ADVICE ON LOOKING AFTER RELIGIOUS PREMISES.
All religious/faith premises (churches, synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, temples, chapels & meeting houses etc) are valuable community facilities which usually historical are well built and have been refuges for people in distress and places for worship in the 'House of God'.
As well as being places of worship, they could have valuable religious artefacts & items, which often are secured effectively, when not in use. Most places have limited entrances/exits with fairly strong & secure doors but are only locked securely when the premises are not in use.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) systems on the external areas are often in use at a few venues, premises can be alarmed, some premises may have some security personnel, but not as a matter of course, as religious premises have not been seen as prime targets for attack or serious terrorist & criminal behavior, until recently.
Some religious premises have over recent years installed perimeter fencing to restrict the movement of vehicles towards the buildings, but older churches had/have stonewalls and graveyards that define the confines of the areas looked after by the church etc.
These places are also used for family weddings, christenings, baptism, celebrations, ceremonial and remembrance events etc for the various religious communities.
Of course, religious differences have been the start of many disputes, wars & conflicts, current & in the past and our modern world appears to be far more unsettled & dangerous now.
Terrorist attacks and actions are usually against people or communities and occur where people are gathering in fairly large numbers.
The new Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 - Martyn's Law has already defined places of worship, irrelevant of numbers attending, in the Standard Tier to comply with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulations to come into being in April 2027.
The Schedule 1, Section 1 paragraph 9 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, under 'Specified Uses of Premises' states the following:
9(1) Use for -
1. Communal worship, or
2. Other communal religious practice,
in accordance with the tenets of a particular religion or religious denomination.
(2) Where the relevant Schedule 1 use of qualifying premises is the use mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), the premises are standard duty premises for the purposes of this Part (regardless of how they would otherwise be treated)
Therefore, the premises will need to have effective protection procedures in place involving the following: Evacuation, Invacuation, lockdown & Communications (of personnel) to comply with the law.
BRIEF REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES & ACTIONS
The recent Manchester synagogue attack initially was able to have reduced loss of life and injury to others due to the facts that the local Jewish community had volunteers, who assisted in the allowing worshipers into the building reacted effectively, there was also fencing that protected the synagogue from vehicle movement threats. The quick-thinking volunteers appear to have used a form of lockdown procedures and invacuation procedures that stopped the attacker from fully gaining entry & possibly injuring or killing others.
Due to the numbers of volunteers on site, communication seemed to be effective in immediately re-acting to the ongoing threat imposed by the attacker and contacting the Emergency Services, enabling Police & Ambulance Services to attend the scene quickly and effectively.
This shows that some security aspects (already identified in Martyn's Law) could and were effective in looking after/protecting people from danger. Of course, all premises and venues are different, and the processes required to keep people safe will be individual to those premises.
SAFETY & SECURITY AT RELIGIOUS PREMISES
In some religious premises, due to the internal layout and construction, they may not be able to monitor people coming in (to identify a likely threat or attacker) and communication with door persons or people in charge of the venue may be difficult to achieve
An up-to-date security survey/audit and investigation report should be considered, to review security, identify effective security & possibly any weaknesses, also to ascertain the procedures required at the religious premises, in order to identify & advise on all security/safety aspects, along with the 'responsible person' requirements and documentation in compliance with Martyn's Law –
https://www.surelock.org/services/security-surveys-assessments
ASSISTANCE
We at Surelock International Limited can assist. We have independent Security Consultants who can attend your premises, complete reviews/surveys/audits, then advise (not selling manned guarding provisions or electronic/physical security systems) and provide relevant information to enhance current security/safety at your premises. Please feel free to contact us directly https://www.surelock.org/contact-us or on telephone no: 0333 6000300.
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