Martyn’s Law – implications for higher education providers
With the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn’s Law, receiving royal assent on 3 April, governing bodies will need to take action to ensure compliance with the new requirements. The act has been years in the making, following tireless campaigning by Figen Murray, whose son, Martyn Hett, was one of the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
The act represents a major development in public safety legislation, creating a new duty for occupiers of most large premises to implement measures protecting against the risk of a terrorist attack.
Higher education institutions are specifically listed as falling under the purview of the act, and responsibility for compliance will lie with the governing body.
A tiered approach
The act implements a tiered approach to compliance, with either a ‘standard duty’ or ‘enhanced duty’ being imposed on occupiers depending on their premises’ capacity.
Premises that host 200-799 individuals will fall under the standard duty, whereas those likely to host 800 or more people ‘from time to time’ will come under the enhanced duty. The enhanced duty is therefore expected to apply even if attendance exceeds 799 people only infrequently.
‘Premises’ are defined in the act as including groups of buildings, and therefore a campus may count as a single set of premises.
Even if the regular capacity of a campus or building is under 800 individuals, governing bodies may still have to comply with the enhanced tier requirements if they hold ticketed events open to the public which are likely to host over 800 people. Large conferences are also likely to be caught by this requirement, and governing bodies of smaller institutions should therefore be careful to consider whether any events will cross the threshold for the enhanced duty.
All of this suggests that the enhanced duty will apply to the majority of HE institutions, including those with a smaller student body.
What must governing bodies do to comply?
Both standard and enhanced duty occupiers will be required to notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) of their premises and implement appropriate public protection measures. The SIA will be responsible for enforcement of the act, and have the power to issue fines, notices and criminal sanctions for non-compliance after the act is implemented.
Public protection procedures should be designed to minimise the risk of physical harm during evacuation, lockdown and other protective measures during a terrorist attack. The standard duty requirements will not be entirely novel to HE providers, and should be straightforward to integrate into existing safety procedures. Governing bodies should aim to professionalise existing processes for approving events on site, as well as ensuring all premises are adequately mapped.
For enhanced duty occupiers, physical measures will be necessary, and implementation costs will likely be significantly higher. Examples of such measures include installing adequate CCTV coverage, entry barriers, safety glass and hostile vehicle mitigation.
Enhanced duty occupiers will also need to designate a senior individual from the governing body who will be responsible for ensuring the wider governing body’s compliance with their obligations under the act.
When will the act come into force?
The government has indicated that the transition period for the act will last for at least two years from 3 April 2025. During this period there will be no legal requirement to comply with the act. It is anticipated that further regulations and guidance relating to the act will be published during this time, and governing bodies will therefore need to keep abreast of developments over this period.