The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (often referred to as “Martyn’s Law”) received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. It is intended to improve protective security and organisational preparedness across the UK. All organisations, including schools, have “at least” 2 years from April 2025 to prepare for the new law, though there is no requirement to comply with it until the legislation comes into force. Having said that, given the existing legal framework that applies in relation to safeguarding and health and safety, schools should already have appropriate arrangements in place to manage a broad range of security risks which can occur in a school setting.
How will Martyn’s Law work?
Martyn’s Law provides for two types of premises. The standard tier covers those where between 100 – 799 individuals may be present. Premises where 800 or more individuals may be present fall within the enhanced tier. However, crucially schools, and places of worship (which may be relevant to faith schools), will all fall within the standard tier and, irrespective of whether their capacity is 800 or more, they are exempt from the enhanced tier.
Settings where under 100 individuals may be present are not obliged to follow the requirements of Martyn’s Law but they should be mindful of principles of Counter Terrorism Protect and Prepare, which aims to safeguard their communities.
The compliance requirements are focused on low-cost plans and procedures, rather than an expectation of any physical alterations.
What steps will need to be taken over the next 2 years?
- Appoint a “responsible person” who manages compliance with Martyn’s Law. This is likely to be the Headteacher for a school. For a place of worship, this may be a senior member of the clergy, however it is important that the “responsible person” fits the definition in the Act – i.e., a person “who has control of the premises in connection with their relevant Schedule 1 use”. Once the requirements come into force, they will be required to:
- notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) of their premises; and
- have in place, so far as reasonably practicable, appropriate public protection procedures.
- Consider current procedures and where updates in view of the Martyn’s Law requirements will be necessary.
- Implement procedures that, so far as reasonably practicable, reduce harm to the public and staff at the premises in the event of a terrorist attack. These include evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
- Staff will have to be trained on the procedures outlined later in this article, as well as their roles and responsibilities in the event of a potential incident.
Security plan in practice
Schools will be expected to have various procedures in place. These include:
- Evacuation: getting people safely out of the premises.
- Invacuation: bringing people safely into, or to safe parts within, the premises, where there is less risk of harm.
- Lockdown: securing the premises, such as locking doors, in order to prevent individuals leaving or entering.
- Communication: alerting people on the premises to danger. Schools must ensure they have systems in place to alert staff and students during an emergency. This could involve the use of public address systems, alarms, or other technology that enables swift communication during a crisis. Useful features would include an ability to broadcast site-wide sound alerts and easy notification to key personnel about incidents via phone. Any mass communication must make provision for those with sensory or additional needs.
We would suggest that it is also important that schools think about broader communications with stakeholders, particularly parents and carers, if there is a serious incident where the security plans need to be implemented. This is because there can be a lot of confusion and anxiety during and after an incident, especially given how quickly information is spread via social media. Naturally, the nature of any communications will depend on the type of incident that a school may be dealing with, but it is helpful to have a general framework for how communications should be managed.
The regulatory authority
The Government has stipulated that the SIA will be the regulator. It will be given powers to inspect premises, gather information and impose civil sanctions on premises and events which do not comply with the legal requirements.
The government will also provide statutory guidance and advice on how to comply with Martyn’s Law during the two year implementation period.
Areas of overlap
Addressing the requirements of Martyn’s Law should complement policies and procedures already in place, such as a school’s security policy and safeguarding policy, or existing health and safety requirements which should address broader security risks beyond terrorism. Please also see our previous article on school site security, available here: https://wslaw.co.uk/insight/is-your-school-site-secure/. The article includes links to the DfE’s existing guidance, checklists and templates for schools on managing security.
In addition, the DfE issued non-statutory guidance for educational settings in April 2025 called ‘Protective security and preparedness for education settings’. This guidance covers a broad range of security risks and says that all settings should make simple plans to improve protective security and preparedness that can deter terrorists and other security threats. The guidance contains advice on dealing with various threats and provides guidance for writing, testing and implementing the security plans.
It is therefore likely that some security arrangements will already be in place in many schools. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, as amended, already provides that employers must appoint one or more competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety and to support compliance with regulations.
Schools are also already required to have “Competent persons” who consider matters of security, including areas regularly used for off-site education and those related to the educational visits policy. Schools should already have in place a security policy that:
- identifies the likelihood of a security related incident occurring
- assesses the level of impact
- develops plans and procedures to manage and respond to any threats.
Summary and conclusion
Schools should be places of safety and nurture and it’s difficult to contemplate how they could be a target for a terrorist incident. However, the current national threat level at the time of writing is substantial and Martyn’s Law puts on a legal footing the prudent measures that may help to keep your school community safe.
Our view is that schools should approach the implementation of Martyn’s Law holistically so that the arrangements dovetail with the school’s general safeguarding and security responsibilities and become embedded in day-to-day practice in the same way that many other procedures form part of school life. Therefore, while schools will need to ensure they comply with the new statutory guidance when it comes into force to specifically address terrorism threats, we anticipate that most educational settings will already have security arrangements in place given their existing safeguarding obligations and the need to prepare for a broad range of security risks.
For further guidance or advice, please contact our School Support Service team on 0345 070 7437 or schoolsupport@wslaw.co.uk