When does Martyn's Law come into effect, and what is due today?

Where the Act stands today, step by step, with the date and the source for each one and nothing guessed.

Here is where those dates come from. The Act received Royal Assent (the last step that turns a Bill into law) on 3 April 2025 (§2.9). The government set an implementation period (time to get ready) of at least 24 months from that day (§2.10).

Ask a search engine when Martyn's Law starts and you will often get one month, stated as if it were the law. It is not. This page sets out what has happened, what is still to come, and what it means for your venue today.

Every date below comes from the Home Office's statutory guidance, or from a named official page. The statutory guidance is the official guidance the Home Office issued under section 27 of the Act. We call it "the guidance".

What has happened so far

3 April 2025: the Act became law. The guidance records it in one sentence:

"On 3 April 2025, the Bill achieved Royal Assent and became the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025." (§2.9)

Royal Assent makes an Act law. It does not switch its duties on. That happens separately, on commencement (when the duties start to apply).

15 April 2026: the guidance was published. This is the Home Office's guidance under section 27 of the Act. It is the source of every paragraph number on this site. It came out early on purpose:

"This guidance has been published in advance of commencement to enable those responsible to prepare." (§2.10)

July 2026: the notification rules were set out. The Act requires those responsible for premises and events in scope to tell the Security Industry Authority (SIA, the regulator) who they are. The guidance says the details come later, in regulations (detailed rules made under the Act):

"There will be specific timeframes for notifying the SIA and specified information that must be provided. The Secretary of State will set out the requirements in terms of timescales and information by way of regulations enacted in accordance with section 9(3) and section 9(6) of the Act." (§7.64)

Those regulations now exist. The Home Office's own notification guidance says the statutory instrument (the legal document that holds them) "was laid on 14 July 2026". Laid means put before Parliament. Like the rest of the Act, the notification requirement does not apply until it comes into force.

17 July 2026: the SIA published its own page on its role. The SIA will regulate the Act. It says it expects the Act to come into force in spring 2027. On notification, it says "you will be able to tell us through an online portal that we are building". It also says: "From early 2027, we'll be inviting volunteers to help us test the portal before we launch it."

6 August 2026: a correction slip (a short list of corrections) was added to the guidance. The change history on the GOV.UK page that holds the guidance records it. If you downloaded the guidance before then, download it again.

Why you keep seeing one specific month

The guidance describes the implementation period like this:

"The implementation period is at least 24 months from Royal Assent to allow those in scope of the Act to prepare for the requirements of the Act coming into force (this is known as commencement) and to fully establish the SIA as the regulator." (§2.10)

Count 24 months on from April 2025 and you arrive at a month in 2027. That sum is where the single month you see online comes from. But the paragraph says "at least" 24 months. It sets a minimum, not a date.

The government's published position is the one at the top of this page. It is an expectation, attributed to the Home Office, and the exact date is still to be confirmed.

A supplier, a newsletter or a search summary may give you a firm month and call it the law. If so, ask which commencement regulations it comes from. (Commencement regulations are the rules that bring the Act into force.) When this page was last updated, none had been made.

What is still to come

Four things are promised and have not arrived yet:

• The commencement date itself. The Home Office has said it will confirm it ahead of time.
• The SIA's guidance on how it will regulate. "Section 12 of the Act requires the SIA to publish guidance on how it proposes to exercise its functions under the Act, in particular its investigatory powers." (§9.2)
• The SIA's guidance on the enhanced tier document. The enhanced tier is the higher of the two tiers. For enhanced tier premises and qualifying events (certain large public events), the duty to write a document is set out in the Act. "The SIA will publish specific guidance on this." (§8.56)
• Templates. For the standard tier, the guidance says "Templates will be developed which are optional and indicative" (§7.32). In plain words: you do not have to use them, and they show the kind of thing expected. The SIA says it "will share templates to support this process before Martyn's Law comes into effect".

When any of these arrives, we will update this page with its date and a link to it.

What "coming into force" changes, and what it does not

The main duty in the Act is an ongoing one. It is to have appropriate public protection procedures in place (what your staff do if an attack happens). For the enhanced tier, it also covers public protection measures (steps that make the venue less vulnerable to attack).

It is not a task with a due date. Nothing falls due on commencement day, and nothing runs out after it. What changes on that day is that the duty can be enforced, and the SIA can start to inspect.

The guidance is clear about where that leaves you now:

"While there is no legal requirement to comply until the legislation comes into force, those in scope of the Act will wish to begin considering the requirements." (§2.10)

Read that both ways. You are not breaking the law today if nothing is in place. And this is not work to start the week before commencement, because procedures only help if your staff know them.

What to do today

Nothing has to be sent, registered or paid for. If you want to use the time well, the order is simple:

1. Check whether the Act applies to your venue, and at which tier. The free Komply scope check asks the same questions the Act does.
2. If you are standard tier, read what it actually asks of you. Our guide to what the standard tier actually requires checks five common claims against the guidance.
3. Decide what your staff would do in the four situations the guidance names. That is how to get people out (evacuation) and how to bring them inside to a safer place (invacuation). It is also how to lock down (lockdown) and how to tell people what is happening (communication).
4. Tell them, and write it down. At the standard tier, writing it down is recommended, not required. It is also how staff learn it.

If you are deciding whether to pay anyone to help, our guide to software, consultants and the free official route sets out the choices. That includes when you do not need anyone at all.

How this page is kept current

This page gives a date only when an official source gives it. We will change it when the Home Office confirms a commencement date. We will also change it when the SIA publishes its guidance or templates, or when the notification portal opens. Each change will be logged here with its date.

Change log. 16 October 2026: first written. 17 October 2026: reworded in plainer English. No facts, dates or sources changed.

Komply helps venues get ready for Martyn's Law. It does not certify anyone. It is not endorsed by the Home Office or the SIA, which do not endorse any third-party product. Once the Act is in force, only the SIA can assess whether a venue meets its duties.