For the Public
Does the UK public realise that over the coming years nearly every adult will be impacted by this new legislation, as most of us attend large scale gatherings, fetes, festivals, cinemas, places of worship, hotels, restaurants, licensed premises, transport hubs (trains, airports etc), large shops/department stores, shopping malls, sports arenas, schools, universities and tourist/visitor attractions in the normal course of our life activities.
The Home Office - Impact Assessment signed on 11.09.2024 using 2022 data, estimated that out of total sites/premises of 928,554 across the UK, there would be 178,891 sites/premises impacted by this law, with a cost to organisations (premises/events) owners/operators of between £87.6 million to £701.8 million, with a central estimate of £267.9 million in year 1 only. They then broke down the internal costs for management & staff time only at Standard Tier premises to be £330.00 per year and £5,210.00 per year to Enhanced Tier premises.
These figures do not consider the setup, enforcement or inspection regulation of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) as 'Regulator' to this Act or obtaining effective advice/knowledge for premises/events management staff from other sources to comply with this new law.
Advice to Owners/Operators of Businesses & Premises
This new and important piece of legislation, will come into force on 3rd April 2027, therefore anyone who owns/operators premises that has over 200 persons present at any one time (Standard Tier) or 800 persons present at any one time (Enhanced Tier) for Publicly Accessible Locations (PAL's) detailed in scope of the act, will need to take notice.
The Home Office was supposed to publish the Section 27, Statutory Guidance, as referred to in the act on Friday 10th April 2026, but Parliament was not sitting that day and there is no apparent scheduled time in Parliament for the coming week to enact this, also it has been stated that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will publish their Section 12 guidance at the same time, but there is no scheduled date for this, therefore there is going to be less than 12 months for owners/operators to understand their new obligations & to plan & prepare accordingly.
There is a number of written resources available regarding procedures (Evacuation, Invacuation, Lockdown & Communications) for the Standard Tier and procedures & measures (Monitoring, Movement control, Physical Security & Security of Information, as well as Standard Tier procedures) for the Enhanced Tier from the following organisations ProtectUK (www.protectuk.police.uk part of Counter-Terrorism Policing & National Counter-Terrorism Security Office - NaCTSO) and the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) (www.npsa.gov.uk ) but on in-depth research of their websites, a number of the resources are a few years old and have not been updated or amended, of course the information is still relevant, but as we are learning all the time, from events across the world, you would have thought that some additions or clarification is given to these important protection & preventative subjects.
We all understand the UK Police and the UK Security Services are very active (in trying to stop attacks and dealing with suspected terrorists) but this law is promoted by the UK Government as a major activity in the fight against terror.
Third-party Products & Services Offered by The Private Sector
The NPSA is part of MI5, the Security Service and works under the statutory authority of the Home Secretary (Home Office), who initially and still do, with ProtectUK, keep quoting "those responsible for premises and events in scope can comply with the act without the need to buy specialist services. The Home Office will publish guidance during the implementation period, before the Act comes into force. This guidance will be self-explanatory and easy to follow, requiring no particular expertise nor use of third-party products or services offered by the private sector".
This is contradictory as the NSPA (part of the Home Office) are clearly promoting private sector involvement by the Register of Security Engineers & Specialists (RSES) and funding the NaCTSO & Security For Justice (SFJ) Award - Level 3 Counter-Terrorism Protective Security and Preparedness qualification (previously called 'Competent Person in the Workplace') which was launched earlier in March 2026.
There are a number of Approved SFJ Awards Centres across the UK, being private training companies/providers which are charging between £695.00 - £2,000.00 for an approximate 5 day long course, that is stated to cover the following: Nature of Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism Legislation, Organisational Security Culture, Crime Prevention & Protective Security Measures, Counter-Terrorism Preparedness Plans & Risk Assessments, & evidence-based Counter-Terrorism Recommendations. This training course is very premature as the Martyn's Law Section 27 - Statutory Guidance is not issued yet.
Also, the Home Office & Counter Terrorism Policing is financially supported and aligned with Pool Re (Pool Reinsurance) a commercial company that provides third-party products/services in the private sector.
We as a Security Consultancy Service in the UK (along with a vast number of others) are mainly selling our time, experience and knowledge to aid businesses and organisations in how effectively comply with this new law.
The author of this article was our Senior Security Consultant Stewart Brown one of the most knowledgeable in UK with over 30 years’ experience, Home Office trained with a wealth of knowledge in Crime Prevention and Anti-terrorist. A long-standing and respected member of The Association of Security Consultants.
He was on the British Standards Institute (BSI) Security Services Committee for over 12 years and personally wrote the Security Consultancy and Private Investigations, Code of Practice standards that are now used regularly in the United Kingdom, as well as being involved in reviewing, updating & publishing most of the UK Security Codes of Practice and UK Security Standards in this industry
https://www.surelock.org/services/security-surveys-assessments
If you need our help or advice about Martyn's Law do not hesitate to make contact, we are happy to discuss your needs and help you decide, or visit our dedicated Martyn’s Law page and regular blog updates. Stewart has studied the implications of Martyn’s Law since day one and is truly an expert.
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