KEY POINTS
- For most standard tier venues the main cost is staff and management time, not cash. Notifying the SIA and SIA inspections are free, and so is official e-learning such as ACT Awareness.
- The government's impact assessment estimates about £3,300 per standard tier premises over 10 years, which the Home Office describes as about £330 a year, mostly time.
- Enhanced tier is a different scale: about £52,000 per premises over 10 years in the central estimate, around £5,200 a year, because public protection measures and documentation are required.
- You do not have to buy any product, course or consultancy to comply. Spend money only where it saves you time or fills a real gap.
The short answer
If your premises are standard tier (200 to 799 people), Martyn's Law compliance can cost you nothing in cash. What it does cost is time: reading the guidance, writing four short procedures, briefing staff and testing. The Home Office describes the standard tier requirements as "simple, low-cost activities" with costs mainly relating to staff time.
If your premises are enhanced tier (800 or more) or you run qualifying events, budget for real expenditure. You must put public protection measures in place, so far as reasonably practicable, and prepare a compliance document for the SIA. Many operators also pay for specialist advice.
What the government estimates
The Home Office published an impact assessment for the Bill, using 2024 prices and a 10-year appraisal period. Its central estimates are the most authoritative cost figures available. They are averages across many kinds of premises, so your own costs may be higher or lower.
| Item (central estimate) | Standard tier | Enhanced tier |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost per premises over 10 years (present value) | £3,313 | £52,093 |
| Equivalent per year (Home Office myth buster) | About £330 | About £5,210 |
| Estimated number of premises in scope | About 154,600 | About 24,300 |
The assessment also breaks down the main set-up activities. For standard tier premises (other than places of worship) it estimates around £444 per premises for training and around £408 for planning procedures, both counted as staff time. Its working assumptions are useful for planning your own effort:
- Reading and understanding the requirements: about 28 minutes for a senior manager.
- Writing and signing off procedures: about 9 hours in total, 6 for a senior manager and 3 for a junior manager.
- Making staff aware of the procedures: about 15 minutes per employee.
- Training: about 10% of staff doing 1 hour of counter-terrorism training a year, with the rest receiving a short cascaded briefing of around 10 minutes.
- Enhanced tier: about 30 hours of manager time per premises for risk assessment, and 3 hours of training a year for around 10% of staff.
The assessment assumes training material is free through ProtectUK and existing police and NPSA training. It does not estimate the cost of commercial providers.
Standard tier: where your cost really sits
For a typical standard tier venue, think in hours rather than pounds. The illustrative budget below is for a single 350-capacity bar with 25 staff. It is an example to help you plan, not an official figure.
| Task | Who | Illustrative time |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm tier and record capacity method | Owner or general manager | 1 to 2 hours |
| Read the statutory guidance sections that apply | General manager | 2 to 3 hours |
| Walk the site and draft four procedures | General manager and a duty manager | 6 to 10 hours |
| Prepare SIA notification information | Owner or office manager | 1 hour |
| Brief all staff | Duty managers | 15 to 20 minutes per person |
| ACT Awareness e-learning (free) | Staff | 60 to 90 minutes per person |
| Tabletop and walk-through tests | Managers | 2 to 3 hours a year |
| Annual review | General manager | 2 hours a year |
These things are free, based on official sources:
- Notifying the SIA. The Home Office myth buster confirms no fees for notification, inspections or post-inspection advice.
- The statutory guidance, supplementary documents and Home Office factsheets.
- ACT Awareness e-learning and other ProtectUK courses.
- SCaN for All, the NPSA staff module on spotting hostile reconnaissance.
- NPSA guidance and films, including lockdown guidance for small businesses.
See free training and resources for the full list.
Optional spending at standard tier
Some venues choose to spend money to save management time or to get more confidence. All of the following are optional.
- Templates or self-serve packs. These turn the guidance into documents you complete for your site, which can cut drafting time significantly.
- Paid training. Useful for supervisors who will start procedures, but the guidance stresses that site-specific briefing matters more than generic courses.
- A consultant review. A one-off check of your draft procedures can make sense for complex layouts or shared buildings. See do I need a consultant.
- Small practical changes. The guidance says changes such as altering how a door locks or moving a shutter control may sometimes be reasonably practicable. They are not mandatory.
- Communication tools. A PA zone, handheld radios or a group messaging channel may help larger venues alert everyone quickly.
Enhanced tier and qualifying events: what drives cost
Enhanced tier costs vary far more than standard tier, because the right measures depend on the site, crowd and location. The government's central estimate of about £52,000 per premises over 10 years is an average; a large stadium and a mid-sized conference venue will be very different. The main cost drivers are:
- Assessment time. Working out vulnerabilities and which measures are reasonably practicable, across monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and security of information.
- Specialist advice. Many enhanced tier operators use security consultants for the assessment and compliance document.
- People-based measures. Extra stewarding, security staff, bag searches or CCTV monitoring at busy times.
- Physical measures. CCTV, access control or hostile vehicle mitigation, where proportionate. These can be the largest single items, and measures not reasonably practicable straight away can be documented with a plan.
- Training. More staff time, including role-specific training for security and control room teams.
- Governance. Time for the designated senior individual, and keeping the compliance document up to date, with revisions sent to the SIA within 30 days.
Reasonably practicable means proportionate. The guidance asks you to weigh the effectiveness of a measure against its cost, time and difficulty, taking account of your resources. You are not expected to spend without limit. Read enhanced tier duties and public protection measures, and see our enhanced tier page if you need an introduction to a specialist.
The cost of getting it wrong
The Home Office says the SIA will rely on advice and guidance to secure compliance where possible, using formal enforcement only where necessary and proportionate. Still, the penalties set the stakes:
- Standard tier: monetary penalties of up to £10,000.
- Enhanced tier and qualifying events: up to £18 million or 5% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is higher.
- Some offences, such as knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information, are criminal.
Compared with this, the time needed to get standard tier right is modest. See penalties for detail.
How to keep costs down
- Confirm your tier properly before spending anything.
- Reuse what you already have: your fire risk assessment, floor plans, capacity figures and induction process.
- Use the free official guidance and ACT e-learning first.
- Keep procedures short. One clear procedure per type is easier to write, train and test.
- Combine Martyn's Law briefings with existing fire and health and safety briefings.
- If you buy anything, buy for a specific gap, such as templates to save drafting time or advice on a complex shared building.
- For multiple sites, build one master approach and tailor it to each premises rather than starting from scratch each time.
Our Martyn's Law checklist shows exactly what needs doing. If you would rather start from templates, our packs are fixed price: Essentials £249 + VAT, Professional £449 + VAT, and Multi-site from £199 + VAT per premises.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a fee to notify the SIA?
No. The Home Office has confirmed the SIA will not charge fees for notifications, inspections or post-inspection advice. Notification will be made through an online portal on GOV.UK once the notification duty commences.
Do I have to pay for training to comply with Martyn's Law?
No. The statutory guidance says it is not mandatory to pay for third-party training. Free resources such as ACT Awareness e-learning on ProtectUK can help, alongside site-specific briefings on your own procedures.
Do I need to buy CCTV or security equipment at standard tier?
No. There is no requirement at standard tier to make physical alterations or buy specific equipment. Small changes may sometimes be reasonably practicable, but the duty is about having procedures staff can carry out.
Where do the government cost figures come from?
They come from the Home Office impact assessment for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, in 2024 prices over a 10-year period. The Home Office myth buster summarises them as about £330 a year for standard tier and about £5,210 a year for enhanced tier.
How much does a Martyn's Law consultant cost?
Prices vary widely with the size and complexity of the site, so get several written quotes with a clear scope. Most standard tier venues do not need one. Enhanced tier premises and complex sites are where specialist advice is most likely to be worth paying for.
Sources
General information based on the Act and published guidance, not legal advice. Check the official statutory guidance on GOV.UK for your situation.