All churches which hold 100 people or more will be affected by legal requirements to notify a regulator and prepare for the possibility of a terrorist attack, if the proposed ‘protect duty’ becomes law.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill will impose requirements on both large publicly accessible and ‘smaller premises’ (and events) in readiness for a potential attack and for public protection. A new regulator will also be appointed with powers of inspection and enforcement.
The requirements for smaller premises (‘standard tier premises’) have been set out in a recent public consultation (which closed on 18 March) and will apply to places of worship – among other venues – with a capacity of between 100 and 799 individuals. Responses are now being analysed.
Churches with capacity for fewer than 100 people will not be affected by the rules. Churches falling within the ‘standard tier’ would need to implement ‘procedural measures that could be expected to reduce, so far as reasonably practicable, the risk of physical harm to individuals at the premises in the event of an attack’.
The focus would be expected to be on evacuation, ‘invacuation’ (defined as ‘moving people to somewhere safe inside a building, when there is danger outside or in another part of the building’) lockdown and communicating with individuals to, for example, move them out of danger.
The proposals form part of the wider so-called Martyn’s Law, named after Martyn Hett who was killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack. It will be applicable across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Danny Webster from the Evangelical Alliance (EAUK), who has responded to the consultation (now closed), said the EAUK will be preparing guidance for churches.
The government has already consulted on proposals relating to an ‘enhanced tier’ for larger premises with a capacity of 800 or more. These venues will have to take ‘reasonably practicable’ actions to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack, including keeping and updating an assessed security document, and designating a ‘senior member’ of staff for an event.
