Time to Act: Martyn’s Law Compliance Starts Now

What you need to know

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (commonly known as Martyn’s Law) introduces new, UK-wide legal duties on operators of publicly accessible premises and events. The Act is designed to improve preparedness for terrorist attacks and reduce the risk of harm to the public. This is the first time a mandatory counter-terrorism duty has been imposed across the UK on organisations responsible for public venues.

The Home Office has now published its Statutory Guidance, explaining the core concepts of Martyn’s Law and the important steps those responsible for premises and events in scope must take to comply with the legal duties and improve protective security.

Who is in scope?

The Act applies to premises and events that are wholly or partly open to the public, including:

• Retail premises and shopping centres
• Food and drink venues (including restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes and food halls)
• Entertainment and leisure activities (including nightclubs, cinemas, arenas, theme parks, gyms, leisure centres, bowling alleys etc.)
• Hotels
• Sports grounds
• Healthcare
• Education settings
• Museums, galleries, libraries and cultural venues
• Places of worship
• Certain transport hubs
• Premises used by a public authority for the provision of facilities or services to members of the public e.g. household waste recycling centres
• Private or personal events are excluded. Temporary and pop-up events are included where members of the public attend and the event criteria is met.
• Multi-occupancy sites (such as shopping centres or stadium complexes) will require coordination between responsible persons.

Two tiers of duty

Duties under Martyn’s Law are proportionate and primarily determined by expected occupancy levels.

Standard Tier (200–799 capacity)

Responsible persons must:

• Put in place public protection procedures
• Deliver staff awareness training
• Strengthen communication arrangements
• Notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) that the premises fall within the scope of the Act

Enhanced Tier (800+ capacity)

In addition to the Standard Tier requirements, organisations must:

• Implement proportionate protective measures
• Designate a senior individual to ensure the responsible person complies with the relevant legislative requirements
• Develop a written security and emergency plan
• Identify vulnerabilities and mitigation measures
• Train staff on their role in a security response
• Demonstrate multi-agency readiness with emergency services

Occupancy may be assessed using any reasonable method (including fire capacity, ticketing arrangements or historic attendance data). A transitional period will apply to allow organisations time to comply.

What organisations should be considering now

Organisations should begin assessing their readiness by asking:

• Is it reasonable to expect 200+ or 800+ people on site at any one time?
• Who will own compliance and keep it under review?
• Is coordination required with landlords, tenants or adjacent occupiers?
• Are evacuation, invacuation and lockdown procedures clear and workable?
• How will people be warned quickly in an emergency?
• Have different terrorism threats been properly considered?
• How will staff, contractors and temporary workers be trained?
• What evidence will demonstrate what is “reasonably practicable”?
• How will you maintain public safety during periods of high footfall (e.g., events, late-night economy, seasonal peaks)?
• Does your organisation have a single point of accountability for public protection?
• How do you ensure the effectiveness of training for temporary, agency or volunteer staff?
• What records will you keep to demonstrate compliance (e.g., training logs, risk assessments, security plans, occupancy assessments)?
• How will you ensure that premises staff and contractors understand the differences between evacuation, invacuation and lockdown?
• What arrangements will you put in place to support vulnerable people in an emergency?

How we can help

Our multidisciplinary team supports organisations with:

• interpreting Martyn’s Law duties and regulatory expectations
• advising on governance, documentation and compliance
• incident response, investigations and crisis communications
• reviewing and strengthening emergency and security frameworks
• developing scenario-based exercises to test decision-making under pressure
• designing proportionate invacuation and lockdown procedures
• supporting contractor arrangement reviews and clarifying duty ownership
• providing 24/7 crisis response support

We work in partnership with Isca Security, combining legal expertise with operational counter-terrorism experience from former senior police officers, Royal Marines and certified risk specialists. This allows us to deliver a holistic, accountable and defensible approach to security planning, risk assessment and preparedness.

Our focus is on pragmatic, proportionate and defensible solutions that work in real operating environments.

Next steps

With enforcement approaching, organisations should act now to understand whether they fall within scope and what steps are required to achieve compliance. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will be the regulator responsible for enforcement, with powers to issue compliance notices, restriction notices and civil penalties for non-compliance. Early preparation will be critical to managing risk, avoiding unnecessary expenditure and demonstrating that reasonable steps have been taken to protect the public.

If you would like to discuss how Martyn’s Law affects your organisation, please contact a member of our team.