The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn's Law, exists because of the tireless campaigning of Figen Murray and her campaign team, following the loss of her son Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
The law will mean that publicly accessible premises and events are better prepared and protected against acts of terrorism. It was passed in April last year but will come into effect from spring 2027 at the earliest. For many charities, better preparedness will ensure they can continue to provide welcoming spaces, inclusive events and critical community services.
As the regulator, we are working closely with the Home Office to build awareness of the incoming legislation, the requirements for those in scope and what they should do to prepare.
Who will Martyn’s Law apply to?
Martyn’s Law has the potential to impact charities of all shapes and sizes if they have publicly accessible premises, whether they are small volunteer-led organisations operating community hubs or village halls or larger-scale charities running theatres, museums, schools or public health services. Equally, it will apply to some charities running one-off events.
The first step for everyone in the sector is to confirm if Martyn’s Law applies to you and at what level. The ProtectUK website has flowcharts to help with this as well as free advice, guidance and learning to help organisations and communities improve their response to the risk of terrorism.
For most physical settings, if it is reasonably expected that between 200-799 people, including staff, will be present at the busiest times, the premises is likely to be in the standard tier. If at least 800 people will be present, it is likely you’ll need to meet the enhanced tier requirements.
There is an important exception for places of worship and for early years, primary, secondary and further education settings which can only be in the standard tier even if there are more than 800 people present.
For charities running one-off or regular events, there are four key considerations. Events will only be in scope if 800 or more people are expected at the busiest times, there are controls on entry, the event is open to the public, and the event is not already being held at enhanced tier premises.
If you’re hosting a one-off event, like a fundraising gala, and it is being held at an enhanced tier premises, your event will be covered under the existing security arrangements for that premises.
Events that aren’t open to the public or have no check on entry via a ticket, pass or membership won’t qualify. Larger events can be a mix.
In a marathon, for example, open roads will be out of scope but controlled areas like grandstands or start and end pens may be in scope if 800 or more people are expected at once.
What to do if it does apply
What you need to do to prepare will depend on what tier you’re in, the nature of your charity and the resources you have available.
The focus of Martyn’s Law is on identifying what procedures and measures are appropriate for you, and then putting those into place as far as is reasonably practicable. It means weighing up how effective the procedures are likely to be in reducing the risk of harm against the cost, time and difficulty of putting them in place.
For those in the standard tier, you will be expected to have appropriate public protection procedures in place to reduce the risk of harm from a terrorist attack and to have considered evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and how you communicate with everyone in the event of an attack.
For those in the enhanced tier, including qualifying events, as well as thinking about those same public protection procedures, you will need measures in place to reduce your vulnerability to attack.
This means, you’ll also need to consider things like how you monitor the premises or event, and how you ensure your security information is not accessible to those who could use it to plan a terrorist attack. You will also have to document the public protection procedures and measures you have in place and share this with us.
We will be producing planning tools for both the standard and enhanced tiers that should help you think through what you need to put in place to comply.
Martyn’s Law isn’t designed to stop events from taking place or put charities’ limited resources under more pressure – it’s about making the premises they use and events they operate safer. Where good protective security measures and preparedness procedures already exist, these will be solid foundations.
What to do now
Once Martyn's Law comes into force, you will be legally required to tell the Security Industry Authority that you are in scope of the act, what tier you are in, and who the “responsible person” is for your premises or event.
We will confirm the exact date in good time and publish information when the Martyn’s Law digital service on gov.uk has been developed.
In the meantime, you can start thinking about who your responsible person would be and what you’ll put in place so you're not starting from scratch when the law comes into effect.
