The legal line
The responsible person must ensure appropriate and reasonably practicable public protection procedures are in place and that they can be carried out effectively. The separate statutory duty to document the public protection procedure applies to enhanced-tier premises and qualifying events.
That distinction should appear plainly in any product, checklist or board paper. Calling every recommended record mandatory makes the standard duty look heavier than Parliament intended.
The small record set worth keeping
A practical record answers what was agreed, who knew, whether it worked and when it will be reconsidered. It need not become a second management system.
- The current evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication procedures.
- Previous versions and the date and person responsible for each change.
- Who was briefed, when, and against which version.
- Exercises or walk-throughs, attendees, observations and actions.
- Review dates and changes to use, layout, staffing or headcount.
- The eventual SIA notification reference and subsequent updates.
Evidence should help the next person
The best test is succession. If the caretaker, minister, headteacher or committee secretary changed tomorrow, could their replacement see what is current and why? A folder full of duplicate PDFs may be technically documented and operationally useless.
Sources checked
These links are primary or sector-authoritative sources. We review this page when the official position changes.