About this document

These are the public protection procedures for the premises, prepared under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn’s Law. They set out what the people running the premises will do to reduce the risk of physical harm if a terrorist attack happens at, or near, the premises.

With a reasonable expectation of up to 200 people present at the same time, these are standard tier premises (200 to 799).

Generated with the free SME Solutions Martyn’s Law generator (smesolutions.uk/martyns-law), template 2026-09. It is a starting point built from your answers and the published guidance on the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, not legal advice. Walk the building with it, change anything that does not match reality, and check ProtectUK for the SIA’s final statutory guidance before spring 2027.

The premises

the premises is a village hall on one floor, with the marked exits. It is in regular weekly use, run by hirers and committee members.

A fire risk assessment and fire evacuation plan are already in place. The evacuation procedure below builds on them; the other three procedures are additional.

Responsible person and notification

The responsible person for these premises is the management committee, being the person with control of the premises for their qualifying use. The day-to-day lead is to be named.

When the Act comes into force (expected spring 2027), the responsible person must notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) that they are responsible for these premises, using the SIA’s online notification service. The standard tier requires notification only; no documents have to be submitted. Record the notification in Part C of this pack.

Keep this document where hirers and committee members on duty can find it, alongside the fire notice. A copy should be given to anyone who hires or supervises the premises.

Deciding to act

Anyone on duty may start any of the four procedures. Nobody needs permission. If in doubt, act: a false alarm costs minutes, hesitation can cost lives. The person in charge at the premises is the hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present.

Signs that a procedure may be needed:

• Shouting, screaming, bangs or shots, inside or outside
• People running away from something, or a crowd surging
• A vehicle driven at people or into the building
• A person with a weapon, or an unattended bag or item that looks out of place
• A police instruction, a warning from a neighbouring premises, or an official alert

The police advice for anyone caught up in an attack is RUN, HIDE, TELL: run to a place of safety if there is a safe route; if you cannot, hide, turn your phone to silent and stay out of sight; when it is safe, tell the police by calling 999.

Procedure 1: Evacuation

Use when the danger is inside the building, or the police tell you to leave. Do not evacuate towards a danger that is outside; use invacuation instead.

1. Raise the alarm using voice: staff calling out and going room to room. Say clearly and repeatedly: “Leave the building now by the nearest safe exit.”
2. Direct people to the nearest safe exit. There are the marked exits. Do not send people through an exit that leads towards the danger.
3. Go to the assembly point shown on the fire notice. If the assembly point shown on the fire notice is in the direction of the danger, the hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present chooses another open area away from the building and away from glass and parked vehicles.
4. Leaders of children’s groups and anyone supervising people with reduced mobility take their group with them and count them. Nobody is left to wait for help without someone staying with them.
5. Do not stop to collect coats, bags or belongings.
6. Once outside, keep moving away from the building. Do not gather at the doors or by windows.
7. Call 999 as soon as it is safe (see Procedure 4). Tell the operator what is happening, where, and how many people are involved.
8. Do not re-enter the building for any reason until the police say it is safe.
9. The hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present accounts for people as far as possible and tells the police who may still be inside.

The fire evacuation plan and this procedure use the same exits and assembly point. The difference is that a terrorist incident may make the usual route or assembly point unsafe, so the person in charge may need to choose another.

Procedure 2: Invacuation

Use when the danger is outside or nearby, and leaving the building would expose people to it. The invacuation area at the premises is the room furthest from the entrance and external windows.

1. Raise the alarm using voice: staff calling out and going room to room. Do not use the fire alarm. Say clearly: “Move away from the windows and doors, into the room furthest from the entrance and external windows, now.”
2. Move everyone to the room furthest from the entrance and external windows, including people outside in gardens, car parks or terraces if they can reach the building safely.
3. Close all doors behind you. Keep people away from windows and external doors, and out of sight from outside.
4. Turn off lights if it is safe and practical, and ask people to silence their phones and stay quiet.
5. Group leaders keep their groups together and count them. Reassure children and anyone who is distressed.
6. Call 999 as soon as it is safe. Tell the operator where you are, how many people are with you, and what you can see or hear.
7. Stay in place until the police give the all-clear in person or by phone. Do not open doors to check.
8. If the danger moves inside the building, switch to Procedure 3 (lockdown) or, if there is a safe route out, Procedure 1 (evacuation).

Procedure 3: Lockdown

Use when someone is trying to get into the premises to cause harm, or when the police instruct you to lock down. Lockdown is invacuation plus securing the building.

Some external doors at the premises can be locked; The hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present holds the keys. Doors that cannot be locked are closed and blocked with heavy furniture.

1. Raise the alarm as for invacuation. Say clearly: “Lockdown. Lock and block the doors, move away from the entrance, now.”
2. Lock every external door. Close and block any that cannot be locked with tables, chairs or cupboards.
3. Move everyone to the room furthest from the entrance and external windows, away from doors and windows and out of sight.
4. Turn off lights, silence phones, and keep people quiet. Close internal doors and block them if the attacker is inside the building.
5. Call 999. Describe the attacker, where they are, what they are carrying, and where you and other people are.
6. Do not open any door for anyone until the police confirm who they are. Officers will identify themselves clearly.
7. If the attacker breaks in and there is a safe route out, leave by it. If there is no way out, be ready as a last resort to act together to stop them.
8. Stay locked down until the police give the all-clear in person.

Procedure 4: Communication

How the alarm is raised at the premises:

• Evacuation: voice: staff calling out and going room to room.
• Invacuation and lockdown: voice: staff calling out and going room to room (never the fire alarm, which would send people outside).
• Hirers and committee members go room to room to make sure every space, including toilets, kitchens, changing rooms and outdoor areas, has heard the instruction.

Calling 999: the hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present calls; if they cannot, anyone does. Give the address (the full address), what is happening, exactly where, how many attackers and any weapons, whether anyone is hurt, and where people are sheltering. Stay on the line if it is safe.

What to say to people, in short, calm sentences:

Hirers running events are told these procedures at booking and at key handover, and are given the briefing sheet in Part B. During a hire, the hirer is the person in charge unless a committee member is present.

Before an incident: report anything suspicious to the police on 101 or the confidential anti-terrorist hotline 0800 789 321. In an emergency always call 999. Free Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) awareness e-learning is available through ProtectUK and takes under an hour.

Awareness of hirers and committee members

The procedures only work if the people on duty know them. At the premises:

• Every new hirer is briefed using the Part B sheet before their first hire.
• Everyone on duty is re-briefed at least once a year, and before any event expected to bring in more people than usual.
• The hirer named on the booking, or a committee member if one is present walks the building with the sheet once a year: exits, the assembly point shown on the fire notice, the room furthest from the entrance and external windows, where the keys are.
• Briefings are recorded in the Part C attendance log.
• Where practical, a short walk-through exercise of one procedure is run each year. It does not need to involve the public.

Review

These procedures are reviewed by 28 September 2027, and sooner if any of the following happen: the layout, exits or capacity change; the use of the premises changes; an incident, alarm or exercise shows a weakness; or the SIA publishes new statutory guidance. The review checklist is in Part C.