When does Martyn’s Law actually come into force?
Martyn’s Law became law in April 2025, but “became law” and “enforceable” are different things. Here’s the actual timeline, as published by government.
The key dates so far
3 April 2025 — the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent. The government committed to an implementation period of at least 24 months from this date before the substantive duties become enforceable.
15 April 2026 — the Home Office published statutory guidance for the Act, alongside the Security Industry Authority’s draft guidance on how it intends to regulate. This guidance explains the requirements in detail, but — importantly — the requirements themselves are still not enforceable at this point.
Spring 2027 — the government’s stated expectation for when the requirements will actually come into force. This isn’t a fixed date yet; government has said it will confirm the exact commencement date separately.
There’s no duty to comply yet — but there’s a reason not to wait
While the Act isn’t enforceable, there’s genuinely no legal requirement to act right now. But two things are worth weighing up: first, the statutory guidance is already published, so the detail of what will be required is now known, not guesswork. Second, for anything involving physical infrastructure — screens, speakers, network changes — procurement and installation take time. Starting the assessment now, ahead of a Spring 2027 deadline, means the work isn’t rushed into the final few months alongside everyone else in scope.
What to actually do during this window
The honest starting point is working out whether you’re in scope at all, and if so, which tier — covered in our post on the 200/800 thresholds. From there, the four duty areas split roughly into two kinds of work: procedures and staff training (a policy and people problem), and the communication infrastructure that actually delivers evacuation, invacuation and lockdown messaging when it’s needed (a technology problem, and where we can genuinely help).
We built a free, 2-minute scorecard specifically for the second half — it checks whether your existing screens, speakers and network could deliver zone-by-zone emergency messaging today, or whether they’re currently only capable of a generic alarm. You can find it on our Martyn’s Law Communication Readiness page.
FAQ
When does Martyn’s Law come into force?
The government expects the requirements to come into force in Spring 2027, following a statutory implementation period of at least 24 months from Royal Assent (3 April 2025). The exact commencement date hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Is there a legal requirement to prepare now?
No — there’s no legal duty to comply until the Act formally commences. Statutory guidance is published, though, so premises can start preparing with a clear picture of what will be required.
What happens if we don’t comply once it’s in force?
Standard Duty breaches carry a maximum penalty of £10,000. Enhanced Duty breaches carry a maximum of £18 million or 5% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater, enforced by the Security Industry Authority.
Have a project in mind?
Tell us what you’re trying to fix and we’ll tell you honestly what’s realistic.
