AEV security update: events and venues

Henry Havis, head of security at ExCeL London and chair of the AEV Security Working Group gives an update on Martyn’s Law

It’s great to have been asked to provide an update regarding security changes for event venues and a lot has happened in the last six months!
Homeland Security released an update on the long-awaited Protect Duty in December 2022. The first change being that the government announced that the Protect Duty will now be known officially as ‘Martyn’s Law’ in tribute to Martyn Hett, who was tragically killed alongside 21 others in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017.

Tiers
To provide everyone some more clarity on the new legislation, Homeland Security have advised that proportionality is a fundamental consideration for Martyn’s Law, which I think will be reassuring for us all. They are proposing a tiered model linked to activity that takes place at a location and its capacity.

A ‘standard tier’ will apply to locations with a maximum capacity of over 100. The aim is to drive up use and engagement with existing resources that help teams undertake low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve preparedness. This can 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.

An ‘enhanced tier’ will focus on high-capacity locations in recognition of the potential consequences of a successful attack. Locations with a capacity of over 800 people, at any time, will additionally be required to undertake a risk assessment to inform the development and implementation of a security plan to assess the balance of risk reduction against the time, money and effort required to achieve a successful level of security preparedness – a recognised standard in other regulatory regimes (including Fire and Health and Safety).
They have stated that nearly all places of worship will be placed within the standard tier, regardless of their capacity and the government will reportedly establish an inspection and enforcement regime, promoting compliance and positive cultural change and issuing credible and fair sanctions for serious breaches.

Support and guidance
Dedicated statutory guidance and bespoke support will be provided by the government to ensure those in scope can effectively discharge their responsibilities. Expert advice, training and guidance is already available on the online protective security hub, ProtectUK.

It is worth stressing the point that the tiers are being set for capacities, not numbers of attendees. Meaning that an event space with the capacity for over 800 but with only 500 attendees, would still need to prepare using the ‘enhanced tier’ requirements.

Legislation for the proposed duty will be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allows. Martyn’s Law will extend to and apply across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The events industry
What does this mean to the events industry? Over the course of 2022, myself and my peers in the events world, alongside the Counter Terrorism Business Information Exchange (CTBIE), a counter terrorism forum working with the Home Office, NaCTSO, Homeland Security and the SIA as well as many representatives from non-event-industry associations, discussed how we best share direct source information on Martyn’s Law, but also many subjects that affect our businesses regarding terrorism.

For the events industry, we identified that there are many associations that may not have a voice in this area, but they do have a desire to learn more about the subject directly from the source. As we know, the Protect UK platform bridges many of the gaps we have regarding CT awareness and preparedness, but associations need to be represented in the early phases of new legislation as well as guidance, trends and changes in the best ways of working.

Together with my peers in the Association of Event Venues, specifically the Security Working Group, we spoke to many other event-orientated associations and formed a forum known as the Multi Association Security Awareness Group (MASA). The group came together and represented associations across the events industry to discuss the information disseminated via CTBIE to enhance how we share information. The group is still growing and will have a positive impact on the preparedness of the events industry regarding counter terrorism and security issues in general.

Scope
At estimate, some 600,000+ venues across the UK, may be classified as small ‘non tier’, larger ‘standard tier’ and significantly larger ‘enhanced tier’ locations”. The most recent information provided from the government demonstrates that Martyn’s Law is likely to affect nearly all event venues in all tiers. We can see that the Home Office are already providing us with many of the resources we need to do this through CT Policing support and, more importantly, through the Protect UK platform.

Where we need to develop ourselves as an industry is through working closely with all stakeholders to ensure we develop a risk-based plan to ensure events like Manchester Arena Attack do not happen again and, if in the worst-case scenario they do, we are prepared to act quickly and decisively to contain the incident and reduce the loss of life.

Take action now
The output from the Manchester Arena Inquiry so far looks at many steps that could have been taken to protect and prepare venues from terrorist incidents and the aftermath and the learning is already out there for everyone to take appropriate responsibility and start making realistic changes now. Waiting for legislation to take effect could still take several years but with the understanding that is available now, venues, organisers, suppliers, businesses and associations need to take the steps they can to ensure that we are doing all we can, as one entity, to ensure the safe running of our events and protecting the public we open our doors to on a daily basis.

The question of how still hasn’t fully taken form and will take time to fully understand but collaboration at all levels will be the key to this endeavour. Those waiting for the Competent Person Scheme to be released by the Home Office and for Martyn’s Law to be cleared through the government need to see that there is a very real and substantial threat from terrorism in the UK and now is the time to take some realistic and balanced changes within the ways we work as the responsibility for this sits with everyone involved whether directed by law or not.

Subtle changes can make a world of difference including working with NaCTSO’s Safer Business team, and completing thorough, but not complicated risk assessments looking at the major threat types. In the current environment, I would like to see every Security Officer thoroughly trained in Behaviour Detection Recognition and First Responder Trauma Care, but this isn’t realistic for every company and every venue, but having robust security plans, preprepared and practiced emergency procedures and conducting rehearsals will ensure that, should the worst happen, everyone is ready to react and reduce the impact. The amount of free training available such as Action Counters Terrorism and See, Check and Notify is incredible and easy to get hold of.

There’s a lot more to come from the Home Office and learning and enhancing our processes, policies and procedures should be an ongoing endeavour however, we are at a point now that change is happening and groups such as CTBIE, MASA, AEV, NAA, AEO, ESSA and many others are working together closely to influence those changes across the industry. It will take time, but the changes have begun, and I am proud to be a part of the changes many of us are making now, for the better.