Nationally accredited Force Duty Officer training
Manchester Arena Inquiry · Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · Issued 3 November 2022 · Addressed to: College of Policing, Home Office
Government responseUK Government: Accepted (Nov 2025)
DeliveryCabinet Office says completed (Feb 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Given the broad command responsibilities that the Force Duty Officer or Force Incident Manager will have in the early stages of the response to a Major Incident, the Home Office and the College of Policing should develop nationally accredited training to prepare those officers for that role.
Manchester Arena Inquiry, Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · 3 Nov 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended nationally accredited training for Force Duty Officers and Force Incident Managers. In February 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that the Force Incident Manager curriculum, accreditation processes, and guidance had been finalised for central delivery by the College of Policing (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). It stated that training was scheduled to go live in spring 2025 and the work strand had been closed through National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) governance in May 2024, though the update did not mention Force Duty Officers (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). The Southport Inquiry noted in April 2026 that decision-making principles for threat to life situations are addressed across police training, including the Force Incident Manager course (Sir Adrian Fulford, Apr 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted · 14 Nov 2025
Accepted in full
Response document: Manchester Arena Inquiry recommendations (GOV.UK page linking to the Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard)
Delivery
●Cabinet Office says completed · 27 Feb 2026
Force Incident Manager (FIM) Accredited Training - The FIM curriculum has been finalised along with accreditation processes and supporting guidance. A training team is being created, as delivery of the course will be centrally managed by the College. This training is set to go live in Spring 2025 for all new FIMs and to include existing FIMs where appropriate. This work takes into account recommendations 62,63,66.This work strand has been closed via NPCC Governance May 2024.
Earlier statements on delivery (0)
●Cabinet Office · 14 Nov 2025
Force Incident Manager (FIM) Accredited Training - The FIM curriculum has been finalised along with accreditation processes and supporting guidance. A training team is being created, as delivery of the course will be centrally managed by the College. This training is set to go live in Spring 2025 for all new FIMs and to include existing FIMs where appropriate. This work takes into account recommendations 62,63,66.This work strand has been closed via NPCC Governance May 2024.
From: Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, original version (data file)
What other bodies have found
●Southport Inquiry · 13 Apr 2026
I recognise that the police use overarching principles of decision making which address the question of calculated risk in threat to life situations, in particular the National Decision Making Model, and that these themes are addressed in many elements of police training, including the Force Incident Manager course and via Stay Safe training.
From: The Southport Inquiry: Phase 1 report, volume 1 (accessible), Sir Adrian Fulford, Chair, Southport Public Inquiry
Published evidence
●JESIP · 1 Apr 2024
JESIP Joint Doctrine updated to v3.1 (April 2024) following inquiry findings on interoperability failures. Operation Plato reformed to cover all terrorist attack types, not just firearms. Emphasis extended beyond command-level to frontline responders.
JESIP Joint Doctrine Version 3.1, April 2024View source →
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.