Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot implementation of provisions relating to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill by local authorities.

As a result of pre-legislative scrutiny, and extensive consultation in relation to proposals for the standard tier, the Government made significant changes to the Bill. This was to ensure public protection outcomes can be achieved whilst avoiding undue burdens on businesses and other organisations. This includes raising the standard tier threshold from 100 to 200.

Lowering the minimum threshold for the standard tier back to 100 would result in significant changes to the coverage of the Bill and increased costs to business. Government believes a threshold of 200 achieves an appropriate balance between protecting the public from the risk of physical harm and imposing burden on business, whilst continuing to deliver the Bill’s overall aims of increasing protective security and organisational preparedness across the UK.

We will continue to liaise with all relevant stakeholders as the Bill progresses.