Events on the Estate – Martyn’s Law

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as “Martyn’s Law”, is currently progressing through Parliament and has implications for rural estates which hold events, or have premises open to the public.

Public protection procedures

Where the new rules apply to premises or events, the persons responsible for them will be required to take “public protection procedures”, to “reduce the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an act of terrorism were to occur on the premises, at the event, or in the immediate vicinity of the premises or event”. The Bill sets out an “exhaustive list” of procedures, which include provisions for evacuation and invacuation (moving everyone to a safe space within the premises or event). Where premises hold more than 800 individuals – and also in the case of one-off events at which more than 800 individuals will be present – they are subject to an “enhanced” duty. The enhanced requirements are in addition to the standard ones and require additional measures, such as ensuring that information that may assist in planning terrorist attacks, such as floor plans, or information showing potential vulnerabilities of the event, is held securely and access restricted to relevant individuals. Compliance with enhanced requirements must be documented.

Qualifying premises

Premises open to the public, used wholly or mainly for one of the specified purposes and which hold at least 200 individuals, will be caught by the new requirements. Premises may comprise buildings, such as farm shops, or buildings with land, such as a manor house and grounds. Stand-alone parks, gardens and other open-air spaces are not caught, provided there are no controls on entry to them. The specified purposes are wide-ranging and largely obvious: visitor attractions, shops, restaurants, art galleries, and sports grounds are all within scope. Dwellings and offices are specifically excluded. Although it is perhaps unlikely that many estate buildings – other than where whole houses are open to the public – will hold more than 200 people, even if a shop’s visitors only hit 200 or more once a year (for example, in the run-up to Christmas) then that is sufficient to bring it within scope.

Qualifying events

One-off events are also within the scope of the Bill, where they are held at premises not already subject to the enhanced duty, and where 800 or more individuals may be present at the same time. The key point here is that events will be within scope even if they are held on open land with no buildings – but only where access to the site is controlled by individuals, whether by tickets or passes, and whether paid for or free. Classic car rallies and music festivals are, therefore, likely to be within scope and, where they are, the responsible person will need to comply with both the standard and enhanced requirements.  

The responsible person

Under the Bill the duties fall on “responsible persons” – essentially those in control of the premises or the event. Where an estate makes the land available for a village fete, or school sports day, for instance, that could be the landowner. But where the estate hires out its land for a food festival under an event licence, it will most likely be the commercial entity hosting the event, which is responsible for complying. Importantly, in some situations, there could be multiple responsible persons and, where there are, there is a duty for them all to cooperate. When the Bill becomes law, estates will need to consider carefully where the statutory responsibility lies. Event licences and other contractual arrangements will need to clarify this and contain appropriate indemnities and insurance requirements. It is inevitable that the conditions of public liability insurance policies will also evolve to require compliance with Martyn’s Law. Land agents are likely to find questions on their insurance renewals that relate to the new law.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, October 2024