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Wednesday 22nd May 2024
Premier Partnership say they’re committed to helping organisations fully comply with important upcoming legislation
Leading Doncaster-based training organisation, Premier Partnership, is rolling out a series of workshops this week to help organisations comply with Martyn’s Law, which is expected to come into effect later this year.
The law will compel event sites and venues to increase their preparedness for and protection from terrorist attack by taking “proportionate steps” to keep visitors safe. According to the Home Office, an organisation’s exact obligations will “depend on the size and nature of the activities that take place at the premises.”
David Pearson, Premier Partnership’s managing director, says it’s important that organisations start to prepare now to ensure they are compliant with the new legislation, as it represents a significant operational change to event and venue organisation and management.
“While there’s no question this much-needed legislation is welcome, venues will need to make sure they are fully compliant in time for the change in the autumn,” said David. “We want to make sure businesses feel confident they’re ready at the time of the change. At the end of the day, it’s all about helping to keep people safe.”
The legislation has been put forward as a result of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack on 22nd May 2017, in which 22 people were killed and a further 29 were injured, after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive in the Arena as visitors were leaving an Ariana Grande concert.
An inquiry was later established to investigate the circumstances of the deaths and the emergency response to the incident.
A report detailing the investigation’s findings published in November 2022 stated that response teams and emergency services “failed to work together” and that at least one of the deaths had been avoidable.
Martyn Hett, who was 29 years’ old at the time of the attack, was 4 metres away from the seat of the explosion and died in the incident.
Martyn’s mother, Figen Murray, has since campaigned for a change in legislation and completed a walk from Manchester to Downing Street on Wednesday, the anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack and her son Martyn’s death, to call on the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ensure the legislation is not delayed.
Figen Murray has said she wants to prevent a similar tragedy happening again and that she wants the general public to be safe when they visit venues. “Martyn’s Law would put the responsibility for security on the venues themselves,” she said.
It is expected that the detail of Martyn’s Law will follow a tiered model and that security and planning requirements will be linked to visitor numbers and the type of activity taking place at a venue. Failure to comply with the legislation could result in hefty fines and a potential risk to trading and licences.
The workshops offered by Premier Partnership to help organisations ready themselves for Martyn’s Law include:
• Preparing for Martyn’s Law.
• Risk Assessment in Counter Terrorism for Accessible Locations.
• Writing a Preparedness Plan in Counter Terrorism for Accessible Locations.
“It’s such an important issue and venues need the reassurance that, in looking for support to help them get it right, they’re going to receive good-quality training that covers everything they need to know in a way that will make it as straightforward for them as possible,” said David Pearson.
“We’re confident that these workshops deliver that, and we look forward to welcoming our first cohort onto the programme.”
Premier Partnership is the UK’s largest independent learning and development organisation. It delivers more than 30,000 courses to the public sector and private organisations every year and was named Training Organisation of the Year by the Chartered Management Institute.
Organisations interested in registering their interest can do so here.
