200-799
Standard duty
Procedures to reduce physical harm in an attack and move people to safety. Procedural, not structural — but they must be real, understood by staff, and recorded.
Protective Security Consultancy
Security readiness,
presented as evidence.
Martyn’s Law readiness for UK operators. We establish your position, close the gaps, and leave a record that withstands examination. The duty remains with the Responsible Person. The evidence supporting it is our work.
Routes · Exits · Occupancy · Evidence
01 — The issue
Most operators cannot evidence where they stand.
Arrangements exist in almost every premises. Staff know what to do. Doors get locked, rooms get cleared, managers make the call.
What is rarely held is the record: which tier applies and on what basis, what was assessed, what was decided, and what the people on shift were actually told.
The Act is satisfied by what can be shown. Intention is not evidence.
02 — The position
Two tiers, one duty holder.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 places duties on the Responsible Person for qualifying premises and events. The applicable tier turns on the number of individuals who may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time.
Section 2 of the Act. Standard duty covers a wide band; the enhanced duty has no upper bound. Four Schedule 1 uses sit outside this scale entirely — see below.
800+
Enhanced duty
The standard duties, with measures to reduce vulnerability, a documented assessment, and a named individual accountable to the regulator.
Indicative only. Capacity bands indicate a position; they do not determine one. That assessment rests with the Responsible Person, against Home Office statutory guidance.
03 — The gap
The distance between practice and proof.
Protective security fails for predictable reasons, and none of them is a failure of intent.
- A capacity figure with no demonstrable basis, so the tier itself is arguable.
- Procedures drafted for a different building, or for the building as designed rather than as extended.
- Arrangements briefed once, to a team that has since changed.
- Documents held, but never practised, and never recorded as delivered.
Each of these is inexpensive to correct. Left alone, each is the point at which a position stops being defensible.
04 — The method
Know. Assess. Implement. Evidence.
Four stages, undertaken in sequence. Where the appropriate outcome is reached, the engagement concludes.
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01
Know
Determine whether the premises falls within the regime, the applicable tier and the Responsible Person, on the face of the Act.
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02
Assess
Examine existing arrangements against the requirements of the applicable tier, considering the premises, its people and the distinction between what is documented and what is practised.
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03
Implement
Develop the necessary procedures and measures, with clear ownership and timescales. Arrangements are written for the premises and the way it operates.
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04
Evidence
Record the assessment, decisions and reasoning in a form that can be readily evidenced when required. The position is reviewed and refreshed annually under retainer.
05 — The evidence
When the question is asked, the record is there.
A report alone is not the objective. The objective is a clear evidential record of how the security position was established and the decisions that followed.
It establishes:
- What the premises is and which tier applies.
- What was assessed, by whom and when.
- What was decided and the reasoning behind those decisions.
- What staff were told and when.
The record is specific to the premises and its operation. There are no pre-packaged assessments. Scope and fixed fee are agreed before work begins.
06 — Sector focus: Hospitality
Security arrangements built for the realities of hospitality.
Pubs, bars, nightclubs, hotels and resorts operate in an environment where occupancy changes, staffing rotates and experience varies from shift to shift.
Readiness therefore cannot exist only on paper. The arrangements must work in the hands of the people expected to act.
This is where our practice begins.
07 — Tool
Establish your position.
Three questions, an indicative answer. No registration and nothing retained: the tool runs entirely in your browser, and nothing entered reaches this server.