Select committee: Home Affairs Committee
Fourth Report - Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill
HC 1359
Published 27 July 2023
Home Affairs Committee Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Draft Bill Report on parliament.uk ↗
At a glance15 recommendations and 20 conclusions · No government response linked yet: deadline 27 September 2023, 1131 days ago
The government's response
No government response linked yet: deadline 27 September 2023, 1131 days ago.
What the committee recommended 35
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Sources
- Fourth Report - Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill ↗The committee's report, HC 1359, parliament.uk
Recommendations and conclusions 35
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Draft Terrorism Bill's proportionality concerning smaller premises lacks sufficient justification and effectiveness. Conclusion (the committee's words)We welcome the Government’s overall intention behind the Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, but have serious concerns about its proportionality, especially in relation to its impact on smaller premises, within the standard tier, where there is a lack of evidence that the risk of terrorist threat justifies the measures proposed or that the Bill will have any effect on reducing terrorist threats. We also have some concerns around the regulator. The whole thrust of the Draft Bill seems to be aimed at bricks and mortar rather than the real target which is a concentration of people or use of buildings by individuals or groups at higher risk of attack.
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2
Draft Bill's impact assessment deemed "not fit for purpose" for small venues. Conclusion (the committee's words)We agree with the Regulatory Policy Committee’s (RPC) rating of the Government’s impact assessment of the Draft Bill as “not fit for purpose”. We draw this conclusion as the RPC does, because of the absence of evidence “that the proposal would reduce terrorism for small venues”.
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3
Clarify the Draft Bill's overall purpose and objectives for all captured premises. Conclusion (the committee's words)The overall objective of the Draft Bill remains opaque. We agree with the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation that the overall purpose of the Bill must be made clear, especially to those venues/premises that will be captured by the duties in the Bill. The rhetoric around the Draft Bill appears to suggest that the Bill is more about prevention. However, our analysis of the Draft Bill suggests it is about the consequences of a terrorist attack.
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4
Consistently set out the Draft Bill's purpose in all official documents and guidance. Conclusion (the committee's words)The Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, the explanatory notes to the Bill and all guidance related to the Bill must clearly, and consistently, set out what the purpose of the Bill is.
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5
Draft Terrorism Bill would not have prevented most recent UK terrorist attacks. Conclusion (the committee's words)We are concerned to learn that the Draft Bill would not have made a difference to the vast majority of the terrorist attacks that have happened in the UK in recent years. This suggests that the Draft Bill will not achieve some of its main objectives.
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6
Modify Draft Bill to ensure effectiveness against future terrorist attacks based on past incidents. Recommendation (the committee's words)If the Bill is to proceed, the Government must consider what changes could be made to the Draft Bill that would have made it effective should it have existed at the time of recent terrorist attacks.
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7
Launch targeted communications campaign to raise awareness of Draft Bill duties for premises. Recommendation (the committee's words)In order for venues/premises captured by the Draft Bill to prepare for the requirements that will be imposed on them through the Draft Bill, the Home Office must undertake a targeted communications campaign to raise awareness of the Draft Bill as soon as possible. This campaign should set out what the main duties are for standard and enhanced premises, what organisations will be captured by the duties and what they are expected to do as a result.
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8
Estimated costs for premises implementing Draft Bill proposals are disproportionate and unclear. Conclusion (the committee's words)The cost on standard and enhanced tier premises of implementing these proposals, estimated by the Government, is disproportionate to the level of threat, particularly Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill 27 for those small and medium-sized premises captured in the standard tier. In addition, the basis for the Government’s estimates is unclear, and they may well turn out to be underestimates. Given the potentially serious consequences, this is a significant concern.
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9
Publish criteria used for calculating estimated implementation costs for qualifying premises. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Home Office should publish the criteria used to calculate the estimated cost to qualifying premises to help premises and Parliament understand how those figures were arrived at.
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10
Draft Bill fails to account for diverse and regional terrorism threats across the UK. Conclusion (the committee's words)The threat of terrorism and the types of terrorist attacks across the United Kingdom vary widely. The fact that attacks that have happened in parts of the UK, such as Scotland, would not fall in scope of the Draft Bill is a concern to us. We are not convinced that the Draft Bill takes into account the varying types of terror threats posed to each part of the United Kingdom.
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11
Government lacks rationale for capacity thresholds, especially concerning small and community premises. Conclusion (the committee's words)The Government has not provided a rationale or any evidence for why capacity figures of 100 and 800 for standard and enhanced tier premises have been chosen, and why certain types of premises are excluded entirely. We wholly agree that larger venues—such as Manchester Arena—should be required to undertake the sort of measures set out in the Draft Bill. However, we are concerned that the capacity figure of 100 for standard tier premises, which will capture some small and micro-sized businesses, and community-run and voluntary groups, could be disproportionate and burdensome. This category is particularly troubling because it would include many smaller venues that may not have sufficient resources to cover costs of what is proposed. It would also cover village halls, places of worship and similar amenities that provide vital community support, often on low budgets. If such places are forced to close down, this represents a win for terrorism, rather than an effective means of combatting it.
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12
Implement the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill in stages, beginning with enhanced tier premises. Conclusion (the committee's words)We agree with the Local Government Association that the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill should be implemented in stages, starting with enhanced tier premises.
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13
Conduct annual reviews and research on terrorism threats for small business legislative extension. Conclusion (the committee's words)A review should be conducted yearly and every time there is a terrorist attack to assess how well the legislation has worked in protecting against, preparing for and dealing with the attack. Research should also be undertaken on the threat of terrorism to small and micro-sized businesses. Should that research suggest there is sufficient benefit of extending the legislation to standard tier premises, then provision should be made to introduce the duties to those premises at the earliest opportunity.
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14
Consider necessary financial assistance for small and micro-businesses in the enhanced tier. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government should consider what financial assistance may be necessary to support small and micro-businesses whose premises fall within the enhanced tier before introducing the Draft Bill to Parliament.
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15
Expand Draft Bill scope to include large, free, publicly accessible outdoor events. Recommendation (the committee's words)All publicly accessible outdoor events are a prime target for terrorists, whether or not express permission is needed to enter. The Government should consider expanding the scope of the Draft Bill to include those outdoor events with a capacity of over 800 and where express permission and payment is not required to enter.
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16
Agreement with scope of Bill's terrorism protection requirements for public premises and events. Conclusion (the committee's words)In principle, we agree with the scope of the requirements set out in the Bill for qualifying public premises and qualifying public events, including the provision of terrorism protection training.
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Prescribe standards for terrorism protection training and address impact on voluntary organisations. Recommendation (the committee's words)However, those duties must co-exist effectively with existing duties and practices, and must be the responsibility of the right people. The precise details of those duties must also be meaningful as well as practicable. In particular, any training that is provided needs to be of a prescribed standard; otherwise, there is an obvious danger that organisations will provide something of limited or no value. The Government should also give further consideration to how voluntary run organisations might be impacted by the requirement to provide training and work with the sector to find a more suitable alternative to the current system of training outlined in the Draft Bill.
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18
Draft Bill lacks crucial details on regulator's identity, governance, and accountability. Conclusion (the committee's words)The regulator will be a key factor in determining the success of the Draft Bill’s measures. It will have extensive powers and oversee a regulatory framework estimated to cost billions of pounds. However, the Draft Bill is currently incomplete on the identity of the regulator, its governance, and its accountability. There are no provisions setting out who the regulator will be, whether it will be independent or not, how it operates and how it should be accountable. It appears to be the Government’s intention that the Draft Bill will be developed on this point once it has considered the outcome of the pre-legislative scrutiny process. However, that is misunderstanding the nature of such scrutiny; it is not for select committees to help initiate legislative provisions, particularly of such a fundamental nature, but rather to comment on draft provisions produced by Government.
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Develop concrete proposals for regulator and amend Draft Bill before introduction. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government should develop concrete proposals on the regulator within the next two months and amend the Draft Bill before introducing the Bill to the House.
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20
Standard of proof for regulator's contravention and restriction notices must be proportionate. Conclusion (the committee's words)The regulator will have the power to issue contravention and restriction notices on premises, which may have serious consequences. This may well be justified in certain circumstances given the risks involved. However, it is important that the standard of proof required before using such notices is proportionate to the severity of the non-compliance.
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Regulator's extensive investigatory and enforcement powers require proportionate use. Conclusion (the committee's words)The regulator’s investigatory and enforcement powers are potentially extensive and intrusive. The provision of these powers may be necessary, but they must be used in a proportionate manner.
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Review the operation of regulator's investigatory and enforcement powers, ensuring justified thresholds. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government should review the operation of the investigatory and enforcement powers and ensure the thresholds for using them, and the manner in which they may be used, are justified accordingly.
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23
Immediate medical assistance from venue staff is crucial after a terrorist attack. Conclusion (the committee's words)The way in which first responders intervene after a terrorist attack could be the difference between life and death. Those working at the venues or premises captured Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill 29 by the Draft Bill will most likely be the ones who are able to help provide immediate medical assistance. The Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill provides an opportunity for the Government to ensure that large-scale venues and public premises roll out appropriate medical training to staff, including security officers, on how to respond to casualties after a terrorist attack has taken place.
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Include provisions in Draft Bill for mandatory life-saving training and bandage kits for staff. Conclusion (the committee's words)The Home Office should include a provision in the Draft Bill to provide mandatory life-saving training to staff to the premises captured by the Bill. The Home Office should also consider providing for mandatory bandage kits on those premises.
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Publicly accessible new builds should incorporate security considerations into their design. Conclusion (the committee's words)We agree that the Draft Terrorism Bill could be strengthened by making it a requirement for publicly accessible new builds to consider security in the design of the building.
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Include provisions in Bill requiring enhanced tier premises to consider security in building design. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government should include provision in the Bill to require new publicly accessible buildings, which would fall within the category of enhanced tier premises, to consider security in the design of the building.
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UK security industry's low training entry thresholds are unacceptable and concerning. Conclusion (the committee's words)We are gravely concerned to hear that the UK security industry has one of the lowest entry thresholds in Europe for training. This is simply unacceptable. If the Government is serious about protecting the public from terrorist attacks, improving the training of those working in the security industry seems like an obvious step.
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28
Work with Security Industry Authority to urgently standardise and improve security guard training across UK. Recommendation (the committee's words)Independently of the Draft Bill, the Government must work with the Security Industry Authority to look to urgently standardise and improve training for security guards across the UK.
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Draft Bill misses opportunity to address concerns about security officer education and procurement. Conclusion (the committee's words)Security at publicly accessible venues is vital in preventing and handling a terrorist attack. Yet there are some serious concerns about the education and procurement of security officers that the Draft Bill does not attempt to address, despite the fact the Government is “looking at it separately”. The Draft Bill presents an opportunity for the Government to address these issues.
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30
Incorporate provisions into Draft Bill for education and procurement of security at enhanced tier premises. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government should consider incorporating provisions into the Draft Bill in relation to education and procurement of security at enhanced tier premises and venues.
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Take urgent steps to prevent the spread of false information among premises captured by the Draft Bill. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government must take steps to prevent the spread of false information regarding the Draft Bill amongst premises that would be captured by the Bill, urgently.
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Inform premises captured by the Draft Bill about self-styled consultants and official information sources. Recommendation (the committee's words)Following our recommendation regarding a targeted communications campaign in chapter 1, the Government should use this campaign to ensure those premises captured by the Draft Bill are aware of these self-styled consultants and ensure premises know where they can get up-to-date, accurate information.
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Standardise risk assessments under the Draft Bill to prevent varying standards across venues. Conclusion (the committee's words)We agree that there should be a standard on the risk assessment provided for in the Draft Bill, in order to prevent different standards of risk assessment taking place across those venues and premises captured by the legislation.
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Issue all Draft Bill guidance and establish a feedback mechanism for affected premises. Recommendation (the committee's words)The Government must issue all draft guidance accompanying the Draft Bill by the end of August 2023. There should be an opportunity for those premises captured by the Draft Bill and who will be relying on the guidance to feed back any concerns they have, as well as offer any recommendations for improvement.
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Incorporate proposed textual changes from the report's Annex into the forthcoming Bill. Recommendation (the committee's words)We recommend that the Government consider incorporating proposed textual changes set out in the Annex to this report into any Bill it presents to the House during the next Session of Parliament.