Everyone will be aware of the awful events in France over the last few weeks including the murder of a Catholic priest this week as he led his congregation.
It is, therefore, a timely moment for church leaders to look at the security in their churches. Churches are charities, and so their charity trustees are under a duty to minimise the risks to their church and congregation. Part of this risk might be an attack.
National Operational Police Lead for Protect and Prepare Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu has said:
“There is no specific intelligence relating to attacks against the Christian community in the UK. However, as we have seen, Daesh and other terrorist groups have targeted Christian as well as Jewish and other faith groups in the West and beyond.
“Following recent events in France, we are reiterating our protective security advice to Christian places of worship and have circulated specific advice today. We are also taking this opportunity to remind them to review their security arrangements as a precaution.”
It is suggested that church leaders should:
As part of minimising the risk churches should:
As a general principle, all charities, including churches, should regularly carry out risk assessments and put suitable measures in place to manage those identified risks.
It is also worth noting that this week the Home Office also announced the Places of worship: security funding scheme for the provision of protective security measures for places of worship in England and Wales. The scheme is part of a wider cross-government effort to stop all forms of hate crime and to provide security measures to places of worship. Bids for funding can be made for the next 8 weeks until 5pm on 20 September 2016. A second round of bids will open in spring 2017. For further information please click here.
For more information, particularly in relation to risk assessments, please contact Edwina Turner.
It has been another difficult few weeks for many of us, especially those who find themselves under tier 3 restrictions.
We have submitted our response to the White Paper Consultation based on the discussion held at the “Planning for the Future - what does this mean for affordable housing” webinar we held on Fri 9 Oct
Anthony Collins Solicitors is pleased to have been ranked as a Band 1 firm once again.
Since March 2020, commercial property owners and occupiers across many sectors, whether housing associations, charities, care providers or local authorities, have been impacted by the rules regulating how they deal with their tenants and their landlords. It seems each week there is a change in policy, regulation or legislation, governing how they must respond.
On 18 September 2020, the High Court gave its decision regarding the Judicial Review of Simply Learning Tutor Agency Ltd & Others v Secretary of State for Business.
A key element of the Bill is the establishment of a duty holder regime and requirement to maintain the ‘golden thread of information’ throughout the life cycle of high-risk residential buildings
We have been working with care homes to update their contracts and advise on the risks of charging the resident a regular “top-up” or additional fee where a resident is funded through NHS CHC
The parliamentary processes are complete and the Restriction of Public Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”) which cap exit payments in the public sector at £95,000 will be in force from 4 November.
As the UK’s social housing sector recovers from the initial Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown, now is the time to focus on the challenges that may emerge next.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.