{"id":767,"date":"2026-09-17T05:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oneplan.io\/articles\/what-is-martyns-law"},"modified":"2026-09-17T05:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:03:43","slug":"what-is-martyns-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oneplan.io\/articles\/what-is-martyns-law","title":{"rendered":"Martyn’s Law Explained: A Guide for Event Organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by: Paul Foster, Founder, CEO, OnePlan<\/em><\/p>\n

A New Era For Event Safety<\/h2>\n

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, is named in recognition of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.<\/a> His mother, Figen Murray OBE, led the campaign for the legislation from 2019 onward. Her persistence turned a public petition into an Act of Parliament.<\/p>\n

The Act received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025.<\/a> Enforcement is expected from spring 2027, after an implementation period of at least 24 months from Royal Assent.<\/a> If you organize events in the UK, Martyn’s Law will very likely apply to you. The time to prepare is now, before the SIA’s inspectors arrive on site.<\/p>\n

Who Martyn’s Law Covers<\/h2>\n

The Act applies to premises and events in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland that are publicly accessible and used for a Schedule 1 purpose.<\/a> Schedule 1 lists 17 categories, including entertainment and leisure, sports grounds, food and drink venues, hotels, places of worship, transport stations, and public authorities.<\/p>\n

Premises can be indoors, outdoors, or mixed-use.<\/a> Racecourses, showgrounds, zoos, and theme parks are all explicitly covered. Festivals, marathons, community events, and one-off outdoor gatherings are in scope if they meet the capacity threshold.<\/p>\n

The responsible person is the individual, organisation, or company with control of the premises for its principal Schedule 1 use.<\/a> For an event, this is the person with control of the premises in connection with their use for that event. Legal responsibility stays with that responsible person, although they can delegate tasks.<\/p>\n

Capacity is assessed by whether there is a reasonable expectation that the relevant number of individuals may be present on the premises at the same time, and that figure must include staff and workers.<\/a> You can calculate capacity using fire safety occupancy figures, historic attendance data, or another justified method.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Two Tiers Of Martyn’s Law<\/h2>\n

The Act uses a tiered approach based on the greatest number of individuals, including staff, reasonably expected to be present at the same time.<\/a> The table below summarises the main differences between the two tiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Requirement<\/th>\nStandard Tier (200\u2013799 People)<\/th>\nEnhanced Tier (800+ People)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Notify the SIA<\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Public protection procedures (evacuation, invacuation, lockdown, communication)<\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Public protection measures (monitoring, movement, physical security, information security)<\/td>\nNo<\/a><\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Documented compliance submitted to the SIA<\/td>\nNo<\/a><\/td>\nYes<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Designated senior individual<\/td>\nNo<\/a><\/td>\nYes (where responsible person is an organisation)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maximum penalty for non-compliance<\/td>\n\u00a310,000 (plus up to \u00a3500\/day)<\/a><\/td>\nGreater of \u00a318 million or 5% of global revenue (plus up to \u00a350,000\/day)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Standard Tier (200\u2013799 People)<\/h3>\n

Standard tier premises must notify the SIA, put the four public protection procedures in place, and ensure staff are aware of and ready to implement them.<\/a> They do not need physical security measures or a formal terrorism risk assessment, and they do not submit a compliance document to the SIA.<\/a> The Home Office estimates standard tier compliance at around \u00a3330 a year, mostly in staff time.<\/a><\/p>\n

Enhanced Tier (800+ People)<\/h3>\n

Enhanced tier premises must meet all standard tier requirements.<\/a> They must also implement public protection measures across monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and security of information.<\/a> They need to document their compliance and submit that document to the SIA within 30 days of any revision.<\/a> Where the responsible person is an organisation, they must designate a senior individual.<\/a><\/p>\n

An event is not automatically a qualifying event merely because 800 people attend.<\/a> It must meet six criteria, including taking place at qualifying premises for event purposes, being accessible to the public, reasonably expecting 800 or more people at the same time, having qualifying entry checks such as payment or tickets, and not taking place at excluded premises.<\/p>\n

Key Safety Procedures Under Martyn’s Law<\/h2>\n

All in-scope premises and events must plan for four core procedures.<\/a> These procedures must be documented and shared with staff so they can act on them immediately. Each procedure focuses on a different stage of an incident.<\/p>\n