Legislative tracker · Scanned weekly

Martyn's Law:
where the legislation actually stands

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is on the statute book, but its requirements are not yet in force and no commencement date has been fixed. This page tracks the verified position, so you do not have to rely on a countdown to a date that does not exist.

Current status
Not yet in force
Royal Assent received 3 April 2025. Substantive requirements await commencement regulations.
Commencement date
None fixed
Expected from 2027. The Government has committed to an implementation period of at least 24 months.
Regulator
SIA
The Security Industry Authority will regulate the regime. Its notification scheme has not yet opened.
Last human verification of this status: · against Home Office guidance and legislation.gov.uk
Page last updated
The Implementation Period

Why everyone says "April 2027", and what that date really is

At Royal Assent the Government committed to at least 24 months before the Act's requirements take effect. That statutory minimum runs out in April 2027, which is why the date is quoted everywhere as a deadline. It is not a deadline. It is the earliest point the window can open.

Today
Elapsed: of the 24-month minimum
Committed minimum implementation period
Anticipated commencement window (from 2027, date TBC)
The practical point: preparation time is being consumed whether or not a date exists. Writing, briefing and testing public protection procedures typically takes a school or council two to three terms. Organisations that wait for a commencement announcement will be doing that work in a rush, alongside everyone else who waited.
Verified Timeline

What has actually happened

Each entry below is a verifiable event with an official source. Nothing on this list is projection.

22 May 2017
Manchester Arena attack
Twenty-two people are killed, including Martyn Hett, after whom the legislation is named. His mother, Figen Murray, leads the campaign for a statutory protect duty.
12 September 2024
Bill introduced to Parliament
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill is introduced in the House of Commons with the 200-person Standard Tier threshold, raised from the 100 proposed in the earlier draft Bill.
3 April 2025
Royal Assent
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 becomes law. The Government commits to an implementation period of at least 24 months before the requirements take effect, and confirms the Security Industry Authority as regulator.
April 2026
Statutory guidance published
The Home Office publishes guidance under section 27 of the Act, alongside factsheets covering scope, the two tiers, the education carve-out and the notification requirement.
Awaited
Commencement regulations
The formal trigger. A statutory instrument citing the 2025 Act, laid before Parliament and published on legislation.gov.uk, will fix the date the requirements take effect. This tracker's automated scan checks for it weekly.
Awaited
SIA notification scheme opens
Responsible persons for premises in scope will need to notify the SIA. The mechanism for doing so has not yet opened; expect it alongside or ahead of commencement.
Monitored Sources

Latest detected announcements

Automated weekly scan of gov.uk, the SIA and legislation.gov.uk · items shown pending human verification
Quick Reference

Which tier will your building fall into?

Standard Tier
200 to 799 people, including staff, reasonably expected at the same time
Notify the SIA and have public protection procedures in place, so far as reasonably practicable, covering evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. The Act requires no physical security installations at this tier. Below 200, premises are out of scope entirely.
Enhanced Tier
800 or more people reasonably expected
All Standard Tier duties, plus public protection measures in place so far as reasonably practicable, documented and provided to the SIA, with a designated senior individual accountable for compliance. Qualifying events are in scope where 800 or more may be present.
The education carve-out: early years, primary, secondary and further education settings are placed in the Standard Tier whatever their capacity. A school is never in the Enhanced Tier, however large. Universities do not benefit from this carve-out. For a personalised picture, our free readiness assessment checks your scope and obligations in five minutes.
What to do while you wait

Three things worth doing today, before any commencement date is announced

The absence of a fixed date is not a reason to wait. Preparation is what protects your position; a rush at commencement is what does not. These are the three moves that do the most work for the least effort.

01
Establish your tier and obligations in five minutes

Run our free readiness assessment to confirm whether your premises are in scope, which tier applies, and what the Act will actually require of you. It takes five questions and prints a summary you can put in front of your leadership team.

Run the free assessment →
02
Identify and formally name your Responsible Person

The person or organisation in control of the premises is the Responsible Person under the Act. Write it down, put it in front of governors, trustees or your board, and record the decision. This is free, takes an hour, and is the single most important governance step you can complete in advance.

Read the guide →
03
Draft your public protection procedures

Evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication procedures specific to a terrorist attack scenario, distinct from your fire plan. Drafting, briefing and rehearsing these typically takes two to three terms in a school or a council. Getting a working version on paper now removes the largest single delivery risk.

Draft your lockdown procedure →
How This Tracker Works

Sources, method and corrections

An automated scan runs every Monday morning against the gov.uk publications API, the Security Industry Authority's announcements and the legislation.gov.uk data feed, looking for anything citing Martyn's Law or the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. Detected items appear in the feed above immediately, clearly labelled as pending verification. The status banner and verified timeline change only after human review against the primary source.

This page is maintained by Fyrfly Systems, a physical security installer working with schools and the public sector. We publish it because the most common Martyn's Law claims in circulation, a fixed April 2027 deadline among them, are wrong, and venues deserve a reference point that is not selling them urgency. If you spot an error, tell us at hello@fyrflysystems.com and we will correct it with a note.

This tracker is general information, not legal advice. Verify the position against the Home Office publications and the Act itself before acting on it.

For Press & Editors

Cite this tracker

Journalists, editors and industry writers are welcome to reference this tracker as a resource. The verified timeline, status board and monitored sources are here to be quoted and linked to. All we ask is a visible credit to Fyrfly Systems with a link back to this page, so readers can check the underlying status themselves.

Terms: factual quotation and reproduction of dates, tier descriptions and status entries is permitted with a linked credit. Please do not republish the page in full or present the tracker as your own resource. Corrections and queries: hello@fyrflysystems.com.

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