On the 14th October 2024, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill was commended to the House of Commons, as part of the Second Reading of the draft legislation. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, Yvette Cooper, outlined that the intention of the bill is to introduce proportionate security steps for in-scope premises and events, as part of Government commitments to ensuring the ‘protection of life’ against terrorism in the UK.
The introduction of the legislation into Parliament, also known as ‘Martyn’s Law’, follows 169 recommendations as part of the Manchester Arena inquiry, one of which was that of a duty to afford better protection to people within public premises. Emotional tribute was paid to the ‘true inspiration’ of Figen Murray, mother to Martyn Hett who was tragically killed during the Manchester Arena attack of 2017, in spearheading the lobbying campaign for the legislation. In addition, tribute was paid to both survivors of terrorism, and those who have been killed by terrorist attacks in the UK.
With the Director General of MI5, Ken McCallum, recently revealing that 43 late-stage plots have been disrupted by the Security Services and policing partners since 2017, many MPs and ministers made reference within the debate to the importance of the legislation in the face of an ‘ever evolving’, ‘enduring’ and ‘less predictable’ terrorism threat landscape.
Cross-party support was evident, with statements of support made by MPs from a range of UK political parties including the Labour Party, Conservatives, Scottish National Party, Liberal Democrats, Democratic Unionist Party, Traditional Unionist Voice and the Co-Operative Party. Amendments already proposed by the Labour Government to the previous draft legislation include increasing the venue capacity threshold for premises in-scope for the Standard Tier, from 100 to 200, and the use of terminology consistent with Health and Safety legislation of “so far as is reasonably practicable”; to increase proportionality in implementation of protective security procedures and measures. Whilst broad cross-party support was evident, the parliamentary scrutiny process highlights a number of remaining concerns. Concerns included issues relating to potential costs, burden, empowerment through training, the role of the regulator, and liability issues.
The Government has set out its intention to address such concerns through further scrutiny during the committee stages, as well as by undertaking further liaison with industry bodies and representatives. This should ensure that an appropriate balance is met between protection, without impinging upon ‘our way of life’. The Government has outlined that the Public Bill Committee phase, providing further legislative scrutiny, is expected to last until Tuesday 19 November 2024.
Pool Re also welcomes mention in the debate of the role that insurance and insurers could play in supporting the potential legislation, and will be monitoring the legislative progress and engaging with insurers. Pool Re will continue to support its members and policyholders in navigating the legislation, if and when passed.
As always, updates on the legislative progress of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill will continue to be published on the Pool Re Martyn’s Law Hub.
A full transcript of the parliamentary session can be found here.