Martyn's Law for gyms and leisure centres
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is not in force yet. The SIA expects it to come into force in spring 2027 and will confirm the date. Here is how it applies to a leisure centre: how to count your capacity, which tier you fall into, and what has to be in place.
Counting capacity
The figure that decides the tier is the greatest number of people it is reasonable to expect to be present at the same time, from time to time, including staff. For a leisure centre that means members and visitors who can be present at once across the gym floor, studios, pool and reception. Figures vary a lot between gyms and leisure centres, so work out your own. Below 200 the Act does not apply. 200 to 799 is standard tier. 800 and over is enhanced tier.
Which tier
A gym or leisure centre where 200 to 799 people can reasonably be expected at once is standard tier. Large leisure centres with pools, sports halls and spectator seating can reach 800, and where 800 or more can reasonably be expected at once the centre is enhanced tier.
What a standard tier leisure centre must have
Once the Act is in force, notify the SIA of the premises and the responsible person through the SIA's online portal. Anyone already responsible on the start date has three months. Have public protection procedures in place, so far as reasonably practicable, for four situations: evacuation (getting people out), invacuation (bringing people in and keeping them inside), lockdown (securing the premises) and communication (telling people what to do). Staff who have a role in them need to know what it is. No equipment, no searches and no security staff are required at this tier. The SIA can impose a penalty of up to £10,000, and up to £500 a day if a compliance notice is not met.
What that looks like in a leisure centre
A leisure centre has people in swimwear, in showers and in a pool, so evacuation is not a straightforward walk to the car park. The pack's procedures let you set out an invacuation option for the pool hall and a route for changing rooms, with the duty manager's decision written down.
Lone working at quiet hours is common, and the communication procedure is where you set out how one member of staff on reception raises the alarm and tells the building.
Council-run centres often have a corporate plan but no site procedure. The pack gives the site its own procedures, written to fit the corporate plan.
The pack
Six Word documents that take a standard tier leisure centre from a blank sheet to ready in an afternoon: capacity and tier assessment, the four procedures written to fill in for your building, a twenty-minute staff briefing with training record, the SIA notification worksheet and an annual review and evidence log. Every section says what the Home Office guidance expects before you fill it in, and the source is noted at the end of each document.
Buy the pack, £450 per venue What's inside
Instant download after payment, receipt by email, single venue licence. Guidance-based templates prepared from the Act and the Home Office statutory guidance. Not legal advice, not drafted by a firm of solicitors, and not endorsed by the SIA or the Home Office. You stay responsible for your own assessment. We are not a security consultancy and this does not replace advice from your police Counter Terrorism Security Adviser.