The first parts of Martyn's Law are in force. Not yours.
· Written up 8 September 2026
Headlines saying parts of Martyn's Law are now in force are technically right and practically misleading: the provisions that commenced place duties on the regulator, not on venues.
What happened
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2026 brought the first substantive provisions of the Act into force on 15 June 2026.
Two things switched on. Section 12 now requires the SIA to produce and publish guidance on how it will carry out its regulatory functions, with the Secretary of State's approval. Section 18 requires the SIA to lay a statement before Parliament setting out how it will calculate 'qualifying worldwide revenue', which is the base for the revenue-linked penalties that apply to enhanced tier premises.
An earlier set of regulations had already commenced section 27 on 10 April 2026, which is the power the Home Office used five days later to issue its statutory guidance.
So three provisions of the Act are now live. All three exist to get the regulator ready.
What it means for your venue
Nothing, for your venue, and that's the point of writing it down. Every provision commenced so far is machinery aimed at the regulator. The duties that fall on venues, sections 5 to 11, remain uncommenced.
This matters because 'Martyn's Law is now in force' started circulating after this date, and it isn't a fair description. You cannot notify the SIA, because the portal isn't built. Nobody is going to inspect you. And for standard tier there is no duty to produce a written procedures document at all, before or after commencement: that one belongs to enhanced tier.
The section 18 statement is a good illustration of who these provisions are for. Worldwide revenue is the base for the largest penalties in the Act, which run to £18 million or 5% of revenue, and those apply only to enhanced tier premises holding 800 or more people. A standard tier venue is nowhere near that regime: the ceiling for you is £10,000, and the SIA has said it intends to advise and guide before it reaches for any of it.
Commencement of the duties themselves is still expected in spring 2027. If you want a sanity check on any claim that something has started, the test is whether the provision creating it has been commenced by regulations, and so far none of the ones aimed at you have been.
Sources
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Standard Tier (2026). The first parts of Martyn's Law are in force. Not yours.. Available at: https://www.standardtier.co.uk/updates/first-commencement-regulations
Last reviewed: 8 September 2026.
This update is general information about the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, not legal advice. Duties under the Act rest on the responsible person for each venue and cannot be transferred. If you're unsure how a specific requirement applies to your premises, take advice from a solicitor or qualified security adviser before acting on anything you read here.
Standard Tier is an independent platform and is not affiliated with the UK Home Office, the SIA, or any government body.