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Martyn's Law across every site

Faith bodies, pub groups, councils and trusts can get every venue ready the same way, and see which sites are ready, which need attention and which are overdue.

Download Martyn's Law on one page for your noticeboard or committee (PDF, free).

Check your venue freeSee how it works
A summer community gathering in a bright hall, with people chatting in groups and sitting in a circle of chairs.

When you might reach 200

  • A faith body with dozens of places of worship and halls
  • A pub group with managed and tenanted sites
  • A council with community centres to look after
  • A trust running several venues

Count staff and volunteers too. Not sure? Check your venue.

A worked example

Get everyone out plan

Millbrook Pub Company (12 sites)

Up to 260 people at once · standard tier

A new manager starts at one of your sites on a Friday.

  1. 1The area manager adds the new manager to that site in hailo.
  2. 2hailo sends them the site's briefing link, and they confirm on their phone.
  3. 3The site turns from 'Needs attention' back to 'Ready' on your estate view.
  4. 4The change is dated in the site's evidence pack, ready if the SIA asks.
A made-up venue. Your plans are written from your own answers.

Who counts site by site

Each venue is counted on its own. The Home Office's guidance says a chain's stores, with other buildings between them, are each their own premises, so one busy site doesn't bring a quiet one into scope. Buildings close together, with the same main use and the same responsible person, can count as one group.

At each site, count everyone who could be there at once at its busiest: visitors, staff, contractors and volunteers. Some of your sites will be in scope and some won't, and that can change as a site's events change.

Places of worship stay in the standard tier however many people come, when worship is the building's main use. Most other sites move to the enhanced tier at 800, which hailo doesn't cover yet.

Busy days differ from site to site

A pub group's busiest nights are the big matches and New Year's Eve. A faith body's are its festivals: Eid, Diwali, Vaisakhi, Christmas or Rosh Hashanah, depending on the community. A council's might be the Christmas fair and polling days, and a trust's a summer open day.

So each site records its own busiest day and its own number, and looks at it again when things change: a new regular event, a refit or a change in how the building is used.

Who is responsible across an estate

The responsible person is whoever controls each site for its use. That may be you, centrally, or the local committee, tenant or trustees who run it. The Home Office's guidance gives the example of a pub company's pub run by a tenant: the tenant is in control, so the tenant is responsible.

Where you share control of a site with its operator, each of you is responsible and you work together. Write down who is responsible at each site and who leads the work there.

When you hire out your building, you stay the responsible person. The Home Office's guidance says to explain to each hirer what's expected of them, and to be able to show the SIA that you did.

A second plan for one made-up site

Each site's plans are written for its own building, even when the sites look alike. Here's part of one made-up site's plan for keeping people informed (communication).

The steps are the same shape at every site, so area managers can check them quickly. The doors, rooms and names are that site's own.

From a made-up plan

Keep people informed plan

Riverside Centre, Millbrook Community Trust

One of a made-up trust's four community centres, with a main hall, a café and three meeting rooms.

When we use it
Staff or the police tell us of a threat nearby, inside or out.
Who starts it
The duty manager. Out of hours, the hirer's person in charge.
What we say
A short message over the PA, read from the card by the reception desk.
Everyone else
A volunteer checks the café, the meeting rooms and the toilets, so everyone hears.
Who calls 999
The duty manager, as soon as people are moving.
Afterwards
The duty manager tells the trust's on-call manager once everyone is safe.
A made-up venue, to show what part of a written plan looks like. Yours is written from your own answers.

Getting ready across every site

Start with a list: every site, its busiest number, its tier and its responsible person. Then each site's plans, and a briefing for each site's people. The duties are expected to start in spring 2027.

The Home Office estimates about 9 hours of a manager's time to plan the procedures for one venue. Across an estate that adds up, which is why one way of working for every site helps.

Why hailo suits multi-site and partners

One view of every site

Ready, needs attention or overdue, site by site, so you know where to help first.

Each site keeps its own plan

Every building is different. Each venue gets plans written for its own doors, rooms and people.

Per-site pricing

From five venues, every site is on the Multi-site plan, whatever kind of venue it is.

What the law asks at the standard tier

Get everyone out

Evacuation

How you move people out of the building, or part of it, quickly and safely.

Bring everyone in

Invacuation

How you bring people inside, or to a safer room, when outside is the danger.

Lock down

Lockdown

How you stop people getting in or out, for example by locking doors.

Keep people informed

Communication

How you tell people what's happening and what to do: stay put, or move away.

What the standard tier doesn't ask for

No hardware, no guards, no course. It's about plans and people knowing them.Home Office factsheet

  • Not needed: Security staff
  • Not needed: Bag searches
  • Not needed: CCTV or new equipment
  • Not needed: Building work
  • Not needed: A training course

Guidance worth reading from the Home Office

Other organisations' guidance, for information. We don't endorse it and it isn't legal advice.

Questions

Can our sites manage their own plans?

Yes. Invite each site's manager or volunteers to their own venue. Owners see every venue in the organisation.

Do you offer licences for members, such as a faith body or association?

We're setting up partner licences and invite codes for umbrella bodies. Tell us about your organisation and we'll talk it through.

Is hailo endorsed by the SIA?

No. hailo is independent and is based on the Home Office's published guidance. It isn't endorsed by the Home Office or the SIA.

Is each of our venues counted separately?

Usually, yes. Sites with other buildings between them are each their own premises, with their own count and tier. Buildings close together, with the same use and the same responsible person, can count as one group.

Who is responsible at a tenanted or leased site?

Whoever controls the site for its use, which is often the tenant or the committee that runs it. The Home Office's guidance gives the example of a tenanted pub, where the tenant is responsible. Where control is shared, each must work with the others.

Can some of our sites be in scope and others not?

Yes. Each site is counted on its own, so a busy site can be in scope while a small one isn't. You can still give every site the same simple plans if you choose.

Do we tell the SIA about every site?

The responsible person for each site in scope tells the SIA. What to send, and when, will be set out before the duties start. hailo keeps each site's details in one place.

Does hailo cover enhanced tier sites?

Not yet. hailo is built for the standard tier. Sites expected to hold 800 or more at once, other than places of worship, schools and childcare, have extra duties, so get specialist advice for those.

Read next in plain English

Guides

From the blog

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