Getting ready - a question of training

Delivering the requirements of the Protect Duty legislation will require specialist training. Security expert Lee Doddridge looks at the legals aspects affecting both sides - those responsible for Publicly Publicly Accessible Locations and the security consultants involved in the Act’s eventual delivery.

If a premises have the capacity for 100 members of the public, or an office building has 250 staff or more, then it will be classed as a Publicly Accessible Location (PAL) under the new Protect Duty legislation and as such, responsible persons will be required to take action.

The Protect Duty will place all the liability and burden of security on the venue and senior board members, seating security at the organisational ‘top table’ along with sales, HR and diversity. The Home Office estimates the new act will affect over 650,000 locations in the UK. Most pubs, churches, restaurants, conference centres, schools, even beaches, could be categorised as a PAL.

Each PAL will be required to undertake a terrorism risk assessment, write, implement and test terrorism response plans, undertake staff training and conduct regular security reviews. At present, it is unclear if the business owner or someone within the business can complete these requirements or whether a qualified security consultant will have to undertake these, or at least audit what has been done.

Qualifications
The Home Office, Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) have yet to publish what qualifications will be required in order to be designated as a security consultant, but those who are qualified are likely to be issued with a licence to work under the new Protect Duty in the same way that gas engineer has to be registered as a ‘Gas Safe Engineer’. This would completely change the position of security consultants working within the sphere of the Protect Duty.

In a way, there are similarities to when the SIA Act reformed man guarding and professionalised the industry. Until now, anyone could (and many do) call themselves a ‘Security Consultant’ based upon previous experience, which is predominantly former military or policing backgrounds. However, a former Captain or Brigadier, or Chief Superintendent or Chief Constable, is not a qualification that will allow a person to be a licensed security consultant under the Duty.

The Protect Duty will change this. The military has no integrated physical security roles that enable counter terrorism protective security to be delivered. Even the SAS and SBS send personnel to NaCTSO and CPNI to attend training courses, but not the full training program and not qualified CT protective security.

Similarly, the police have only one role - the Counter Terrorism Security Adviser (CTSA) who is specifically trained and qualified in counter terrorism protective security management. Roles such as the Security Coordinator is just that - a coordination role. We know that the wider, holistic approach to security should include cyber threats, crime prevention etc, but the ‘Legal Requirements’ of the Protect Duty will be focused on the physical aspects in countering terrorist attacks in our communities.

Licence
If a security consultant has the agreed qualifications, then it is expected that a license will be issued in order for the consultant to legally work under the Duty, making it ‘illegal’ for unlicensed security consultants to do so. Exactly how this will be enforced is not yet known, but the Home Office has suggested that oversight will be similar to the Health and Safety executive. Once the law comes into effect, a 12 month period is being suggested in order for businesses to comply. The question of how qualified this enforcement will team be remains. If they are checking the work of a licensed consultant, then they should be at least equally qualified.

Insurance
The Protect Duty will also change the way insurance companies provide cover to businesses and security consultants. Potentially, unlicensed security consultants working (illegally) on a PAL will most likely render the insurance invalid and could mean that insurance providers will be asking for proof of qualifications and license. As the Duty will also make the venues liable for security, those responsible will look more stringently at the security consultants they use.

Given that experience alone will not be sufficient for security consultants to fulfil the requirements of the Act, they will need to get qualified in time for when it becomes law. The CPNI is considering rolling out a three-week training course to upskill experienced consultants that may have a lesser qualification, but this is not for ‘novices’. However, the CPNI only has a limited training department and it is wise to expect that only one course per month will be available, with attendee numbers limited. It could take a long time to get access to such training if indeed it goes ahead.

Getting ready
A new Protect Duty website and App have been launched to help businesses prepare, but this has only been made available to a limited number of sites for now. NaCTSO also has free online counter terrorism training courses available such a See, Check and Notify (SCaN) which takes around 30 minutes and Action Counters Terrorism (ACT training) which takes around 16 hours. The local police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSA) will most likely be engaged with sites that sit at the top of the PAL’s category such as major sporting stadiums, music venues etc. The CTSAs are able to offer advice to PALs, depending on availability. However, based on the current number of CTSAs, the man hours needed to attend each PAL would keep them busy for many years.

The security industry within the UK will be instrumental in delivering The Protect Duty - it simply cannot be delivered without its support. Organisations such as the Association of Security Consultants (ASC) hold the only Register of Independent Security Consultants, but other organisations such as ASIS and the Security Institute also have suitable consultant members and can offer qualifications and training programs which can help those responsible to start preparing for the Act now - before it becomes law.