Martyn’s Law: Improving Safety Through Better Preparedness

Oct 28, 2025 | Articles, Compliance Training

The UK’s new Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act – commonly referred to as Martyn’s Law – introduced a legal duty for qualifying organisations to take steps to protect the public from the threat of terrorism. A key part of this duty is ensuring that staff are trained to respond appropriately in the event of an attack.

Enacted in March 2025, it introduced mandatory counter-terrorism duties for organisations based on venue size and use. While the law becomes enforceable by 2027, organisations are urged to act now during this transition period and put in place reasonable and practicable steps to prepare for and respond to terrorist threats.

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, is named in memory of Martyn Hett, a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. Named after Martyn, this legislation reflects the tireless campaign by his mother, Figen Murray, for stronger security measures in public venues.

This law has wide applicability to venues such as pubs, restaurants, shopping centres, stadiums, hospitals, airports, and places of worship. Under the law, these venues must assess the risks relevant to their location and activities and then implement practical measures to mitigate them. This includes measures such as staff training, evacuation planning, and emergency communication protocols. Every venue needs a security plan, so staff know how to prepare for and respond to potential terrorist threats. Failure to do this can lead to serious injury or fatalities among employees and the public.

Organisations that don’t prepare and meet their legal obligations once this legislation becomes enforceable can face penalties as duty holders. They also risk having unprepared and confused employees in the event of an attack or suspected attack, which can lead to a chaotic environment for both employees and customers or patrons.

Training to Prepare for Martyn’s Law

Through providing training as part of preparing your organisation to comply, you will not only expand your health and safety framework to meet the new counter-terrorism requirements, but also ensure your employees are equipped to respond – improving their resilience to disruption during an incident. It will demonstrate a proactive commitment to protecting the public and your employees, as well as mitigating risk to your business.

Martyn’s Law aims to enhance safety through improved preparedness.

Litmos now has three courses in our compliance course library on The Terrorism Act (Martyn’s Law). The first is for general employee awareness for a venue’s front-line staff on how to spot a suspicious person or event and then how to respond and report it. The remaining two courses are aimed at the responsible person or entity role in an organisation, covering what their additional responsibilities in preparing for an event, assessing and addressing risks, and managing reports of suspicious persons.

What can U.K, organization do to prepare for this legislation? Start by training staff today. For more information, review our Terrorism Act courses in the Litmos course library.