As our city starts to come back to life, and people start to return to businesses, leisure venues and public spaces, we need to ensure that security – not just from COVID-19, but also from terrorism – is kept in mind.
The Protect Duty
The Government is proposing to introduce a new Protect Duty from early 2022. This legislation, and the changes it brings, will enhance the protection of the United Kingdom’s publicly accessible places from terrorist attacks and ensure that businesses and organisations are prepared to deal with incidents.
As we’ve seen in recent years, there has been an increase in terrorist attacks in publicly accessible locations – anywhere that people visit, congregate in, or pass through. One of the main features of these attacks is the targeting of people.
Any publicly accessible location is a potential target, so it is essential that owners and operators of all such locations understand the risks faced and consider appropriate mitigations. The key initial steps to understanding this threat and risk are:
- Understanding the terrorist threat – understanding that motivations, targets and attack methods vary, and change over time
- Understanding the specific risks the threat poses to your site and/or organisation, and how and why your site or organisation might be affected – either by being targeted directly, or indirectly because of its proximity to neighbouring sites, businesses or organisations.
Find out about what this means for you or your business
Read more about the Protect Duty and the recent consultation