The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly called Martyn's Law in tribute to Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack, sets a new baseline for how UK premises and events prepare for a terrorist attack. It received Royal Assent in 2025 and comes into force after an implementation period of at least 24 months. The Home Office published its statutory guidance on 15 April 2026 and a further note on the Security Industry Authority's role as regulator on 17 July 2026. The law works in two tiers by capacity: a standard tier for premises where between 200 and 799 people may be present at once, and an enhanced tier for those where 800 or more may be present.
The heart of the standard duty is four public protection procedures the guidance expects a site to be able to run, and each is a question a protective team can ask on a recce. Evacuation is getting people away from danger by moving them out of the premises or event. Invacuation is moving people to a safer place within the premises, the counter-intuitive one worth drilling, because pushing a crowd outside can walk them into a secondary threat. Lockdown is securing the premises to control who enters or leaves. Communication is making sure information reaches everyone present, quickly. The enhanced tier adds physical measures such as CCTV, bag searches or vehicle checks where appropriate, and the SIA is named as the regulator.
For close protection and event teams, the read is practical. When you recce a venue or plan an event, measure the site against these four procedures rather than a vague sense of whether it feels secure. Which tier does the capacity put it in, and can the staff actually execute evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication under pressure, or only name them on paper. The guidance is built on what is reasonably practicable, so it rewards judgement over box-ticking, and it applies well below stadium scale, which means the mid-size venues protective teams use every week are now in scope. Treat the four procedures as the baseline your own advance confirms rather than someone else's compliance problem.
