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Health and Safety Review July 2025

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn’s Law, received Royal Assent on Thursday 3 April 2025 and is a piece of legislation introduced to enhance public safety by requiring organisations to implement robust security measures against potential terrorist threats. Named in memory of Martyn Hett, a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, the law has implications across numerous sectors, including hospital and health care.

The Government intends for there to be an implementation period of at least 24 months before the Act comes into force.

Impact on the Social Care Sector

The social care sector, encompassing care homes, day centres, and community services, may be affected by Martyn’s Law.

The legislation establishes a tiered approach linked to the different uses of premises and the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present at the same time at the particular premises or events.

The requirements vary accordingly, acknowledging that larger venues and events may be impacted to a greater extent by an attack and should be expected to do more.

Premises that satisfy the following four criteria fall within scope of the Act:

1. There is at least one building (or the premises are in a building)
2. The premises must be wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses set out in Schedule 1 of the Act, in which health care is listed
3. Meet the thresholds for individuals present at a premises – for premises to be in scope, it must be reasonable to expect that from time to time there may be 200 or more individuals (including staff) present on the premises at the same time
4. The premises is not excluded – Examples include Parliaments and Devolved Administrations

Guidance will be provided in due course by the Government or the enforcing authority to assist those in scope to understand the requirements set out in the legislation. The guidance is being designed to be easy to follow, needing neither particular expertise nor the use of third-party products or services.