The government published a draft Bill on 2 May 2023 which, if passed, will implement Martyn's Law, introducing proportionate new security requirements for certain public venues. The measure follows the Manchester Arena attack and was set out in the UK Government Resilience Framework 2023 Implementation Update, published on 4 December 20231.
The Implementation Update records the draft Bill as one of the achievements in driving resilience since the Resilience Framework was published in December 20221. It describes the publication as part of a wider programme of work, which the document says includes the most transparent ever National Risk Register, published on GOV.UK on 3 August 2023, and the Emergency Alerts service, described as now fully operational1.
The same update lists incidents the government responded to over the year, including prolonged extreme cold and major water outages due to freeze-thaw between December 2022 and January 2023, a technical fault in June which limited access to emergency services through the 999 system, and a failure of the National Air Traffic Services Flight Planning System in August which caused significant delays and cancellations to flights to and from the UK1. It also records that the National Cyber Security Centre received 2,005 incident reports this year, an increase of almost 64% from last year's 1,2261.
"the government published a draft Bill, on 2 May 2023, which if passed, will implement Martyn's Law"
The update does not set out the detailed requirements of the draft Bill, the venues it would cover, or a timetable for its passage. Those details have not been reported in the document. The government's stated position is that the Bill would implement Martyn's Law if passed1.
Why it matters for households
The draft Bill concerns security requirements at certain public venues, so its practical effect would fall on households when they visit those venues, rather than on the home. The update gives no detail on which venues would be in scope or what would change for visitors, and no commencement date is given. Until the Bill is passed and the requirements are set out, no change to venue security arrangements is described in the document1. The update also records that the Emergency Alerts service, which sends alerts to compatible smartphones where there is danger to life, is now fully operational1.
What happens next
The draft Bill had been published but not passed at the time of the update. The update gives no date for its introduction, debate or passage, and no further steps on Martyn's Law are set out in it1. The update itself says the government looks forward to building further on this work in 20241. Further detail on the law and what it changes at venues is set out in the guide to Martyn's Law, within the major incidents section.
Martyn's Law at Venues
