On 3 April 2025, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, universally known as Martyn’s Law, received Royal Assent. It is named after Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017, and it exists because of the extraordinary campaigning of his mother, Figen Murray. Its purpose is simple to state: to make sure the places where the public gather are prepared for the possibility of a terrorist attack.
The Government has indicated an implementation period of at least 24 months before the duties are enforced, which means venues have a window, right now, to get ready. Given what the Act asks of most premises, there is no good reason to wait.
Who is in scope?
Martyn’s Law applies to premises that are wholly or mainly used for qualifying activities, hospitality, entertainment, retail, sport and leisure, museums, places of worship, healthcare, education and more, where it is reasonable to expect a threshold number of people may be present:
- Standard tier, premises where 200 to 799 individuals may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time. Think pubs, restaurants, nightclubs, community venues, larger shops, hotels, village halls in use for events.
- Enhanced tier, premises and qualifying events where 800 or more may be present: arenas, stadiums, large hotels and shopping centres, festivals.
The regulator will be the Security Industry Authority (SIA), with powers to issue compliance notices and penalties for those who fail to meet their duties.
What the standard tier requires
For standard-tier premises, the Act deliberately avoids expensive physical requirements. The duty is to notify the SIA that you are a qualifying premises, and to have in place, so far as reasonably practicable, public protection procedures: the things your staff would actually do if an attack occurred at or near your venue. The procedures cover four areas:
- Evacuation, getting people out of the building safely.
- Invacuation, moving people into, or keeping them within, the safest parts of the premises when leaving is more dangerous.
- Lockdown, securing the premises against an attacker: doors, shutters, barriers, and keeping people away from entry points.
- Communication, alerting staff and visitors quickly and clearly about what is happening and what they should do.
Enhanced-tier premises must go further: notifying the SIA, documenting their procedures and measures, and putting in place public protection measures, monitoring, physical security, security information management, with a designated senior individual accountable for compliance.
The heart of it is people, not paperwork
Here is the uncomfortable truth behind the four procedures: none of them work if your team hears about them for the first time during an attack. A lockdown procedure that exists in a folder in the office is not a lockdown procedure. The venues that respond well to emergencies are the ones where every member of staff, including casual and agency staff, knows what evacuation, invacuation and lockdown mean in their building, who takes charge, and what they personally do first.
That is a training task, and it is exactly the gap our new course fills.
Martyn’s Law Awareness Training, available now
Our online Martyn’s Law Awareness Training course gives your whole team a working understanding of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: who it applies to, the standard and enhanced tier duties, the four public protection procedures and what they look like in a real venue, recognising suspicious activity, and how staff should respond in the first minutes of an incident. It’s completed online in around an hour, with a certificate on completion, an easy, low-cost way to start building the evidence of preparedness the SIA will expect.
At £20 per learner, it’s a straightforward first step for any pub, restaurant, venue, retailer or event operator that will fall within scope. If you’re reviewing your wider premises compliance at the same time, fire risk assessment, conflict management, first aid, talk to us about a training package for your venue: info@nationalcompliancetraining.co.uk.
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