KEY POINTS
- The Home Office says optional, indicative templates will be developed. In September 2026 the SIA said it was testing them and would publish over the coming months.
- There is no legal requirement to use any particular template, official or otherwise.
- A template is only a starting point. The guidance warns against a one-size-fits-all approach and says a written procedure staff cannot carry out is not enough.
- A good template covers all four procedures, with decision makers, roles, alerts, safe places, the immediate vicinity and links between procedures.
- Adapt it by walking your building, filling in real names, doors and rooms, then briefing staff and testing it.
The short answer
Use a template that helps you think through your own premises, not one that hands you finished words. Martyn's Law does not require any particular format. At the standard tier you are not legally required to write procedures down at all, although the Home Office statutory guidance says you should, because it is hard to show compliance otherwise. At the enhanced tier, the Act requires a written compliance document, but it still does not prescribe a format.
So a template is a tool, not a compliance product. A good one saves time and makes sure you do not miss anything. A bad one gives you a confident-looking document that describes a building that is not yours. The duties are expected to come into force in spring 2027, so there is time to do this properly. Start by confirming your tier with the free checker.
Official templates: where things stand
The statutory guidance says, for the standard tier, that templates will be developed which are optional and indicative, and designed to assist with documenting public protection procedures. It says the same for enhanced tier public protection measures, adding that there is no legal requirement to use these specific templates.
In its September 2026 update, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) said it was developing tools to publish over the coming months. These include templates to document procedures and measures, specific to each tier:
- a standard tier template, designed to help you prepare and think through the procedures you have or may put in place
- an enhanced tier template, which includes the additional requirements and can be used to document procedures and measures
The SIA said it was testing the templates with protective security partners and volunteers, and repeated that there is no requirement to use them. When we checked the Home Office and SIA pages on GOV.UK on 24 October 2026, the templates had not yet been published. Check the SIA's Martyn's Law pages on GOV.UK for the latest position.
Why a blank template is not enough
The statutory guidance says "appropriate" means procedures suitable for the context of the premises, avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. It says the same to operators of several sites: consider how the requirements can be met at each individual premises. A filled-in template that could apply to any venue is, by definition, not tailored.
The guidance also says it is not sufficient to have a written procedure that could not be carried out rapidly and effectively, for example because staff do not know their roles or lack the tools. A template cannot know that your rear door sticks, that the shutter key lives in the office, or that your Saturday team are mostly agency staff.
Templates can also make procedures worse. The guidance gives the example of a standard tier bar that wrote separate evacuation procedures for different attack methods. In practice, staff hesitated because they could not tell which one applied. The bar replaced them with one simple evacuation procedure. A template that pushes you to write a version for every attack type risks the same problem.
What a good procedure template must contain
Paragraph 7.28 of the statutory guidance lists what to think through for every procedure. A good template prompts you for each of these:
- who decides and who has authority to start each procedure
- how the emergency services are alerted, by whom, and what they are told
- how the procedures work together, for example an announcement that starts a lockdown
- how the situation is reassessed as it develops
- how staff learn the procedures and their role
- how the procedures are tested and practised
It should then have a section for each of the four procedures, with prompts that force venue-specific answers:
| Procedure | What the template should make you fill in |
|---|---|
| Evacuation | Which exits to use or avoid depending on where the threat is, how to move people away and disperse rather than gather, who checks each area, and how this differs from your fire plan. |
| Invacuation | Which rooms or areas are safer, how to bring people in from outside such as a queue or smoking area, how many each space holds, and who stays with them. |
| Lockdown | Every door, shutter and barrier that can be secured, who holds keys, how fire escape is preserved, and how to communicate with people who are locked in. |
| Communication | How you alert staff and the public, codewords or alerts for staff, scripts for announcements, how you reach people in all areas, and backups if the main system fails. |
It should also prompt you to consider the immediate vicinity, record decisions about what is and is not reasonably practicable, keep sensitive details like codewords and key locations off any copy that could be lost in public, and set a review date. The guidance suggests reviews could be annual, depending on your circumstances. For more detail on each procedure, see public protection procedures.
How to adapt a template to your venue
- Confirm you are in scope and which tier applies, and note how you worked out your numbers. See how to calculate capacity.
- Walk the building with the template in hand. Note every entrance, exit, lockable room, shutter and means of alerting people. Walk outside too.
- Replace every generic term with something real: "the duty manager" becomes the role on each shift, "a safe room" becomes the named room and how many it holds.
- Delete anything that does not apply, and record why. The guidance gives the example of an outdoor event with no internal space, where invacuation may not be appropriate.
- Check it against your fire plan so that lockdown never blocks fire escape and evacuation routes are consistent.
- Turn it into a short staff version: a briefing or a prompt card.
- Brief staff, then test it with a walk-through or tabletop exercise and fix what does not work.
- Set a review date, and update it after any change to layout, staffing or use.
For example, a 400-capacity restaurant using a generic template might find the template says "lock all external doors", but its kitchen door has no lock and opens onto a service lane. Adapting the template means writing down who would stand at that door, or whether fitting a lock is reasonably practicable. That example is illustrative only.
Templates to avoid
- Fire plans renamed as terrorism plans. Fire evacuation to an assembly point may put people at risk in an attack. See Martyn's Law vs fire risk assessment.
- Templates written for other countries, such as active shooter plans, which may use terms and legal assumptions that do not match the Act or UK guidance.
- Templates that cover only evacuation. The Act names four procedures and you need to consider all of them.
- Long documents full of threat analysis with no clear roles, actions or decision points.
- Templates that come with a "certificate of compliance". There is no official Martyn's Law certificate.
- Templates that ask you to publish detailed security information. The guidance warns that sharing excessive detail can create vulnerabilities.
Enhanced tier: templates for the compliance document
If you are in the enhanced tier, section 7 of the Act requires a document containing a statement of the procedures, an assessment of how they may be expected to reduce the risk of physical harm, a statement of the measures in place or proposed, and an assessment of how those measures reduce vulnerability and risk. A copy must go to the SIA, and revisions must be provided within 30 days.
A template can give that document a structure, but the assessments require real analysis of your site. The guidance says anyone completing statements or assessments for you should have relevant experience and competence that can be evidenced, and that the responsible person cannot delegate legal responsibility. See enhanced tier duties and our page on enhanced tier support.
Our tailored approach and next steps
We built our documents to avoid the blank template problem. Instead of handing you a form to fill in, our system asks you questions about your actual premises: exits, lockable spaces, staffing, alerts and outside areas. It then writes procedures, a staff briefing and a test log around your answers. You can see real examples, produced for a fictional pub, on our sample documents page.
Whichever route you take, the steps are the same: check your tier, walk the building, write the four procedures in your own terms, brief staff and test. The Martyn's Law checklist sets out the whole process.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official Martyn's Law template?
Not yet, at the time of writing. The Home Office guidance says optional, indicative templates will be developed, and in September 2026 the SIA said it was testing standard and enhanced tier templates to publish over the coming months. Check GOV.UK for the latest position.
Do I have to use the official template when it is published?
No. Both the statutory guidance and the SIA say there is no requirement to use the templates. What matters is that your procedures are appropriate and reasonably practicable, and that staff can carry them out.
Is a free template from the internet good enough?
It can be a starting point if it covers all four procedures and prompts you for venue-specific details. On its own, a generic document is unlikely to show that procedures are appropriate to your premises.
Can I use one template for all my sites?
You can use a common structure, but the guidance says operators of several premises should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and consider how the requirements can be met at each individual premises.
Do standard tier venues need to write procedures down?
There is no legal requirement at the standard tier, but the guidance says the responsible person should prepare a document, because it may be difficult to demonstrate compliance during an SIA inspection without one.
Sources
General information based on the Act and published guidance, not legal advice. Check the official statutory guidance on GOV.UK for your situation.