New guidance has been published to support large and small organisations – including museums – to legally comply with the new Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, which comes into force across the UK next April.
Also know as Martyn’s Law, in tribute to Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester arena attack, the legislation aims to improve security at public premises and events.
It requires those responsible for certain premises and events to take appropriate steps to reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks and consider how they would respond in the event of an attack.
The new guidance includes details of what types of premises and events fall under the legislation and what their legal requirements are. It also outlines who is responsible for complying with the law and the remit of its regulator, the Security Industry Authority.
What does the law mean for museums?
Smaller premises where between 200 and 799 people, including staff and volunteers, could reasonably be present at any one time must comply with the law under its standard tier requirements for public protection measures.
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Staff must ensure evacuation routes are in place, know how to swiftly implement a lockdown in the building, and be able to quickly communicate with their visitors in the event of an attack.
Larger premises, where 800-plus people will be present, are required to implement the advanced tier requirements, taking further steps to reduce their vulnerability to acts of terrorism around four areas: monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and security of information.
Measures might include CCTV, bag search policies, vehicle security barriers or social media policies that limit the sharing of sensitive information.
Premises where it’s not possible or reasonable to assume more than 200 people will be present at any one time are excluded from the act. In addition, “parks, gardens and other open-air premises used for recreation or leisure” are excluded if they do not have measures to control or check visitor admissions.
Where premises include “other land”, such as a stately home with a garden, or are primarily outdoors but include one or more buildings on site, such as an open-air museum, the guidance states: “As the definition of premises refers to the building and the other land, it is not relevant whether individuals are expected to be present in the buildings, only gathered on the land outside, or a mixture of both.”
Crucially, the act makes it clear that a terrorist attack might occur anywhere – therefore, the requirements do not only relate to events or premises considered more likely to experience an attack.
The guidance includes a section on free or paid events taking place in premises that would otherwise fall outside the scope of Martyn’s Law, for example, a small museum that doesn’t meet the standard tier threshold but runs occasional ticketed events for crowds of 800-plus people.
