GovWire

TheBill aims to provide a framework and legal basis for clarifying the responsibility of publicly-accessible locations to protect members of the public from terrorism while they are visiting the premises.

The impact assessment (IA) includes a significant shift in liability for terrorism from the State to businesses that manage event venues. The department has improved sufficiently the assessment of impacts on small & micro businesses, since the IA on the draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The RPC is able to validate a revised EANDCB figure, reflecting revisions to the Bill and improved evidence on impacts. While a significant amount of detail is provided, the IA does not include evidence that the proposals would reduce terrorism for small venues or that a new regulator with national inspectors would be more efficient than local authority compliance activity.

The RPC notes that, while the IA received a green rating for the EANDCB figure and the assessment of impact on small and micro businesses, it was also assessed as weak for its rationale and options assessment, its assessment of wider impacts and for its overall cost-benefit analysis. The monitoring and evaluation plan was assessed as good.