Who is the responsible person under Martyn’s Law?

The legal test concerns control of the premises in connection with its listed use. Where there are several listed uses, the person controlling the premises for the principal use is relevant. Consider the main use over time, rather than only what is happening on one afternoon.

Ownership, management titles and volunteer rotas are useful context, but do not replace that test. A company can be the responsible person for many premises. The employee gathering information or leading a briefing does not automatically become the responsible person.

Start by identifying the organisation operating the venue and how control is arranged. For a pub, hall or visitor attraction, discuss this with the people who understand the operational arrangements before deciding whose details belong in the notification.

Martyn’s Law overview

The Act identifies the responsible person directly for some uses. For schools, it is the governing body, or the proprietor if there is no governing body. For pupil referral units, it is the maintaining local authority.

For NHS hospitals, it is the operating trust or board. For higher education premises, it is the governing body. These rules matter when a head teacher, administrator or site manager is organising preparation on the organisation’s behalf.

Do not confuse responsibility with tier. Qualifying schools, childcare settings, further education premises and places of worship remain standard tier even above 800. Higher education can be enhanced. Count relevant staff and volunteers alongside other people when establishing attendance.

Martyn’s Law for schoolsMartyn’s Law for healthcare

For ordinary village hall, church hall or venue hire, responsibility stays with the premises operator rather than the hirer. Hire contracts can specify duties for hirers, but do not transfer the operator’s legal responsibility.

The responsible person must be able to show the SIA that requirements were specified. Communicate relevant procedures to hirers and explain how their activities fit the venue’s arrangements. A visiting organiser may help deliver instructions without taking over the operator’s duties.

A qualifying event is different. At standard-tier or out-of-scope premises, the person controlling the premises for that event can become its responsible person, often the organiser or hirer. All event criteria and exclusions must be checked.

Events at worship, childcare, school and further education premises are excluded from qualifying events. Schools hiring out their facilities remain standard tier.

Martyn’s Law for village hallsMartyn’s Law for events

There can be more than one responsible person, and they must co-ordinate. Separate qualifying premises within a larger site can also have co-ordination duties. If the same responsible person controls nested qualifying premises, they are treated as one.

For a hall or shop inside a larger site, check its own qualifying numbers and responsibility rather than assuming the whole site’s answer applies. Discuss how procedures work across boundaries, shared entrances and communication arrangements.

People with some control who are not themselves the responsible person must co-operate with the responsible person. Useful preparation includes identifying who manages shared spaces and who can carry out arrangements involving them.

An enhanced-tier responsible organisation must designate a senior individual involved in management or control. This is an additional role; it does not replace the organisation as responsible person.

The senior individual can delegate tasks but retains responsibility for the role. Personal liability is not automatic simply because someone is designated: the relevant basis is consent, connivance or neglect.

Notification includes the individual’s details, position and designation date. Enhanced preparation should therefore involve someone senior enough to oversee the work, rather than assigning the designation to junior staff.

Enhanced-tier requirements

Once responsibility is established, agree who gathers attendance evidence, arranges procedure briefings and prepares notification. An authorised person can submit on your behalf, but responsibility cannot be delegated.

The duties are not yet enforceable, with commencement expected in spring 2027. Software and specialist services are optional. Wardcote’s free tier tool can help establish your next preparation step.

SIA notification guideCheck your tier