The 2023 event in Edinburgh was a fantastic opportunity to, at last, see people in the flesh! The Scottish National Gallery played host to some really fascinating, inspiring and uplifting presentations. The final slot of the day was an update from ACE by Valentina Sabucco.  

Following research that was conducted in 2022, it was evident that the sector wants to be more self-reliant and have more resources and guidance in the area of improvements of security and reviewing risk assessments.  In light of this ACE are currently reviewing and refreshing the information and resources on the Collections Trust website as these haven’t been reviewed since 2013. At present its also a bit of a challenge to find where the resources are located on the website so ACE are going to work with the Collections Trust to find a better way of grouping the information to make it more accessible.  Examples of resources on the site range from different types of alarm systems to barriers and physical security requirements and also information on how to deal with contractors on site and carrying out risk assessments. In February 2023 ACE commissioned a review of the resources to try and understand which were up to date and which needed reviewing. They found that the majority of them were up to date with just minor changes needed. ACE hope to have this part of the review finalised in the next couple of months. Some however will need more time spending on them. The main objective of this process is to allow the sector to become more self reliant, enabling common queries to be answered more quickly than waiting for a response from Valentina and her colleagues.  

Valentina is aware that some organisations are discussing the implications of Martyn’s Law. Following the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017, the Government announced details of the Protect Duty, now to be known as ‘Martyn’s Law’ in tribute of Martyn Hett, who was killed alongside 21 others in the Arena attack. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/martyns-law-to-ensure-stronger-protections-against-terrorism-in-public-places.  

It is not currently clear when the law will come into place but what is known is that there will be a system of categorising venues depending on their capacity. Venues which hold less than 799 people will be in one category (tier 1) and those which hold more than 800 will be in another enhanced category (tier 2). Similarly its not known what the implications and requirements of being in these two different categories will be. ACE are trying to anticipate what the requirements may be so that helpful documents can be drawn up in readiness for the law being put in place. These will then be available on the website for organisations to refer to. Requirements may take the form of risk assessment or preparedness plans.  

Finally, Valentina mentioned the invaluable work that the UK Registrars Group has been carrying out on reviewing the Facilities Report and the Security Supplement and that she hopes this can be worked on alongside the above mentioned review of resources and documents on the Collections Trust website.