ICC Wales has announced the founding of its cross sector Protect Duty Events Industry Group, which has been created to ensure the UK business events industry has all of the necessary information to prepare for the Government’s proposed Protect Duty legislation.
The new legislation, which will have a significant impact on how venues and organisers put safety and security measures in place, is being introduced to increase safety in all publicly accessible locations across the UK.
The legislation is the direct result of years of campaigning by Figen Murray OBE, the mother of Martyn Hett who was killed in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017. The new legislation, also known as Martyn’s Law, formalises the responsibilities and actions that venues must take to mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack.
The Protect Duty Events Industry Group has been established by ICC Wales following its Protect Duty Report published in March, which has had a significant impact in raising awareness of this issue within the meetings industry. The Group, which will work collaboratively with organisations across the UK events industry including the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) and the Association of Event Venues (AEV), is made up of leading conference organisers, destinations, associations and suppliers.
The first meeting will take place virtually on Monday 17th October, and will report its findings directly to BVEP’s Government and Advocacy Working Group.
Safety and security remain a key focus for event planners across the world, as identified in the International Planner Sentiment Report, conducted by The Business of Events. The study, which was taken by planners from across three key geographical territories (United Kingdom, Europe and North America) were asked to rank out of ten what they considered to be important when selecting a destination or major venue in a post-pandemic environment. Safety and security were considered a high priority for planners, particularly the North American market who rated it with the highest score of ten, with Europe scoring it an eight and the UK ranking it a seven.
Commenting on the Protect Duty Events Industry Group, ICC Wales Sales Director Danielle Bounds said: “From our initial study on Protect Duty, it was apparent that there remains a lack of knowledge about the legislation across the events industry. Our aim is to ensure that event venues and organisers can fully comply when Protect Duty comes into effect. We all have an important part to play, and the Protect Duty Events Industry Group will continue those critical conversations around the legislation and feed its findings directly to the BVEP to ensure that both industry and government are aware of what is taking place.”
The ICC Wales Protect Duty Report can be downloaded here and provides an informative starting point for events industry professionals to prepare their response to the upcoming legislation.
