Martyn's Law Is Coming in 2027: 5 Things Every Event Organiser Should Do Now

Event safety and security planning at a busy outdoor event entrance

Martyn’s Law is expected to come into force in spring 2027, introducing new legal requirements for certain public premises and events across the UK.

Formally known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, the legislation is designed to improve preparedness and reduce the risk of physical harm if a terrorist attack occurs. It does not replace existing health and safety, fire safety, licensing or event safety responsibilities. Instead, it adds another important layer to the way organisers plan for emergencies.

For event organisers, this means security, emergency communication, evacuation and event medical planning need to work together. A security plan that does not consider casualty care, access for medical teams and the treatment of serious injuries is unlikely to provide a complete emergency response.

The exact commencement date has not yet been confirmed. However, autumn and winter are a sensible time to review your plans, appoint suppliers and build improvements into your 2027 event programme.

Important: Martyn’s Law does not prescribe a fixed number of first aiders, paramedics or ambulances. Medical requirements should be determined through a suitable risk assessment and the wider event safety planning process.

What is Martyn’s Law?

The Act introduces different requirements depending on the size and nature of a premises or event.

In broad terms:

The legislation requires appropriate public protection procedures, including:

  1. Evacuation
  2. Invacuation
  3. Lockdown
  4. Communication

Enhanced-tier premises and qualifying events will also need to consider additional public protection measures relating to monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and information security.

The official Home Office statutory guidance and Security Industry Authority guidance should be treated as the authoritative sources.

Controlled event entrance with security screening and crowd management measures

1. Establish whether your event is in scope

Your first task is to understand whether Martyn’s Law applies to your venue, premises or event.

Do not rely solely on the event’s advertised capacity. The guidance focuses on the maximum number of people who may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time, including staff, contractors, volunteers and other workers.

Consider:

You should also identify the responsible person. This is generally the individual, organisation or company with control of the premises or the event. The responsible person may delegate tasks to contractors, but legal responsibility cannot simply be transferred to a security company, event medical provider or consultant.

For an enhanced-tier event, the responsible organisation must also designate a suitable senior individual to oversee compliance.

This early assessment will affect your event medical cover, emergency plan, staffing model and supplier requirements. It should be recorded and reviewed if the event format, venue layout or attendance changes.

2. Integrate medical planning into your emergency procedures

Medical planning should not sit in a separate document that is only reviewed by the first aid team. It needs to connect directly with the event’s evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication procedures.

For example:

These questions are particularly important at festivals, sporting events and large outdoor gatherings, where there may be considerable distances between audience areas, entrances, stages and vehicle access points.

A robust medical plan should be linked to the overall event management plan and site map. It should show medical posts, first aid points, access routes, emergency vehicle routes, casualty collection areas and suitable hospital transfer routes.

The Home Office guidance makes clear that procedures must be appropriate and reasonably practicable for the particular event. There is no universal template that will work for every village fair, concert or festival.

3. Complete a proper medical needs assessment

Martyn’s Law does not specify the exact level of medical cover required. That decision should come from a structured medical needs assessment based on the event’s risks.

Relevant factors include:

The result may be basic first aid provision for a small, low-risk event, or a multidisciplinary clinical team for a large festival. Depending on the risk assessment, this could include first aiders, emergency medical technicians, nurses, paramedics, doctors, treatment centres, ambulances, AEDs and trauma equipment.

Your event first aid provider should be able to explain how its recommendations have been reached. Be cautious of fixed packages that are based only on attendance and do not take the venue, activities or emergency access into account.

For larger events, East Midlands Ambulance Service guidance recommends that organisers carry out a risk assessment, appoint a competent medical provider and check matters such as insurance, professional registration, ambulance capability and transport arrangements.

4. Choose an event medical provider that can work with your wider team

Your medical supplier should be involved before the final event plan is submitted. They should be able to work alongside security, stewarding, fire safety, venue management, the Safety Advisory Group and the emergency services.

When appointing an event medical cover provider, ask for evidence of:

For festival organisers, festival medical cover must account for more than incidents in front of the stage. Medical teams may need to respond to campsites, car parks, backstage areas, trader zones, queues and remote parts of the site.

For complex events, event paramedic services can provide a clinical lead and a higher level of on-site decision-making. This can support early treatment, reduce unnecessary pressure on local emergency services and improve the management of serious incidents.

PulseAid Euro Ltd can help organisers review their event medical planning and develop proportionate medical cover for events ranging from local community gatherings to large music festivals.

Event control planning scene with site maps, radios and emergency coordination materials

5. Train, test and document your arrangements

A written plan is only useful if the people responsible for carrying it out understand it.

Before your 2027 events, make sure relevant staff know:

Training should be proportionate to each person’s role. Stewards may need a concise event briefing, while supervisors, control-room staff and medical personnel may require more detailed instruction.

Consider running a tabletop exercise before the event. This can test a scenario such as a serious incident near an entrance, multiple casualties in a crowd, or an incident that makes the main medical post inaccessible.

After every exercise and event, record lessons learned and update the plan. Enhanced-tier premises and qualifying events will have additional documentation requirements under Martyn’s Law, but keeping clear records is sensible for all organisers.

The ProtectUK Martyn’s Law resources provide further information, while the ProtectUK FAQ answers common questions about scope, responsibility and preparation.

Medical preparedness is part of public protection

Martyn’s Law is focused on reducing the risk of physical harm. That makes medical preparedness an important part of a credible event response, even though the legislation does not set fixed medical staffing levels.

Good event medical planning should support the wider emergency arrangements by ensuring that:

The responsible person remains accountable for ensuring that arrangements are suitable and reasonably practicable. Choosing a professional event first aid provider or medical services partner can help you assess the risks, document your plans and prepare your team, but it does not remove the organiser’s responsibility.

Start preparing this autumn

With Martyn’s Law expected to come into force in spring 2027, event organisers should use the autumn and winter planning period to review their arrangements rather than waiting for the final commencement date.

Start by confirming your scope and tier. Then review your emergency procedures, complete a medical needs assessment and involve your medical provider early. Make sure your site map, communications plan, security procedures and medical response arrangements all work together.

PulseAid Euro Ltd provides professional event medical services, festival medical cover, event paramedic services and first aid training across the UK and Europe. Our team can help you plan proportionate medical provision for your next event and ensure that medical response is built into the wider public protection plan.

Professional event medical team and treatment area prepared at a live outdoor event

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Always consult the latest Home Office and SIA guidance when assessing your responsibilities under Martyn’s Law.