract numbers of people.

Please see their summary of the current position below:

On Tuesday 7th November, the King’s Speech announced The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill  – known as Martyn’s Law – is set to become law.

The Bill will raise the security standard throughout the UK requiring a base level of security procedures to be in place at premises and events. It will require certain venues to fulfil necessary but proportionate steps according to their capacity to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm. Premises and events with a capacity of 100 to 799 will be in the ‘standard tier’, while premises with a capacity of 800 or above will be in the ‘enhanced tier’.

Ahead of introducing the Bill to Parliament, the government intends to seek views via a public consultation on the standard tier, to ensure the Bill strikes the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises.

It does seem though that the proposed enhanced tier provisions are likely to stay in substantially the same form as currently drafted, despite attracting criticism from the Home Affairs Committee and other influential commentators. Time will tell.

We will publish further updates from NQ Legal as the situation develops, however further information can be found on NQ Legal’s own website, via the Home Office and also on ProtectUK websites.

Anyone with particular queries, or wanting to discuss these potential changes and how it might affect their business can get in touch directly with Tony and Carol at NQ Legal here.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash