Protect Duty in the UK- Danielle Bounds, Sales Director, ICC Wales

New legislation initiated by Figen Murray OBE, whose son Martyn Hett was one of the 22 people killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack, is currently being progressed by the UK government, and is set to transform the way the events industry thinks about safety and security.

The Protect Duty legislation, also known as Martyn’s Law, will formalise the responsibilities and actions that venues and those organising events in the UK must take to mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack.

At new South Wales conference venue ICC Wales, we have explored the proposed legislation and developed a detailed document to provide a starting point for education and awareness, which venues and event planners can consult as they implement and update their security strategies in line with this proposed legislation.

To understand the current level of knowledge on Protect Duty amongst the UK the events industry, we launched a survey to conference organisers.

77% of respondents said they had very low or low knowledge of Protect Duty and the impending legislation. More than half (56%) said they wanted to see a more visible security presence but that this needed to be balanced with the attendee experience.

We developed our Protect Duty report, which includes significant contributions from counter terrorism professionals and security experts as well as from Figen Murray OBE, to provide an informative starting point for events industry professionals to support them in preparing their response to the upcoming legislation.

To ensure that we are compliant with the recommendations, the venue has already undertaken a vulnerability assessment, which we will review once the legislation is formalised, to ensure that our visitors and staff remain safe and secure.

The report is available for download here.