Summary
Is your organisation affected by Martyn's Law? Determining whether the Act applies and what is expected if it does are not always straightforward. Inverroy helps you to understand the key considerations, common pitfalls, and how to build a proportionate, evidence-based approach aligned with the Section 27 guidance.
Is your organisation impacted by Martyn’s Law?
For many organisations and event operators, the first challenge is not compliance, it’s clarity. Establishing whether you are within the scope of the Act depends on the nature of the premises or event and, critically, who has control. This includes both qualifying premises and qualifying events, and it is not always straightforward.
Once the scope is understood, the next step is to determine whether you are in the standard or enhanced tier. This is the expected level of structure, documentation, and regulatory scrutiny required. It is also important to recognise that even within the standard tier, particularly for larger or more complex environments, such as educational settings, sports arenas or places of worship, the Section 27 guidance signals that expectations regarding planning and protective security remain significant.
What the guidance consistently points toward is a structured, risk‑based approach aligned with well-defined risk assessment methodologies such as the National Protection Security Authority (NPSA) protective security risk management methodology. In practical terms, that means identifying your critical assets, understanding how they could be targeted, assessing the terrorism threat, and then working through vulnerabilities, mitigation options and proportionate protective measures. These options then need to be risk‑assessed, with a clear and recorded rationale for what is implemented, what is not, and why – forming a defensible, evidence‑based approach.
How We Support Our Clients
We work alongside those responsible to:
- Establish whether they are in or out of scope
- Clarify tier, roles and responsibilities
- Develop a structured Martyn’s Law Counter Terrorism Strategic Security Plan
This work is carried out by informed and competent practitioners, supporting organisations to build a robust, proportionate approach aligned with the Section 27 guidance. Our role is to assist clients in developing an approach that is clearly evidenced, risk‑based and capable of standing up to scrutiny – recognising that only the regulator can ultimately determine compliance.
If you were asked to explain your approach today, could you clearly evidence the decisions you’ve made – and demonstrate that they were informed, competent and proportionate to your risks?