The Government is currently consulting on how they can make the public safer at publicly accessible locations.
The Church of England has a number of concerns about some of the unintended consequences the proposals could have for churches. These include:
- That they could undermine the welcome a church can give to those who attend or visit;
- That they are based on the capacity of the building rather than attendance or the actual terrorist threat associated with the activity;
- That compliance could impact on the willingness of people to volunteer or hold voluntary groups; and
- That the duty will cover all the public space that a church has – halls, churchyards, fields.
The Archdeacon of London has written an article which outlines the concerns.
It is understood that the Government is prioritising volume of responses over the status or size of the organisations responding. It means that as many churches who feel able to respond are encouraged to do so, in order to make sure the views of faith groups are heard.
You can access the consultation, which closes on 2 July, here