The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007 No. 930)
Sections 128 to 131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCAP), as amended by the Terrorism Act 2006, provide for the criminal offence of trespass on a protected site.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are four categories of site the offence can be applied to:
i) Crown land;
ii) land privately owned by the Queen or the Prince of Wales;
iii) land requiring designation on the grounds of national security; and
iv) licensed nuclear sites.
The first three categories of site require a designation order to be made by a Secretary of State before the offence applies to them, whereas it applies automatically to all licensed nuclear sites. In Scotland there are only two categories of site, namely: land requiring designation on the grounds of national security and licensed nuclear sites.
This offence was created in response to a recommendation in the report by Commander Armstrong into an intrusion at Windsor Castle on 21 June 2003. He recommended that a new offence of criminal trespass at secure and specified royal and government premises should be considered. This was echoed by the Security Commission Report of May 2004 following revelations of a journalist’s activities at Buckingham Palace in 2003.
After careful consideration it was agreed that a new criminal offence was necessary for two reasons. Firstly, it would create a deterrent to intrusions at high profile, secure sites where such intrusions can pose a very real risk to security. Secondly, it would give the police a specific power of arrest of a trespasser at a sensitive site where no other apparent existing offence had been committed. This was something for which the police responsible for security at such sites had been lobbying.
On 1 April 2006 a designation order made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence came into effect designating 13 operational Ministry of Defence sites. The sites are listed below and full details are available at
http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/byelaws/Internet/Intro.html
* HMNB Clyde
* RNAD Coulport
* Northwood Headquarters
* RAF Fylingdales
* RAF Menwith Hill
* RAF Croughton
* RAF Lakenheath
* RAF Feltwell
* RAF Mildenhall
* RAF Brize Norton
* SMC Marchwood
* RAF Fairford
* RAF Welford
On 13 April 2006, following amendments made to sections 128 and 129 of SOCAP by section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2006, all licensed nuclear sites also became protected sites. Full details can be found at
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/licensees/pubregister.pdf.
Civil Sites
* Sellafield, Cumbria,
* Dounreay, Scotland,
* Capenhurst, near Chester,
* Drigg, near Sellafield,
* Harwell, near Oxford,
* Springfields, near Preston,
* Windscale, within Sellafield,
* Winfrith, near Wool in Dorset,
* GE Healthcare sites in Amersham and Cardiff,
* London University’s Imperial College of Science and Technology site in Ascot, Berkshire,
* Berkeley, near Bristol,
* Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at Birniehill, East Kilbride,
and the following nuclear power station sites:
* Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire,
* Dungeness A, Kent,
* Dungeness B, Kent,
* Hartlepool, near Middlesborough
* Heysham 1 and 2, Lancashire,
* Hinkley Point A and B, Somerset,
* Hunterston A, Ayrshire,
* Hunterston B, Ayrshire,
* Oldbury, near Bristol,
* Sizewell A, Suffolk,
* Sizewell B, Suffolk,
* Torness, East Lothian,
* Bradwell, Essex,
* Calder Hall, within Sellafield,
* Wylfa, on Anglesey,
* Trawsfynydd, Dolgellau, Wales.
Defence Sites
* Atomic Weapons Establishments sites near Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire,
* Devonshire Dock Complex, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria,
* Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth,
* Rolls Royce Neptune site and Nuclear Fuel Production Plant in Derby
* Rosyth Dockyard, Fife.
On 1st June 2007 an order made on behalf of the Home Secretary designating the following 16 royal, governmental and parliamentary sites as protected sites will come into force (The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007 No. 930)):
* 85 Albert Embankment, London;
* Buckingham Palace, London;
* Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall, London;
* Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London;
* St James’s Palace, Cleveland Row, London;
* Thames House, 11 and 12 Millbank, London;
* The Chequers estate, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire;
* 10 – 12 Downing Street site as well as 70 Whitehall;
* Government Communication Headquarters, Harp Hill, Cheltenham;
* Government Communication Headquarters, Hubble Road, Cheltenham;
* Government Communication Headquarters, Racecourse Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire;
* Government Communication Headquarters, Woodford, Bude, Cornwall;
* Highgrove House, Doughton, Gloucestershire;
* Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House site, London;
* Sandringham House, Norfolk;
* Windsor Castle, Berkshire.
A copy of the S.I. is available on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website (new window)
S.I. 2007 No.930 has been amended by The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) (Amendment) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007 No. 1387), which will also come into force on 1 June 2007. This amendment order corrects a minor error in the original order in the designated area applying to the Chequers site.
Care has been taken to ensure that the boundaries of each site are permanent, continuous and clear to members of the public. Where possible they follow the existing physical boundary of the site. These boundaries will be marked with appropriate measures to ensure that members of the public are aware of the offence.
It is a defence for a person charged with this offence to prove that he or she did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the site in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed was designated within SOCAP. In addition, the Attorney General will be required to give his or her consent to any prosecution. A person guilty of an offence under this section will be liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months and/or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
