Update on Martyn’s Law for charities & churches

5 November 2025

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn’s Law, is a new Protect Duty legislation to strengthen security measures in public places and events. For the not-for-profit sector, this will be most relevant to charity/community-owned venues. events, museums, sports grounds, leisure facilities, education settings, churches and places of worship.

Understanding Martyn’s Law

Martyn’s Law, also known as Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, received royal assent on 3rd April 2025. It is expected to take around 2 years to implement and involves further guidance on enforcement from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Origin

The new law is part of the government’s wider counter terrorism strategy. It originated following the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, and named after one of the victims Martyn Hett.

Purpose

The purpose of Martyn’s Law is to ensure public venues have an appropriate level of preparedness to the threat of terrorism.

Martyn’s Law will apply to a wide range of publicly accessible venues, including entertainment and leisure facilities, retail stores, museums and galleries, sports grounds, government buildings, places of worship, and educational institutions.

Scope of Martyn’s Law

The scope of the new law is on public venues and events that fall under the categories:

Proportional security measures

The Law establishes a tiered model based on the size and nature of activities taking place at a premise or event:

• Standard Tier: Applies to qualifying premises with a capacity of 200-799 individuals.
• Enhanced Tier: Applies to high-capacity venues and events with 800 or more individuals, such as live music premises, theatres, and department stores.

Capacity is defined as a reasonable expectation of 200+ individuals being present at the same time at the venue/event, from time to time.

It is also important to note that for places of worship that expect 800+ individuals from time to time, they will still fall under the Standard Tier.

Open spaces such as public gardens, parks and recreation grounds are generally excluded unless they have measures of restricting entry such as ticketing.

All measures implemented are advised to be reasonably practicable, similar to that of Fire Safety and Health & Safety measures.

Responsibilities for Standard Tier

The main responsibilities for Standard Tier venues/events are to assess the risk and implement basic terrorism response procedures.

• Appoint responsible individual and notify SIA.
• Conduct terrorism risk assessment.
• Implement Public Protection Procedures/Measures that you could reasonably expect to reduce physical harm in the event of terrorism. This might include locking doors, identifying safe evacuation routes and communications, for example.

Responsibilities for Enhanced Tier

The responsibilities for Enhanced Tier venues/events are that of Standard Tier, plus additional measures and documentation needed.

• Appoint responsible individual and notify SIA.
• Conduct terrorism risk assessment.
• Implement Public Protection Procedures/Measures tat you could reasonably expect to reduce physical harm in the event of terrorism and reduce the vulnerability of the premises/event. This might include bag searches, CCTV, monitoring or vehicle checks, for example.
• Provide/maintain documentation of risk procedures to SIA.

Enforcement and support

There will be civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance. The Home Office guidance currently states: “To support enforcement of the regime, a new regulatory function will be established within the Security Industry Authority (SIA). The SIA will seek to support, advise and guide those responsible for premises and events in meeting the requirements of this legislation. Where there are instances of serious or persistent non-compliance the SIA will be able to take enforcement action including compliance notices, monetary penalties and restriction notices.”

Organisations will receive dedicated guidance and support to help them understand and meet the new legal requirements, including access to ProtectUK, an online platform providing trusted advice, guidance, and learning resources on protective security.

Further links

Home Office:

• https://www.protectuk.police.uk/martyns-law/martyns-law-overview-and-what-you-need-know

Government FactSheets:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-factsheets/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-scope-premises
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-factsheets/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-overarching-factsheet

This blog was updated on 5 November 2025.