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Standard Tier vs Enhanced Tier
Martyn's Law splits venues and events into two levels — standard tier and enhanced tier — the Act itself calls them standard duty and enhanced duty premises. Which one applies usually turns on how many people it is reasonable to expect may be present at the same time, but not always: Schedule 1 makes places of worship, registered childcare, schools and further education colleges standard duty whatever their size. Higher education institutions are not in that group and follow the ordinary threshold.
Standard tier (capacity 200–799)
This is where most community venues, village halls, small theatres, independent cinemas, large pubs and restaurants, gyms and leisure centres, bowling alleys and bingo halls, and wedding and conference venues sit. If your venue falls into this category, you'll need to:
- Have the necessary written procedures in place.
- Name a responsible person.
- Make sure your team knows what to do.
- Keep a simple record of your briefings.
- Review your procedures regularly.
- Register with the SIA when the scheme opens.
The requirements are designed to be proportionate and practical. The government has said repeatedly that standard-tier venues don't need to spend large sums or hire security consultants — it's about having a sensible plan and making sure people know it.
Enhanced tier (capacity 800+)
Enhanced tier applies to larger venues — big theatres, concert halls, major sports grounds, and large shopping centres. Enhanced-tier premises face additional requirements, including:
- All the standard-tier requirements, plus:
- A more detailed terrorism risk assessment.
- A written security plan covering physical security measures.
- Additional staff training requirements.
- More frequent reviews.
VenueReady is built for standard-tier venues (200–799 capacity), with a voluntary option for venues under 200. It is not suitable for enhanced-tier premises. If your venue has a capacity of 800 or more, the enhanced tier imposes significantly greater obligations — including formal risk assessments, detailed security plans, and higher scrutiny from the SIA. For enhanced-tier premises, you should engage a security professional with demonstrable counter-terrorism protective security experience. The enhanced duty requires assessing your vulnerability to terrorism, putting public protection measures in place and producing a document for the SIA — work that needs professional judgement about your specific premises. Note that an SIA licence permits specified frontline security activities and is not, by itself, evidence of competence to advise on counter-terrorism planning. Free protective security advice is also available from police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers. An automated tool like VenueReady is not appropriate for premises of that scale or complexity.
What about venues under 200 capacity?
Have outdoor space? It can matter either way.
The Act counts the most people who may be on your premises at the same time, staff and volunteers included — not just the people inside the building. Outdoor areas that form part of your premises count too, so a venue whose building holds 100 could reach 200 on a busy day.
But some open-air land is excluded altogether. A park, garden, recreation ground or similar open space used for leisure is outside the Act where nothing checks that visitors have paid, hold a ticket or pass, or are members or guests — and a gate or steward put on for one event doesn’t change that for the rest of the year. If your field is excluded land, only your building counts, and a building that holds under 200 may not be covered at all.
Which of these applies to a hall with an adjoining field depends on the facts and hasn’t been decided by the courts. Treat this as a reason to look carefully, or to take advice — not as an answer in either direction.
There is a ceiling as well as a floor.
If an event is expected to draw 800 or more people and there are checks that they have paid, hold a ticket or pass, or are members or guests of a club, that event is likely to be a qualifying event under section 3 of the Act, with heavier requirements — and the duty usually sits with whoever is running the event rather than with the venue. VenueReady covers standard duty premises from 200 to 799, and offers voluntary procedures below 200. If an event on your site may reach 800, speak to a security consultant about it.
Premises where fewer than 200 people may be present at the same time are not covered by the Act. Any venue can still choose to put simple procedures in place voluntarily. ProtectUK publishes free guidance that can help, and VenueReady offers voluntary good-practice procedures — clearly labelled as voluntary, not as Martyn’s Law compliance — at the same price as our standard pack.
Not sure which tier you're in?
The figure the Act uses is the most people it is reasonable to expect may be on your premises at the same time, on your busiest foreseeable occasion — staff, volunteers and the public included, and any outdoor areas that form part of your premises (subject to the open-air land exclusion above). It is not the figure on your fire risk assessment, premises licence, Temporary Event Notice or insurance documents, which are set under different rules for different purposes. Supplementary document A to the statutory guidance on GOV.UK sets out methods for working it out.
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Enforcement under the Act is expected from April 2027. This page summarises the Section 27 statutory guidance published by the Home Office (April 2026). Always refer to the official guidance on gov.uk for the authoritative text.