Martyn's Law: RPC Opinion (Red-rated)
Regulatory Policy Committee opinion on the Home Office's Martyn's Law/Protect Duty IA
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The Bill, from the Home Office, 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) initially received an initial review notice (IRN) from the RPC. This means there were significant issues with the IA which would have generated a red-rated opinion, if not addressed adequately. Issuing the IRN provided the Home Office with the opportunity to address the issues identified, including their estimate of the overall direct cost to business (EANDCB) figure that was not sufficiently evidenced. The amended IA has addressed the issues concerning the EANDCB figure, but has not improved the assessment of impacts on small & micro businesses (SMBs) sufficiently, needing to further address issues around disproportionality, mitigation and exemption of SMBs. In addition the IA does not provide evidence that a new regulator with national inspectors would be efficient compared with local enforcement. The IA is therefore rated Not Fit For Purpose (Red-rated).
In addition, the IA is assessed as “weak” for its rationale and options assessment, for its assessment of wider impacts and for its overall cost-benefit analysis. The monitoring and evaluation plan is assessed as “good”.
This opinion is being published to assist with pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill alongside the current IA. We understand that the Home Office will be producing another IA following this for the formal introduction of the Bill later this year. In line with normal practice, we will publish our opinion alongside the IA when the Bill is introduced.