Ensure Airwave Tactical Advisors availability
Manchester Arena Inquiry · Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · Issued 3 November 2022 · Addressed to: Police Services
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
All police services should ensure that they have made adequate provision for Airwave Tactical Advisors, in particular that an identified Airwave Tactical Advisor is either on duty or on call at all times.
Manchester Arena Inquiry, Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · 3 Nov 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The dashboard states that a new multi-agency radio control talk group was developed post-attack, shared with police, fire and ambulance and monitored 24/7 in control rooms, with established tri-service testing and training arrangements (Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, Cabinet Office, February 2026).
- National guidance for services on training and testing was revised and launched in August 2024, with approximately 700 Airwave tactical advisors now across the three services (Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, Cabinet Office, February 2026).
- This work is linked to the Home Office-led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) to transition over 300,000 emergency workers to a new commercial network (Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, Cabinet Office, February 2026).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
The Home Secretary made a written statement to Parliament on 3 November 2022 following publication of Volume 2, acknowledging the findings on emergency response failures and stating the government would work with emergency services to implement improvements. The response committed to reviewing interoperability arrangements between emergency services and strengthening joint training and exercising protocols for major incidents.
UK Government · 3 Nov 2022 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 27 Feb 2026 Post the attack a new multi-agency radio control talk group was developed, which is shared with police, fire and ambulance and monitored 24/7 in control rooms. There are established tri service testing and training arrangements for this talk group. In addition, there is a 'all Forces Police Airwave hailing channel' enabling forces to easily call up and again this is tested regularly. In relation to improving the use of airwave tactical advisors, there are now approximately 700 across the 3 services. National guidance for services on training and testing has been revised and launched in August 2024, taking into account these recommendations to support the requirements around interoperability. This work is also linked closely with the Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) that seeks to prepare over 300k emergency workers to transition from the current radio system to a new commercial network. Source →
- 14 Nov 2025 Post the attack a new multi-agency radio control talk group was developed, which is shared with police, fire and ambulance and monitored 24/7 in control rooms. There are established tri service testing and training arrangements for this talk group. In addition, there is a 'all Forces Police Airwave hailing channel' enabling forces to easily call up and again this is tested regularly. In relation to improving the use of airwave tactical advisors, there are now approximately 700 across the 3 services. National guidance for services on training and testing has been revised and launched in August 2024, taking into account these recommendations to support the requirements around interoperability. This work is also linked closely with the Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) that seeks to prepare over 300k emergency workers to transition from the current radio system to a new commercial network. Source →
- 14 Nov 2025 · Cabinet Office Government published formal Manchester Arena Inquiry recommendations dashboard on GOV.UK (14 November 2025) tracking all 149 recommendations with implementation progress updates. View source → Reasonable Progress
- 3 Apr 2025 · UK Parliament Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent 3 April 2025. Creates two tiers: Standard Duty (200-799 capacity) and Enhanced Duty (800+). SIA will be regulator. Not yet in force -- at least 24 months before enforcement (expected April 2027). View source → Reasonable Progress
- 5 Jun 2023 · National Police Chiefs Council NPCC, Counter Terrorism Policing and College of Policing provided comprehensive updates to Sir John Saunders demonstrating "continued drive to improve collective response to terrorist incidents." View source → Reasonable Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.