The Security Industry Authority's consultation on its draft section 12 guidance for Martyn's Law closed at 23:59 on 12 June 2026. The consultation ran from 15 April. The guidance is the operational rulebook for how the SIA will act as regulator for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in April 2025 and is expected to come into force in spring 2027 after an implementation period of at least 24 months.
The SIA's section 12 guidance sits alongside the Home Office's section 27 guidance. The Home Office guidance tells duty-holders what they must do; the SIA guidance explains how it will regulate them — its public-protection objectives, how it will provide advice, its information-sharing and inspection powers, and how it will respond to non-compliance, including how financial penalties are set.
Two tiers apply. Standard duty premises are those where between 200 and 799 individuals may be present. They must put in place public-protection procedures — evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication — coordinate with others responsible for the site, and notify the SIA. Enhanced duty premises, where 800 or more may be present, carry all of that plus documented public-protection measures, a compliance submission to the SIA, and a designated senior individual. The SIA can issue civil compliance and restriction notices, levy monetary penalties, and refer the most serious cases for prosecution.
For operators and security managers, this is the year the framework hardens from principle into process. The capacity thresholds decide which tier a site falls into, and the enhanced tier brings a documentation burden that protective teams will be expected to help build and evidence. Spring 2027 is not far off in procurement and training terms. Teams working venues, events and large estates should be reading the draft guidance now and mapping which of their sites cross the 200 and 800 lines, because the people writing the protection plans will increasingly be the ones holding the SIA notification.
