Safety and security in church buildings

Current resources on Martyn’s Law, Protection of Premises

Martyn’s Law also known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 will come into effect in April 2027.

Guidance and information for parishes can be found on the CoE website here

Background:

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, known also as Martyn’s Law, became law in 2025, but the Secretary of State has not announced when its provisions for places of worship will come into force.

This will not be until the Security Industry Authority has completed publication of relevant guidance for places of worship and allowed time to read the guidance and put it into effect. The intention of the Act is to keep the public safe, and, from this perspective, it provides a framework to help you achieve this in response to a changing security situation.

The government uses the website ProtectUK to publish advice for protective security, including Martyn’s Law. The Act applies when there are more than 200 people present at your church. If your church and events at your church do not normally have 200 people present, you are outside the scope of the Act. Although its principles remain good practice, the law does not apply to you.

If you regularly have more than 200 people present at your church, you are in the standard tier of the Act, and treated as standard tier, regardless of the number of people present. The provisions for the enhanced tier (more than 800 present) do not apply to churches. Even if you hold events that have over 800 people that are not acts of worship, you will be treated as a church for the purposes of the Act, provided you are primarily a place of worship.

The requirements for standard-duty premises are centred on simple, low-cost activities, with costs primarily related to time spent. There is no requirement to implement physical measures. The government does not intend for churches to spend money to implement the Act.

When the law comes into effect, four types of procedures must be put in place, as appropriate and so far as is reasonably practicable. They are:

• evacuation: the process of getting people safely out of the premises

• invacuation: The process of bringing people safely into, or to safer parts of, the premises

• lockdown: the process of securing the premises to prevent individuals from entering or leaving the premises

• communication: the process of alerting people on the premises to the danger

These procedures are all explained in a government factsheet. The government will publish guidance specific to faith buildings, including churches. This page will be updated when that guidance is published.

The Historic Religious Buildings Alliance has provided a detailed Martyn’s Law briefing note