Policy paper

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill : Scope (Events)

Published 12 September 2024

This factsheet explains which events will be captured by the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. The bill covers both premises ^{[footnote 1]} and events. Further information on which premises are in scope of the bill can be found in the scope (premises) factsheet.

What events are within scope?

Events that satisfy the following four criteria fall within scope of the bill:

1. The event must take place in a premises as defined in clause 3 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

For an event to be in scope of the bill, it must take place:

• on open land (such as a field, park, or farmland)

• on land occupied with a building (unless that building already falls within the enhanced tier)

• within a building that is not already captured by the bill. A building not already captured may host occasional events where large numbers of the public gather. Under the bill, the term ‘building’ includes part of a building or a group of buildings.

A qualifying event cannot take place within premises that are already within the enhanced tier. Examples of enhanced tier premises include, but are not limited to, exhibition halls, public conference venues, and other venues for hire that may host 800 or more individuals at the same time. 

For enhanced duty premises that host what could be considered a qualifying event, that event will be subject to requirements under the bill by virtue of it taking place at premises already in scope of the enhanced tier criteria. Therefore the premises will already be required to have measures in place relevant to all the activities that take place there. Further information on which premises are in scope of the bill can be found in the scope (premises) factsheet.

2. Host at least 800 attendees at the same time

To be in scope, it should be reasonable to expect that 800 or more people will be present at the event at the same time at some point during the duration of the event. Further information on how this figure is to be calculated can be found in the reasonable expectation of numbers of individuals present factsheet.

3. Meet the ‘express permission’ criteria.

To meet the ‘express permission’ criteria, the qualifying event must have employees, or other individuals involved in the event (for example, volunteers), checking that members of the public wishing to attend satisfy a condition of entry. Specifically, this condition of entry is to check that members of the public have paid to attend the event, have an invitation granting access, or have a pass that grants access (which might include a free ticket). Whilst this provision applies to paid-for events, this provision will also encompass free events, if there is a check that attendees satisfy a condition of entry as specified above.

4. Be accessible to members of the public.

An event will only fall within scope of the bill if members of the public have access to all or part of it.

Application to qualifying premises

A qualifying event can occur within standard duty premises. The event must meet the criteria, including satisfying the express permission requirement. An example of this might be a pub that usually falls within the standard tier. However, the pub hosts a one-off music event, with over 800 attendees, by using the pub itself and occupying land such as a garden. Attendees must purchase a ticket to enter the event, and staff will be checking that attendees have a ticket before they enter the event. In such a scenario, the specific event will be treated as a qualifying event. However, the pub will remain within the standard tier when not part of the music event for that one weekend. 

In this scenario, the responsible person could be the same entity in both scenarios; however, they could also be different entities. More information on the entity that is responsible for a qualifying event can be found in the responsible person factsheet.

Exclusions

Schedule 2 to the bill excludes certain premises or events that would otherwise fall within the scope of the requirements.

Transport premises that are already subject to existing legislative requirements to consider and mitigate threats are excluded (e.g. at airports, national rail and underground premises, international rail premises, and port facilities). This is because these existing requirements achieve comparable outcomes to those intended by the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. This means events taking place on these premises will not fall within scope of bill.

Premises occupied for the purposes of either House of Parliament; the Scottish Parliament or a part of the Scottish Administration; the Senedd Cymru or the Welsh Government; or the Northern Ireland Assembly or a Northern Ireland Department, are not in scope of the bill. This is because these premises already have existing security procedures and measures in place.

Events will not constitute a qualifying event if they occur at certain premises which are subject to specific provisions in Schedule 1 that require them to be treated as standard tier premises irrespective of the number of individuals that they host. The government’s rationale for applying a different criteria to these premises can be found in the scope (premises) factsheet.

Specifically, these premises include:

• places of worship: all such premises that can be expected to host 200 or more individuals at the same time will fall within the standard tier (even if that number is 800 or greater). An event that occurs at these premises will not constitute a qualifying event and, as a result, will not fall within the enhanced duty.

• premises used for childcare or primary, secondary, or further education: all such premises that can be expected to host 200 or more individuals at the same time will always fall within the standard tier, regardless of their maximum number. An event that occurs at these premises will not constitute a qualifying event and, as a result, will not fall within the enhanced duty.

Examples of qualifying events

Example 1: A music event that takes place in a park or field. The event is open to the public and will have over 800 individuals attending. Attendees must purchase a ticket in advance of the event, and staff will be checking that attendees have a ticket before they enter the event.

Example 2: An event that takes place in a premises that is not usually open to the public, and the premises therefore do not fall within the bill’s scope. However, the event is open to the public and will have over 800 individuals attending. The event is free; however, attendees must register online to attend the event. Staff or volunteers will be checking that attendees have registered before they enter the event.

Example 3: An event that takes place at premises which falls within the standard tier, and the premises are not used as a place of worship, or for childcare, primary, secondary, or further education. The premises host an event on the weekend which is open to the public and will have over 800 individuals attending. Attendees must purchase a ticket in advance of the event, and staff will be checking that attendees have a ticket before they enter the event.

Footnotes

1. A qualifying premises must satisfy the following criteria to fall within scope of the bill: be a premises as defined in the bill; be wholly or mainly used for one or more qualifying activity in Schedule 1 (eg, for entertainment, retail, food and drink, museums and galleries, sports grounds, visitor attractions, places of worship, health, and education establishments); and meet the thresholds for individuals present at a premises. ↩