Martyns Law 2026 – What UK Event Organisers Must Know

If you organise events in the UK – concerts, festivals, corporate conferences, sporting fixtures, community fairs – there is a new law coming that will directly affect how you plan and run them.

It is called Martyn’s Law, formally the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. It received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, and enforcement is expected to begin in Spring 2027. That gives you less than a year to prepare.

This is not a distant policy conversation. The Home Office published its statutory guidance on 15 April 2026, and the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been confirmed as the regulator. If your event can hold 200 or more people, this law applies to you.

Here is what you need to know – in plain English, without the legal jargon.

Martyn’s Law is a UK law that requires public venues and event organisers to prepare for terrorist threats and take steps to protect people on site. It places a legal duty on anyone responsible for a publicly accessible premises or event to have documented counter-terrorism procedures in place.

The law is named after Martyn Hett, one of 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017. His mother, Figen Murray, campaigned for years to ensure that venues and events would never again be left without basic protective measures.

The key principle is proportionality. A small community hall hosting 250 people will not face the same requirements as a 10,000-capacity festival. But both will need to show they have thought about the risk and prepared for it.

The law uses a simple capacity test. If your event or venue is open to the public and can hold 200 or more people at the same time — including staff — it falls within scope.

There are two tiers.

Standard Tier (200–799 people) covers most mid-sized events — corporate functions, community fairs, school events, mid-capacity concerts, and smaller sporting fixtures. You will need to implement basic public protection procedures, but the requirements are designed to be straightforward and low-cost.

Enhanced Tier (800+ people) covers larger events — festivals, stadium fixtures, arena concerts, and major exhibitions. Enhanced tier duty holders face heavier obligations including written risk assessments, formal counter-terrorism procedures, a named senior compliance individual, and measures like access control, search arrangements, and monitoring of the immediate vicinity.

For public events specifically, the Act only applies at the 800+ threshold. But if your event takes place in a venue that already falls under the standard tier (200+), the venue’s own obligations will still affect how your event is run.

The requirements depend on your tier, but the core expectation is the same — you must prepare your team to respond to a terrorist incident and take reasonably practicable steps to reduce harm.

Standard Tier (200–799)

For most mid-sized events, compliance means putting four public protection procedures in place. These are not complicated and are designed to be achievable without specialist consultants.

You need a procedure for evacuating people from the premises. You need a procedure for locking down — keeping people inside and away from the threat. You need a procedure for communicating with people during an incident. And you need a procedure for moving people to a safe area within the premises.

That is it. No written risk assessment is legally required at standard tier. No named compliance officer. No physical security measures like barriers or searches. The emphasis is on awareness, planning, and being able to act if something happens.

Larger events face a more substantial set of obligations. On top of the four public protection procedures, enhanced tier organisers must also produce a written terrorism risk assessment, appoint a named senior individual responsible for compliance, and consider physical protective measures — access control, hostile vehicle mitigation, search arrangements, monitoring of the surrounding area, and protection of sensitive site information.

This is where professional event security planning becomes essential. If you are running a festival, stadium fixture, or major public event, you will need a security partner who understands both the operational requirements and the compliance documentation the SIA will expect.

3 April 2025 — Royal Assent. Martyn’s Law is now on the statute book, but duties are not yet enforceable.

10 April 2026 — Section 27 commenced, giving the Home Office power to issue statutory guidance.

15 April 2026 — Home Office publishes final statutory guidance. SIA launches public consultation on its regulatory approach (closed 12 June 2026).

Spring 2027 (expected) — Enforcement begins. Legal duties become enforceable. The SIA’s regulatory function goes live.

The 2026 season is effectively the dry run. Organisers who start preparing now will be ahead of the curve. Those who wait until enforcement begins will be scrambling — and potentially facing penalties.

The SIA will be the regulator. While the full penalty regime has not been finalised, the Act gives the SIA powers to issue compliance notices, restriction notices, and financial penalties. For enhanced tier premises, non-compliance could carry fines of up to £18 million or 5% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

For most event organisers, the reputational risk is just as significant as the financial one. In a post-Manchester Arena world, being seen to have ignored a legal duty to protect your attendees is not something any event brand can afford.

K4 Security has been delivering event security services across the UK for over 10 years. We hold an SIA Approved Contractor Scheme score of 92 — placing us in the top 5% of UK security providers — and we are already helping event organisers prepare for Martyn’s Law compliance.

Here is what we can support you with.

Counter-terrorism risk assessments — our consultancy team produces written risk assessments covering threat identification, vulnerability analysis, and protective measures tailored to your venue and event type. Learn about our event consultancy service →

Public protection procedures — we help you develop and document your evacuation, invacuation (lockdown), communication, and shelter procedures, aligned with the Home Office statutory guidance.

Access control and search operations — for enhanced tier events, our SIA-licensed event security guards deliver professional bag searches, ticket verification, and perimeter control.

Hostile vehicle mitigation planning — we advise on barrier placement and vehicle access design as part of your event risk assessment.

Crowd management under threat conditions — our crowd management teams are trained to manage evacuation, invacuation, and crowd movement during security incidents.

CCTV and monitoring — we deploy rapid CCTV control rooms for real-time monitoring of the immediate vicinity at enhanced tier events.

Documentation for the SIA — all our event security planning produces documentation designed to demonstrate compliance to the regulator.

You do not need to wait until Spring 2027. Here is what you can do today.

Work out your tier. Check the maximum capacity of your venue or event — including staff. If it is 200+, you are in scope. If 800+, you are enhanced tier.

Read the statutory guidance. The Home Office published its full guidance on 15 April 2026. It is the definitive document on what the law expects.

Review your existing security plan. If you already work with a professional event security provider, much of what Martyn’s Law requires may already be in place. The gap is usually documentation, not practice.

Talk to your security provider. Ask them specifically about Martyn’s Law readiness. If they cannot answer, it is time to find one who can.

Start documenting. Even if your procedures are informal, writing them down is the first step toward compliance. The SIA will want to see evidence, not just intentions.