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Danielle Bounds
State of play
Protect Duty is likely to have a wide-scale impact on events . However , in the mind of the public , it ’ s likely taking a backseat to more recent developments in politics , the resignation of Liz Truss , the appointment of Rishi Sunak and the cost-of-living crisis having taken centre stage in recent weeks .
For many , clarifying the intent of the legislation and the first steps towards being compliant with it will be critical early-success factors . Lesley Whyte , senior account director and business meetings and events expert , Custard Communications , said : “ Protect Duty , which comes in next year , requires owners and operators to protect publicly accessible locations from terrorist attacks to ensure they are prepared to deal with incidents effectively . A key part of that planning should include the crisis communications plan so that every member of the team is aware of it and their roles and responsibilities .”
Whilst it ’ s understandable that headlines are dedicated to the movers and shakers for the powers-that-be , those campaigning for Protect Duty are keen to remind
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“ I think there ’ s a lot of fear with organisers at the moment in terms of who ’ s responsible and how much it is going to cost ” –
Danielle Bounds
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Lesley Whyte
the Government that the pressing issues , which the legislation aims to tackle , aren ’ t going anywhere .
Figen Murray , Protect Duty campaigner , said : “ I ’ m sure the last thing on the Government ’ s mind is the Protect Duty . However , it is clearly top of my agenda and it has to remain there , because I maybe have to remind the Government how important it is to keep the British public safe . Terrorism isn ’ t going away .”
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Knowledge is power
One key factor in the success of this legislation in events will be the level of understanding by eventsprofs as well as how prepared they are to meet the criteria set out by Protect Duty itself . This means the industry will need to know it ’ s coming , it will also need to know what the criteria is and what the impact will be on their job roles .
Danielle Bounds , sales director , ICC Wales , spoke about a survey on the legislation that the venue conducted earlier this year , which stated that 52 % of those surveyed had never even heard of Protect Duty . It also showed that more than three quarters described their
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knowledge as low or very low – demonstating a concerning lack of understanding from eventsprofs .
However , since then things have changed , according to Bounds . She said : “ We did a follow-up survey in August and we ’ re really pleased to say that almost everyone is now aware of Protect Duty . More than half describe their knowledge of the subject as high or average . We ’ ve definitely seen a measurable improvement there .”
According to Bounds , “ there ’ s a lot of fear and trepidation about the impact of Protect Duty , because of the uncertainty surrounding what the legislation will be , as well as the potential impact on the responsibilities of event organisers across the value chain .”
She added : “ The advice that we ’ re receiving from counterterrorism security coordinators is that the new legislation will have to be proportionate to the particular risk presented by an event . So , the changes need not to be drastic , whereas I think there ’ s a lot of fear with organisers at the moment in terms of who ’ s responsible and how much it is going to cost .”
Clearer communication about what Protect Duty will mean for events is the order of the day . But it ’ s also about communicating to the public , according to Figen Murray . One early step that she spoke about was making Protect Duty more prominent in the public eye so that it ’ s not just eventprofs who are aware of the oncoming impact . She said : “ The more that people talk about it , the more it ’ s out there on social media and on
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