Draft anti-terrorism legislation affecting public premises
As you might have seen, the Government is preparing a new piece of legislation that will place requirements on all but the smallest public venues to address the risk of a terrorism attack on their premises. Our national partner charity ACRE have been liaising with the Home Office and Defra to try and make the legislation reasonable and proportionate in terms of what it requires of community venues, especially small volunteer-led venues like village halls. They sent evidence to the Home Affairs Committee last week, as did Action Hampshire. We are also grateful to our contacts at community halls and centres who submitted their own response and raised concerns with their MP.
This issue has received some national media coverage so this article is to explain what we and our partners across the country are doing about it. ACRE will continue to take every opportunity to ensure the legislation is effective and reasonable, and stands ready to help community venues with implementing any new legal requirements. Here is an excerpt from ACRE’s statement on the draft legislation and some of the media coverage surrounding it:
It is incorrect to suggest that thousands of England’s village halls will face closure due to the proposed Bill. It has not yet been introduced into Parliament, so its ultimate form and provisions are very likely to change from the current draft. In any case, most village halls are thriving rural community hubs that have survived many challenges (most recently COVID), have had to adapt and will continue to do so successfully. The ACRE Network is here to help volunteers managing these buildings implement any new legal requirements, but these must be meaningful and proportionate.
Follow this link for ACRE’s response to the recent media coverage
We at Action Hampshire will keep local community buildings up to date with developments over the coming months and we will, of course, help you do what is needed once the legislation is finalised.
If you would like to be informed about this legislation, along with other issues affecting community buildings and networking opportunities, new grant schemes and so on – please get in touch with Kevin Sawers, our Community Projects Specialist. Call Kevin on 01962 857358 or send Kevin an email via this link.
