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Martyn’s Law: Readiness for London Venues
A clear, practical guide to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025—and the readiness support already included for every SSS client.
Martyn’s Law is the name commonly used for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. The Act is designed to improve protective security and organisational preparedness at certain public premises and events. For London operators, the right approach is measured preparation: understand whether the Act is likely to apply, identify the person with legal responsibility, and make sure people, procedures and records are ready to work together.
Martyn’s Law compliance guide
What does Martyn’s Law compliance mean for a venue?
For a venue or qualifying event in scope, Martyn’s Law compliance means the Responsible Person must take the procedures and, where applicable, measures required by the Act so far as is reasonably practicable. The applicable duty depends on the specific premises or event, expected attendance and exclusions. A security provider can support operational preparation, but the statutory responsibility cannot be transferred.
Who is likely to be in scope?
A premises is likely to be in scope where it includes a building or part of a building, is used mainly for a purpose listed in Schedule 1 of the Act, is not excluded, and it is reasonable to expect 200 or more people—including staff—to be present at the same time from time to time. The legislation also creates a separate route for certain publicly accessible qualifying events where 800 or more people are expected and entry checks apply. The details matter, so an individual venue or event should be assessed against the official scope guidance rather than a generic capacity estimate.
The legal duty sits with the Responsible Person: usually the individual, company or organisation that controls the premises or the event for the purpose for which it is in scope. A security provider can support readiness and delivery; it does not take over that statutory responsibility.
What will the two tiers require?
Standard tier
Usually 200–799 individuals, including staff
Usually, qualifying premises where 200 to 799 individuals, including staff, may be present at the same time will be standard tier. When the Act comes into force, the Responsible Person will need to notify the SIA as prescribed and, so far as reasonably practicable, have appropriate public-protection procedures in place.
Enhanced tier
Usually 800+ individuals, including staff
Usually, qualifying premises with 800 or more individuals, including staff, will be enhanced tier. Qualifying events have separate statutory tests and are subject to enhanced-tier requirements. When the Act comes into force, enhanced-tier duties include appropriate public-protection measures, an up-to-date statutory document and submission of that document to the SIA. If the Responsible Person is a company or organisation, it must designate a senior individual concerned in its management or control.
For qualifying premises, the four public-protection procedures to consider when the Act comes into force are:
Enhanced-tier measures additionally require consideration of monitoring, movement, physical security and security of information. Some in-scope places of worship and childcare, primary, secondary and further-education premises remain standard tier at 800 or more. What is “reasonably practicable” depends on the venue or event and its resources; the Responsible Person should use current official guidance.
Martyn’s Law readiness is already part of an SSS deployment
For clients of Special Service Security, the proprietary SSS Application is included as standard with every SSS contract, with no additional platform licensing or implementation charge. It can support a client’s documented working scope assessment, agreed procedure tracking and training-record oversight. It does not make a legal determination of scope or tier.
This gives clients a practical way to keep the smaller but essential readiness tasks visible before the Act commences—without confusing a platform feature with a legal compliance guarantee.
Working scope record
Record a client’s working, site-specific scope assessment and the operational procedures being considered. The Responsible Person must verify the full statutory tests and current guidance.
Procedure tracking
Track the procedures agreed for a site and keep the operational plan visible as requirements and conditions evolve.
Training records
Where enabled for the agreed client configuration, the environment can hold current training and site-instruction records for operational oversight. These records do not, by themselves, establish statutory adequacy or legal compliance.
Client visibility
The client environment can support visibility of agreed rotas, licence-status records, incident reports and operational information. Those records support oversight; they are not a legal-compliance certificate.
Why prepare now?
Preparation should not be confused with over-engineering. It is about understanding who holds responsibility, recording the actual site circumstances, agreeing appropriate procedures and ensuring people have current site-specific instructions. The Act does not prescribe one generic training course or require a security provider; any training, instruction and protective arrangement should be appropriate to the particular site.
For operators using event security services, door supervision or an SSS manned deployment, the most valuable next step is a focused conversation about the reality of the site—not a generic checklist copied from another venue.
Frequently asked questions
Is Martyn’s Law already in force?
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 has received Royal Assent, but its duties have not yet commenced. The SIA currently expects commencement in spring 2027 and says it will confirm the exact date ahead of time.
Does every London bar, restaurant or club fall within the Act?
No. Scope depends on the detailed statutory tests, including the building, use, expected simultaneous attendance including staff and exclusions. Qualifying events have separate public-access and entry-check tests. A venue should use current Home Office, SIA and ProtectUK guidance to assess its own position.
What does “reasonably practicable” mean?
It means balancing what can be done to achieve the relevant protective objective against the cost, time and difficulty of implementation, taking account of the particular venue or event and its resources.
Can SSS certify that my venue is legally compliant?
No. Legal responsibility remains with the Responsible Person. SSS can help clients prepare, deliver security services and use the application’s readiness features, while clients should use official guidance and obtain advice suitable for their circumstances.
Is SSS’s Martyn’s Law readiness support an extra charge?
For SSS clients, the SSS Application is included as standard with every contract, without an additional platform licensing or implementation charge. It supports operational records and does not certify legal compliance.
Plan with confidence, not panic.
Speak with SSS about an operationally grounded security deployment for your London venue, event or portfolio.
Official sources and review
Reviewed by SSS Operations Team on 23 September 2026. This article is reviewed quarterly and promptly when official guidance changes. It provides general operational information, not legal advice.
- Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, legislation.gov.uk.
- Understanding Martyn’s Law and the SIA’s role as regulator, Security Industry Authority, 17 July 2026.
- Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: statutory guidance, Home Office.
- Martyn’s Law overview and what you need to know, ProtectUK.
Martyn’s Law compliance resources
