Do I need a Martyn's Law consultant?

The short answer

You do not need a consultant to comply with Martyn's Law. The statutory guidance says it is "not mandatory to use third-party products or services" to comply. The Home Office myth buster goes further: the government intends that organisations can comply without buying specialist compliance services, and the Home Office, SIA and National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) do not endorse any third-party products.

That does not mean consultants are never useful. The guidance recognises that you may choose to contract "a security provider, contractor and/or consultant" if you think it necessary, helpful or appropriate. The honest answer depends mainly on your tier and how complex your site is.

When doing it yourself is enough

For standard tier premises (200 to 799 people), the duty is to notify the SIA and have four public protection procedures in place, so far as reasonably practicable. There are no physical works required and no statutory duty to produce a written assessment. The Home Office describes these as simple, low-cost activities.

You know your building, your staff and your busy periods better than any outsider. DIY is usually enough if you can say yes to most of these:

• You can identify the responsible person and calculate your capacity with a recognised method.
• Your premises are a single building or a straightforward unit you control.
• You have a manager who can set aside a day or two to read the relevant guidance and write the procedures.
• You already run fire safety procedures, inductions and briefings.
• You can agree arrangements directly with any neighbours or landlord you share exits or areas with.

Good tools help. Templates that follow the statutory guidance give you the structure, prompts and staff materials, so your effort goes into tailoring rather than drafting from a blank page. Our Martyn's Law checklist walks through each step, and the free tier checker confirms where you stand.

When a specialist is worth paying for

Specialist help becomes valuable as the duties, the stakes and the complexity rise.

• Enhanced tier premises. You must assess and put in place public protection measures across monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and security of information, then document them with an assessment and send it to the SIA. Penalties reach £18 million or 5% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is higher.
• Qualifying events. Large ticketed events change every time, often use temporary sites, and have notification deadlines tied to when the event is first publicised.
• Complex or shared sites. Shopping centres, mixed-use buildings, campuses and venues within larger premises need careful co-ordination between responsible persons.
• Physical measures. Advice on CCTV, access control or hostile vehicle mitigation needs real technical expertise, and mistakes are expensive.
• High-profile or crowded locations. Venues with large queues on public streets, or with a particular threat profile, benefit from experienced judgement.
• No internal capacity. If no one can realistically give the work the time it needs, paying for help can be the reasonably practicable choice.

If you are enhanced tier, our enhanced tier page explains how we can introduce you to a specialist. Read enhanced tier duties first, so you can brief them well.

The middle path: free expert help and one-off reviews

There is a lot of ground between doing everything yourself and handing the whole job to a consultant.

• Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs). These police specialists deliver ACT and other training to businesses. Availability is limited, but your local force may run briefings for your sector or area.
• ProtectUK and NPSA. Free guidance, e-learning, films and campaign materials, many written for exactly the questions a consultant would answer.
• A fixed-scope review. Write your procedures yourself, then pay an expert for a few hours to challenge them. This often gives most of the benefit for a fraction of the cost.
• Your existing advisers. Your fire risk assessor, security contractor or insurer may help on parts of the work, for example how lockdown interacts with fire exits.

See free training and resources for what is available and how to access it.

How to vet a consultant

There is no official register of approved Martyn's Law consultants, so anyone can offer these services. The statutory guidance says you should be satisfied that any support is suitable, properly resourced and effectively delivered. For enhanced tier compliance documents, it says a third party should have relevant experience and competence that can be evidenced. Ask these questions:

1. What relevant experience do you have? Ask for examples of counter-terrorism or protective security work at similar premises, not just general health and safety or fire.
2. Who will actually do the work? Get the named person and their background, not just the company profile.
3. Which professional memberships or qualifications do you hold? Registers such as the Register of Chartered Security Professionals (CSyP) or the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists (RSES) indicate assessed security expertise. They are not a Martyn's Law approval.
4. Do you hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance, and at what level? Ask for certificates.
5. Can I speak to two or three recent clients? Take up the references.
6. Exactly what will I receive? Get the scope in writing: site visit, procedures, staff materials, training, compliance document, review.
7. How will you tailor this to my site? Ask how they will use your layout, capacity, staffing and neighbours.
8. What happens after delivery? Clarify whether reviews and updates after changes are included, and at what cost.

Red flags to watch for

• Claims of being "Home Office approved", "SIA accredited" or "government endorsed" for Martyn's Law. No such approval exists.
• Promises of "guaranteed compliance" or a certificate that makes you compliant. Compliance depends on what you do on site, every day.
• Pressure to buy physical equipment for standard tier premises, where none is required.
• Urgency or fear-based selling about immediate fines. The duties are not yet in force, and the Home Office says the SIA will rely on advice and guidance first where possible.
• Generic documents with another venue's name still in them, or no site visit or detailed questionnaire for a complex site.
• Expensive courses sold as the route to compliance. The statutory guidance gives an example of a village hall rightly deciding a course costing thousands of pounds was unnecessary.
• Offers to "take on" your legal responsibility. Responsibility cannot be delegated under the Act.

Getting the most from a consultant if you hire one

Prepare before they arrive so you pay for expertise, not information gathering.

• Have your capacity figure and method, floor plans, fire risk assessment and staffing pattern ready.
• List the people and businesses you share the building or exits with.
• Be clear what decisions you want help with, for example which measures are reasonably practicable at enhanced tier.
• Insist the output is something staff can use: short procedures, role cards and a training plan, not just a long report.
• Ask for a briefing to your managers, and a plan for testing.

What to do next

Start by confirming your tier with the free checker. If you are standard tier, try drafting your procedures yourself using the checklist and decide afterwards whether you want a review. If you are enhanced tier or run qualifying events, plan for specialist input early. Sector guides such as conference and events venues and sports venues highlight the issues specific to larger sites.

For standard tier venues that want a structured DIY route, our self-serve packs provide templates, staff cards and a record log built around the statutory guidance.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: statutory guidance (Home Office)
• Martyn's Law myth buster (Home Office, via ProtectUK)
• Martyn's Law factsheet (Home Office)
• Guidance: Notification requirement (Home Office)
• Non-statutory supplementary document C: further resources and learning