Terrorist Threat

Is the Church at risk?

The Church of Scotland and other places of worship have not been identified as a specific risk, however the aim of the legislation is to raise the vigilance around all publicly accessible areas by making them less likely to become easily targeted by those who enter with malicious intent or wish to cause harm.

There will undoubtedly be a variance in the risks posed across the Church of Scotland estate based on the significance of the individual church buildings and other risk factors such as religious and historic significance, visitor and congregational numbers, location and footfall, and even the proximity to neighbouring properties which may pose a risk to the church by being the intended target.

Who will be in scope?

It is expected that the new legislation will apply to duty holders responsible for publicly accessible locations used for purposes such as entertainment and leisure, retail, food and drink, museums and galleries, sports grounds, public areas of local and central Government buildings (e.g., town halls), visitor attractions, temporary events, Places of Worship, health, and education.

The Government have indicated that publicly accessible locations with a capacity of 100 or more people will need to undertake simple yet effective control measures to improve protective security and preparedness, with a tiered model linked to the activity that takes place and the premise capacity.