The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, better known as Martyn's Law, received Royal Assent on Thursday 3 April 2025. It carries a minimum implementation period of 24 months, and the duties are expected to commence in spring 2027. One of the central mechanics of the regime is that premises and events in scope must register themselves with the Security Industry Authority, and the detail of how that will work is now on the table.
The statutory instrument setting out the notification requirement was laid before Parliament on 14 July 2026, as SI 2026/793. It sits alongside the wider Martyn's Law guidance the SIA consulted on between 15 April and 12 June 2026, with the final version expected in autumn 2026. Scope is set by how many people may be present at the same time. The standard tier covers premises where 200 to 799 individuals may be present. The enhanced tier covers larger premises and qualifying events where 800 or more may be present. Standard-tier sites will have to notify the SIA who the responsible person is once the law is in force, and the notification also captures the premises or event location, the relevant capacity figures, control information, and website, social media and licensing details.
The timeframes are where operators should focus. For qualifying premises, the first notification is due within three months of commencement, and thereafter within 28 days whenever responsibility changes or previously notified information becomes inaccurate. For qualifying events, the window is 14 days from the point the event date is publicised, or from commencement, with the same 14-day window to reflect a change or a correction. Notifications will be submitted through an SIA online portal, and the SIA is expected to invite volunteers to help test that portal from early 2027, ahead of commencement.
The practical read is that the registration machinery is no longer an abstraction. The duty is not live yet, but knowing which premises and events fall into scope, and settling who the responsible person will be for each, is preparation that can start now rather than against a three-month clock in 2027.
