Community Building News: Anti-Terror Legislation

Many village halls now out of scope of anti-terrorism legislation

The Action in Rural England (ACRE) Network, of which AirS is a member, has been successful in taking many village and community halls out of the scope of new legislation to protect against terrorist attacks on public venues.

Prior to being introduced into Parliament, the draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (Martyn’s Law) included all public premises over 100 capacity, which would have brought many village halls within scope of the legislation.  Once enacted the Bill would have placed a legal requirement on trustees to ensure their premises (and users) were prepared for a terrorism incident, placing an additional burden and responsibility on mostly volunteer-run village and community halls.

Feedback from community and villages halls across Sussex on the proposed measures led the ACRE network to lobby for an increase in the hall capacity from which the legislation would apply.  When the Bill was introduced in October this year the lower threshold had been raised to 200 and there will be some flexibility over how this is applied, meaning many village halls trustees will not need to take on this new legal responsibility. It seems almost certain that the lower threshold will stay at 200 when the Bill starts its passage through the Lords. But ACRE will is keep a careful eye on the passage of the Bill and will continue to resist any amendments back to 100.

Remaining alert and aware of anti-terrorism threats remains important for all public venues, including community and village halls. But with the higher capacity threshold, rural village halls will be able to put in place measures proportionate to the threat rather than being legally required to put in place measures more suited to larger, urban public venues.

The ACRE network is already starting discussions with the Home Office over guidance and regulations for village halls of over 200 capacity, as well as any voluntary measures that trustees of smaller premises may feel they need to take.

AirS Community Buildings Service will update community halls in Sussex as soon as further guidance is available.