The United Kingdom government’s proposed Terrorism Protection of Premises Bill — better known as Martyn’s Law — recently was released in its draft form for official parliamentary scrutiny by the Home Affairs Select Committee ahead of its formal introduction likely in summer 2024.
The regulations will apply to all event and gathering spaces, including hotel lobbies, ballrooms, meeting spaces and other on-property areas. Hoteliers will need to form plans and procedures for when the proposed regulations become law. Ultimately, the responsibility is on property owners and on an individual, not group or portfolio, basis.
The bill is named for Martyn Hett, one of 22 people killed by a bombing in the Manchester Arena, now known as the AO Arena, in May 2017. The bombing followed a performance by singer Ariana Grande as concert attendees were leaving the building. Hett was 29 years old when he died.
One proposed provision is that qualifying premises must be registered with an official registrar — yet to be appointed — as must all events of more than 100 people before the event begins.
The law most likely will include open spaces.
A standard tier, which would apply to facilities that can host more than 100 people, will require hoteliers to “include training, information sharing and completion of a preparedness plan to embed practices, such as locking doors to delay attackers' progress or knowledge on lifesaving treatments that can be administered by staff whilst awaiting emergency services,” according to the bill’s text.
An enhanced tier will cater to venues and spaces in which more than 800 people can gather and will add a requirement to “undertake a risk assessment to inform the development and implementation of a thorough security plan. Subsequent measures could include developing a vigilance and security culture, implementation of physical measures like CCTV or new systems and processes to enable better consideration of security.”
One thing hoteliers must note is that in serious cases where criminal negligence is evident, other elements of criminal law could be invoked.
Mary Lawrence, head of regulatory disputes and a partner at U.K. legal firm Osborne Clarke, specializes in health and safety matters. She said it's important for hoteliers to understand that their duty is to think through the risks, not get stuck on trying to prevent a terrorism attack altogether.
Lawrence said if the right steps are put into place, and training is organized and conducted, a hotelier should be covered by the law.
“The law will be about the capacity. If there are venues hosting more than 800 people, then hoteliers are going to have to be thinking more; they will have more obligations; and there will be a need for a senior officer of the business to be present when those events are conducted,” she said.
If it is proven that there is negligence, the penalties can be extremely high, she added.
Greater Duty
Brian Moore is a director at London-based Global Secure Accreditation, which administers an independent system of security accreditation for the global hotel and hospitality sector. Moore said the proposed terrorism regulations came about due to the official public inquiry, the huge interest generated by the incident in the media and sustained lobbying efforts, including those of the victims' families.
The public inquiry highlighted “complacency, lack of planning and lack of joint exercising,” Moore said.
He said the final wording of the bill might change before summer 2024 or whenever it becomes part of U.K. statute.
“As we understand the current draft legislation, there is a list of over 20 types of qualifying premises included in a schedule to the bill. If the premises can hold 100-plus members of the public, then the law applies,” he said.
Bob Quick, executive director at Global Secure Accreditation, said the proposed law derives from the notion that “businesses can be said to have a greater duty to protect their customers.”
“Whilst the legislation is a direct response to an attack on a crowded venue, it sends a clear signal that all business leaders need to think about the potential risks and vulnerabilities of their staff and customers in terms of criminal or terrorist attacks,” he said. “There is a great deal that can be done to improve our resilience as a nation and this legislation has been conceived to set us on this path in the hope all sectors will engage, not just venues.
“The key failure was a lack of effective planning and exercising of contingencies to prevent, deter and respond to a reasonably foreseeable risk,” Quick added.
Lawrence said the final details of the act are not yet known, but there will be a regulator to whom hotels will report venue size, scheduled events and the responsible officials overseeing events.
She added those familiar with General Data Protection Regulations will have a head start as the two sets of regulations will have similarities in terms of the duty of care.
Lawrence said the supply chain and organizational logistics of a meeting or event can add duties of care and that “cooperation notices” can share risks, responsibilities and communication protocols so that everyone along the line of command is made aware of all planning.
Highlighting Hotels
Moore said hotels and other forms of serviced accommodations are specifically mentioned in the draft of the bill.
He said hotels’ “open” nature and hoteliers’ emphasis on welcome, warmth and hospitality could unfortunately permit security lapses.
“Sadly, there are many examples of hotels around the world being attacked by terrorists because they allow public access and usually have an international clientele, so international headlines are created,” he said. “Every hotel should ensure effective segregation of public spaces in the premises from private spaces, for example, guest accommodation.”
Moore added that many U.K. hotels already have professional security teams and plans in place, although there are many that do not.
“Businesses are unlikely to welcome extra work, time-out for training and changes to their current processes. However, hotels should already have policies, procedures, processes and risk assessments … so the requirements should not pose a new burden for many,” he said.
He said the qualifying components to ensure compliance do not need to be complicated and must include:
- Specific terrorism evaluation or terrorism-risk assessment.
- Trained, designated persons.
- Regularly reviewed plans.
- Regular reporting to the official regulator.
“These should be straightforward procedures that hotels and other serviced accommodation will quickly get used to,” Moore said. “Owners of hotels are responsible, which means they have to work through the implications of managed or franchised arrangements … to make sure that there are designated managers with specific responsibility for undertaking and implementing the terrorism assessments and the ensuing plans, and that such designated persons are properly trained.”
He added “this can’t be at a group level; it needs to be done at each premises,” and insurance coverage is not mentioned in the proposed bill.
“The regulator can issue restriction notices ordering the owners of enhanced duty premises or the organizers of qualifying public events to take steps to ensure public protection,” he said. “Also, the regulator can impose a contravention notice when the law has been or is being contravened. Penalties for failing to comply with a contravention notice can be severe, depending on the seriousness of the breach.”
In respect of standard qualifying premises, a fixed penalty notice can be issued by the regulator imposing a fine of up to 10,000 pounds sterling ($12,341), but this can rise to 18 million pounds sterling, or 5% of worldwide turnover, in respect of enhanced duty premises or a qualifying public event.
“In the most serious cases of failing to comply with restriction notices or contravention notices in respect of enhanced public premises or qualifying public events, a prison sentence of up to two years on indictment can be imposed,” Moore said.
Lawrence said it is very possible that a new type of professional will be created to support businesses regarding Martyn’s Law.
“An internal person might need to be hired. We do not see terrorism incidents in hotels in the U.K., but there have been several abroad. The incident at Fishmongers’ Hall [a Central London venue that was the site of a 2019 terrorist attack in which two people were killed] did show that no one really knew what to do,” she said.