On April 3rd 2025, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act entered the statute books. Upon hearing the announcement after many years of working on this for the education sector, I felt an enormous sense of relief: Not least for Figen Murray, the absolute force of nature who has not let multiple Security Ministers, Home Secretaries, Prime Ministers and even a global pandemic stop her mission to make our country safer in the name of her beloved son who lost his life in the Manchester Arena Attack in 2017.
For those not in the world of counter-terrorism, Martyn’s Law might not mean a thing. For school leaders, juggling a thousand priorities each day, potential legislation somewhere on the horizon can never be a priority. But now the day has finally arrived where school leaders must start to consider their obligations under this new ‘Protect Duty. I hope this blog will help demystify this new Act for you all and provide a few tips on where to start.
Why is Martyn’s Law needed in schools?
One of the drivers of Martyn’s Law is that the threat from terrorism is no longer easy to predict. Government strategy has changed from protecting crowded places and iconic sites, to protecting people wherever they go about their daily lives.
Not including schools within the scope of Martyn’s Law would be impossible to defend were an attack to happen. There is no known threat to the UK education sector, however, putting in place effective measures from a counter-terrorism perspective means that schools will be better protected from a range of threats: protection from terrorism is also protection against an intruder with a knife, an aggrieved parent lashing out or a bullied child in crisis.
What must schools do to comply with Martyn’s Law?
Statutory guidance will be published by the government in due course but schools should be thinking about Martyn’s Law now. Firstly, it is imperative that leaders understand that all schools will sit within the Standard Tier of the duty. There is much information out there about two tiered legislation and how larger sites will fall within the Enhanced Tier. For nurseries, schools and colleges that already adhere to strict safeguarding legislation, there is an exemption from this Enhanced Tier. The focus of the Standard Tier is about mitigating the impact of an attack, rather than spending money on potentially costly physical security measures.
All schools with a maximum capacity of 200 and above will be in scope of the duty and must register with the Regulator which is the Security Industry Authority. In this Standard Tier, schools will need to have in place effective plans that cover evacuation, invacuation and lockdown – and the ability to communicate any one of these responses across their sites.
How can schools prepare before statutory guidance is published?
Review plans: My advice to school leaders is to review their existing emergency response plans through the lens of terrorism and serious violence and question whether they would be effective. Many schools download off-the-shelf plans from education platforms that they then top and tail to fit the school. These often focus on hierarchical emergency management structures which would likely fly out the window in the event of an armed intruder or student with a knife. Every member of staff must know what to do in the event of an incident and be empowered to take action.
Simplify lockdown: One reason that developing lockdown guidance for schools is difficult is that no two schools are the same. Schools need to understand the key principles of lockdown and then adapt these to the unique context of their setting. Schools know their infrastructure, what they can and cannot achieve, what systems they already have at their disposal and how these systems might support lockdown. There is no one solution – there is a range of ways to achieve an effective lockdown depending on your setting. Effective communication of and during lockdown is critical to this.
When working with schools, I aim to simplify lockdown planning through breaking it down to 3 levels, all of which require a slightly different response:
Level 1: A threat beyond the perimeter of the site, where the immediate focus has to be on securing the perimeter (if infrastructure allows).
Level 2: A threat on school grounds where securing the perimeter will no longer work. The immediate focus here has to be on securing the school buildings.
Level 3: A threat within a school building where the immediate focus has to be on securing individual rooms away from the threat.
For each of these levels consider how you would communicate the threat across the school and then how in each scenario the 1) perimeter 2) building 3) rooms could be secured.
Testing and refinement of plans to ensure they work is crucial. Once you have plans in place, consider whether they would be effective at different times of the day (play time, lunchtime, pick up time and so on). Involve colleagues in your planning to allow for different perspectives. Robust plans should be tested (firstly with staff) before involving learners if appropriate.
To conclude, effective emergency planning that covers threats of violence should be in place and schools should be doing this now – but many are not. Martyn’s Law will undoubtedly raise the bar across the sector and will hopefully give school leaders the clarity they need to better safeguard their communities as well as giving parents the peace of mind in knowing that their children are as safe as possible when at school. If you would like any further guidance please feel free to get in touch directly: [email protected]
Lisa Broad
4th April 2025
About the Author: Lisa Broad
Lisa has over two decades experience in counter-terrorism, emergency response and serious organised crime roles. She led the first Counter-Terrorism Protect, Prepare and Security Team at the Department for Education. Lisa now works independently supporting the education sector consider the risk from terrorism and serious violence. Lisa offers a range of bespoke support, both in person and remote, to suit the needs of schools across the country.
www.lisabroadconsulting.co.uk