counterterrorism threat assessment . So , if you are a small venue , you can just complete an A-to-Z tick box form about your terrorism risk assessment .”
MP Tom Tugendhat , who was appointed Government minister for security on 6 September , has informed live music industry federation LIVE ( Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment ) that it is committed to bringing forward a draft Protect Duty bill this session as soon as parliamentary time allows . That means it could be spring 2023 before the draft is issued .
The bill is expected to reflect feedback from previous consultations with event industry organisations and associations . Once the draft is published , further feedback will be considered before the final bill is presented to Parliament later in 2023 . It would then likely take up to six months to get through Parliament , and once it has completed all the parliamentary stages it would be ready to receive royal assent and become law , probably in late 2024 .
While the industry waits to see exactly what Protect Duty will look like and what its impact will be , much is being done behind the scenes to prepare for it . The LIVE Protect Duty group was established to help coordinate the live music industry ’ s response to the Home Office consultation . It meets as and when required to review progress and take soundings on aspects of the proposals with a view to ensuring that the resultant legislation is effective and workable . The group is made up of representatives from across LIVE ’ s 14 member associations , with venue and festival industry association members being prominent .
With the predicted inspectorate and lengthy guidance that will also need to be created before Protect Duty is implemented , LIVE CEO Jon Collins says that the industry isn ’ t hanging around waiting for the legislation before it acts .
“ We need to make sure we get it right ; fast legislation is often bad legislation ,” he says . “ In the meantime , venues are still subject to the Licencing Act and Health and the Safety at Work Act . They have been putting their own policies and procedures in place , working with security leaders to make sure they are operating to the highest standards and looking to minimise the potential for another Manchester-style bombing . The time it is taking to put legislation in place should not be interpreted in any way as people not feeling like it is a priority .”
Walley says that while everyone waits for Protect Duty , the lessons from the Manchester Arena Inquiry are available for all and he agrees there is much event organisers can do in partnership with security teams , emergency services and local authorities . However , he found that during the summer events season the progress was hindered by the public
Jon Collins
Michael Kill
sector not yet having fully shaken off the impact of the pandemic .
He says , “ Event organisers often want to do the right thing but they haven ’ t always got an interface with local authorities and the Safety Advisory Group that ’ s proactive , it ’ s a matter of getting the job done because everyone is so busy and a lot of organisations in the public sector shifted their focus during Covid to other things because events weren ’ t on . As a result , your police planner , or your local authority events officer , were doing other things . There ’ s been a lot of churn in personnel , and institutional memory hasn ’ t really been maintained .”
While there has been hysteria about Protect Duty meaning airport-style security being introduced at venues of all sizes , Murray has maintained all along that anti-terrorism measures should be proportionate , but all venues should be involved .
“ Once the legislation comes in , the bigger venues will be better equipped to put the security measures in place because they have the knowledge , expertise , equipment and the staff but the smaller venues need to be included because they are definitely terrorism targets , perhaps better targets because bad people know they ’ re not prepared . “ I know small venue operators are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis , they have suffered through Covid and some have gone bankrupt , but all we are asking is you train your staff , make some small changes and have a terrorism action plan .”
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