Martyn’s Law, officially known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, is a new piece of UK legislation designed to improve public safety and preparedness against terrorist threats. Named in memory of Martyn Hett, one of the victims of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, the law introduces a proportionate and consistent approach to public safety and counter-terrorism planning across the UK. It places a legal duty on those responsible for certain venues and events to take proportionate steps to protect the public from harm.
For venues, this means assessing the risk of a terrorist attack and putting in place appropriate procedures — such as staff training, evacuation plans, and incident response measures — to ensure the safety of customers, attendees and staff. It’s a critical step in making public spaces more resilient and preventing future tragedies.
Martyn’s Law applies to qualifying public premises and events across the UK. These are defined as locations where:
These capacities include staff.
Examples include theatres, shopping centres, music festivals, sports stadiums and public-facing offices or religious venues.
Martyn’s Law introduces a legal duty for certain venues and events to consider and prepare for the threat of terrorism. The key requirements depend on the size of your venue or event, but generally include:
The law is designed to increase awareness and resilience, helping to protect staff, visitors and the wider public.
What is a “Responsible Person” under Martyn’s Law?
The Responsible Person is the individual legally responsible for making sure a venue or event complies with Martyn’s Law. This role involves:
In smaller venues (Standard Tier), this might be the venue manager or organiser. In larger venues (Enhanced Tier), it could be a dedicated security professional or senior operational lead.
Your event likely falls under Martyn’s Law if:
This includes everything from music gigs and markets to religious festivals and sporting events. If you’re unsure, start by reviewing your expected audience size, location type and whether the public can access the event or venue. Have a look at our short video here.
Event organisers need to consider risks such as terrorism, health and safety, adverse weather, crowd control, security, and infrastructure.
When planning an event, it’s essential to consider both general safety and specific risks related to terrorism. These may include:
Using a structured risk assessment and planning tool can help you identify, mitigate and monitor these risks effectively — many of which overlap with your existing safety obligations. Our Events and Venues Toolkit includes these and more. See our Resources page for more information.
DSC Monitoring intends to provide real-time event monitoring, an expert advisory, and through affiliates will provide training programs to help venues and events meet Martyn’s Law requirements.
While Martyn’s Law does not mandate it, the Health and Safety at Work Act already requires events venues to have trained, competent, personnel. Martyn’s Law requires events and venues to have a nominated Responsible Person.
The National Events Database is a free, national, self-service platform that maps events and venues across the UK.
It shows:
Includes a link to the event website
Allows events to be claimed by the organiser if listed by someone else
Behind the scenes, it also securely captures the who – a designated key contact or first point of call for each event or venue.
This contact information is not publicly visible. It supports clearer ownership, coordination and resilience across the sector, aligning with the preparedness principles that underpin Martyn’s Law.
The platform is open to all events and venues, regardless of size, sector or whether you qualify for Martyn’s Law or not.
The events industry has long needed better shared visibility across the ecosystem.
Events affect organisers, suppliers, local authorities, licensing teams, law enforcement, emergency services, transport providers, accommodation providers and the ticket-buying public.
The National Events Database reduces fragmentation and builds a shared national picture of where people gather.
Shared clarity supports better coordination and preparedness.
The National Events Database is aimed at all events and venues. However, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, introduces new preparedness requirements for certain premises and events.
The National Events Database supports the wider resilience agenda as the sector moves toward full implementation in 2027 by looking at the whole picture (whether events or venues qualify or not) not just the regulated community.
No.
Registering on the National Events Database does not guarantee or imply compliance with any legislation.
There is currently no single product or service that delivers compliance.
Preparedness must be proportionate to your specific venue or event.
The National Events Database supports visibility and coordination. It does not replace duty-holder responsibility.
The platform is designed for:
If people gather at your venue or event, you can register.
Yes.
Registration and use is free and allows for organisers to ‘self service’.
The public map displays:
This supports discoverability and transparency.
The system can securely record:
This helps build a common operational picture while respecting security and confidentiality.
It helps organisers:
It also provides an additional channel for public visibility.
Marketing and communications teams play an important role in preparedness and crisis response.
The National Events Database:
Preparedness is both operational and reputational.
By mapping events nationally, the platform supports:
It also supports the wider ecosystem: retailers, accommodation providers, transport, utilities to name a few.
It contributes to a shared understanding of activity across locations.
A common operating picture means a shared understanding of:
When information is fragmented, coordination becomes harder. When information is shared, resilience improves.
Yes.
The platform is open to events of all sizes, including village fetes and free public gatherings.
No.
Organisers remain responsible for meeting their legal and regulatory obligations directly with the appropriate authorities.
The National Events Database is a supportive visibility tool and neutral infrastructure.
It reduces silos, supports coordination and strengthens awareness across the event ecosystem.
Preparedness improves when organisers operate with a wider view of activity around them.
Registration is self-service through the website.
You can:
Because shared clarity strengthens everyone.
By registering, you contribute to a more connected, coordinated and resilient events sector.
Prepared. Connected. Stronger together.
The National Events Database is operated by the Decision Support Centre.
The Decision Support Centre provides neutral infrastructure to improve shared visibility and coordination across the UK events ecosystem.
It is not a regulator and does not replace statutory authorities.
The National Events Database has been created to make it easier to see what events and venues are operating across the UK and when and where they are taking place.
Until now, there has been no single place where this information can be viewed clearly and consistently. That makes planning, coordination and communication harder than it needs to be. The NED helps organisers, venues and stakeholders build a shared picture of activity over time.
The NED is designed to be self-service, we rely on organisers to update their event information. We will run housekeeping and where weblinks are broken or out of date we may remove listings. Through the database we will stay in touch with those who register to offer reminders and insights.
In future we intend to offer tools to assist clients with situational awareness related to public safety information sources. Such capabilities are advisory and not part of any formal law enforcement monitoring network.
Martyn’s Law affects public venues and events where 200 or more people are expected at any one time. Most affected will be:
Private events may also fall under scope if they’re hosted at qualifying public premises.
To prepare, you should:
1. Identify your tier:
2. Appoint a Responsible Person (required for both tiers): This is the individual responsible for ensuring your venue or event complies with the requirements of Martyn’s Law.
3. Complete the required terrorism protection training for staff.
4. Create a security plan appropriate to your tier:
5. Use available guidance and support: Toolkits, templates, and specialist training can help ensure compliance is understood, proportionate and achievable. Watch out for the DSC’s Responsible Persons Training (see our Resources page for more information).
6. Engage with local authorities and emergency services: Collaborative planning can improve the effectiveness of your safety measures and ensure alignment with local risk environments.
The DSC can help guide you through this process with expert advice and compliance tools. Also have a look at Protect UK protectuk.police.uk.
Martyn’s Law does not mandate a specific insurance policy. However, venues should review and, if necessary, update:
Enhanced Tier venues in particular may benefit from seeking policies that cover legal liabilities linked to duty of care failures in relation to terrorist threats.
Speak to your insurer to ask what may be required.
Non-compliance can result in significant financial, legal, and reputational damage. Event organisers and venue operators may face penalties, fines, or be held liable in case of an incident.
This is a free service, just complete the short questionnaire and keep your records up to date.
Read more on the National Events Database
The DSC provides CPD Certified training. See the Resources page for more information. An Event and Venue Toolkit and Incident Response Playbooks are included in the course material, these are also available as standalone, downloadable, documents.
Costs will vary depending on venue size, risk profile, and existing safety infrastructure:
Toolkits, resources, and training modules are being made available via platforms like the Decision Support Centre to help manage costs, especially for grassroots organisations. See the Resources page for more information.
Yes, the legal duty specifically relates to terrorism. However, under other law, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act event organisers must also manage and mitigate other risks.
The National Events Database will provide situational awareness for you and the authorities. Additionally, through a subscription service, real-time beyond the fence line monitoring and expert advisory service will be available soon. We can assist with quick decision-making and coordination with local authorities in the event of a crisis. Please see the Resources page for more information and request further information.
Our risk assessment templates involve analysing potential threats, vulnerabilities, and the likelihood of an incident, followed by prompts to create a tailored security plan for your venue.
Yes, we will offer secure digital storage and sharing of compliance documents, including site safety files, training records, contact lists, and risk assessments, ensuring all necessary documentation is readily available for inspection. Keep an eye on the website for more information.
