What actually happens if you ignore Martyn's Law?
At standard tier, Martyn's Law enforcement is advisory-first: the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has said it will guide and warn before it penalises. Civil penalties of up to £10,000 are a backstop for venues that won't engage, not a trap for ones that try; there are no closures and no criminal record for getting standard-tier procedures wrong, and you would have at least 72 hours' notice of any inspection. The pressure most venues feel first comes from their insurer and hirers — and your own records are the only proof that exists. The law is expected to commence in Spring 2027.
If you've searched for this, you've probably met the headline number — a £10,000 fine — wrapped in a fair amount of alarm. Here's the honest version, with the scary parts put back in proportion.
The short answer: for a standard-tier venue that is trying, enforcement is advisory-first. The regulator has said it will guide and warn long before it ever penalises; there are no closures and no criminal record for getting your procedures wrong; and the pressure you'll actually feel first won't come from the regulator at all.
The regulator is advisory-first — that's its stated posture
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is the regulator for Martyn's Law. It has described its approach as supportive, proportionate and risk-based, and primarily advisory from the start, to give venues time to get it right.
In practice there is a ladder, and formal enforcement sits at the very top of it:
- A minor shortfall is typically met by pointing you to the published guidance.
- A more material gap brings regulatory advice, protective-security guidance, perhaps a suggestion to take security advice — and, if needed, a written warning.
- Formal enforcement follows only where advice and warnings aren't likely to get the premises compliant within a reasonable period.
In other words, a venue that engages — even imperfectly — sits on the advisory rungs, not the enforcement ones. The penalties are built for premises that won't engage at all.
What the penalties actually are at standard tier
If something did reach enforcement, the standard-tier figures are:
- a non-compliance penalty of up to £10,000;
- a daily penalty of up to £500 a day — but only for continuing to breach a compliance notice after the deadline to put it right has passed.
These are civil penalties, decided on the balance of probabilities, with a draft notice first, a chance to make representations, a separate senior decision-maker, and a right of appeal to an independent tribunal within 28 days. They are a backstop, not an opening move.
The framework is built to credit the venues that try. When the SIA sets a penalty it must weigh things like how quickly you acted to put matters right, your co-operation and honesty, your compliance history, your ability to pay, and the impact on public or charitable funds. A dated record of what you did, and when, is exactly the kind of evidence that speaks to those factors. No one can promise you a particular outcome — but the framework is plainly designed to reward good faith.
What can't happen to a standard-tier venue
A lot of the fear in circulation actually belongs to the enhanced tier (800+) or to large events — not to a village hall, parish church or sports club. At standard tier:
- You can't be closed down or restricted. Restriction and closure notices apply only to the enhanced tier and to qualifying events. There is no power to shut a standard-tier venue.
- Getting your procedures wrong is not a crime. Breaching a compliance notice at standard tier is not a criminal offence.
The only ways a standard-tier venue lands in genuinely serious trouble are deliberate ones: giving the regulator false or misleading information, ignoring a formal information or interview notice (which carries its own penalty of up to £5,000), or obstructing or impersonating an inspector. Honest effort, even when it falls short, is never criminal.
How you'd actually hear from the regulator
The whole model is paper-first and calm. Most contact is a desk assessment — a review of records — or an informal request for information. A formal on-site inspection without a warrant requires at least 72 hours' written notice, at a reasonable time of day.
Two things are worth knowing:
- Not notifying doesn't keep you off the radar. The SIA can select premises that haven't notified. Quietly doing nothing isn't a hiding place.
- There's no public register and no published ratings. No one can look up whether you're compliant — which cuts both ways: no public shaming, but no official badge to point to either. Your own records are the only proof that exists.
That 72-hour figure is the calm centre of all this. If an inspection ever comes, you would have days of notice — and a venue that keeps its arrangements in one place can answer in an afternoon.
The pressure you'll feel first won't be the SIA
For most community venues, the first real prompt won't be a regulator at all. It will be your insurer, asking at renewal what your arrangements are — and your hirers, wanting to know the building is safe for their event. Because there's no register to point them to, the answer is your own records: who has been briefed, what your procedures are, when you last reviewed them.
That's the quiet reason to get this in order now — not a fine, but the handful of times a year when someone reasonably asks, "can you show me?"
And the real reason has nothing to do with enforcement
It's worth saying plainly: the duties exist because simple preparation genuinely saves lives. The four procedures — knowing how you'd get people out, move them somewhere safer inside, lock down, and tell everyone what's happening — are the same calm thinking you already apply to fire, asking "and what if the danger were a person?" Done once, with the right people in the room, they're a morning's work, and they cost nothing.
You don't need to buy anything to comply: the official guidance is free and says so. What's genuinely hard is keeping the memory of it across changing committees — but that's a different problem from enforcement, and not one a fine is coming for.
Not sure whether any of this applies to you yet? Start with the free scope checker, or read what the duties actually involve in our guide to what standard tier requires.
Common questions
What's the penalty for not complying with Martyn's Law?
At standard tier, a civil penalty of up to £10,000, with up to £500 a day only for continuing to breach a compliance notice after the deadline to put it right has passed. Penalties are decided on the balance of probabilities, carry a right of appeal to an independent tribunal, and are a backstop for venues that won't engage — not an automatic fine for getting something wrong. The regulator's approach is advisory-first: guidance and warnings come first.
Could my venue be closed down, or could I get a criminal record?
No — not at standard tier. Restriction and closure notices apply only to the enhanced tier (800+) and to qualifying events; there is no power to close a standard-tier venue. And breaching a compliance notice at standard tier is not a criminal offence. The only criminal offences that touch standard-tier venues are deliberate acts: giving the SIA false or misleading information, ignoring a formal information or interview notice, or obstructing or impersonating an inspector.
Will the SIA inspect us, and would we get any warning?
Most contact is a desk-based review of records or an informal request for information. A formal on-site inspection without a warrant requires at least 72 hours' written notice, at a reasonable time of day. There is no public register, so no one can look up your status — your own records are the proof. Note that premises which have not notified can still be selected for assessment, so doing nothing quietly isn't a hiding place.
So what actually happens if we do nothing?
Honestly, probably not a knock on the door — but 'nothing' is the wrong bet for a different reason. The regulator is advisory-first and penalties are a backstop, so the pressure you'll feel sooner comes from your insurer and hirers asking what your arrangements are, with no register to point them to. And the duties are simple, free and genuinely worth doing: the point of them is that preparation saves lives.
The calm way to be ready before anyone asks
Our free scope checker tells you in three minutes whether the law applies to you at all. And if you'd like one plain-English email a month between now and commencement, join the countdown list.