Ambulance trusts submit resource recommendations
Manchester Arena Inquiry · Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · Issued 3 November 2022
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Having carried out that review, the trusts should make recommendations to their NHS commissioners about the additional and/or different resources they require in order to ensure that they are able to respond effectively to a mass casualty incident in the numbers required.
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:
- NHS England is establishing a cross-functional working group to work with ambulance trusts and lead commissioners to review and prioritise bid content (Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, Cabinet Office, February 2026).
- The dashboard notes that emerging insights from the 2025-26 planning round suggest limited evidence of additional funding from commissioners (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 Following the ambulance trust's reviews and submissions of their bids to their lead commissioners, NHS England and NHS Resilience Emergency Capabilities Unit is establishing a cross-functional working group to work directly with Ambulance Trusts and their lead commissioners. This group will review and prioritise bid content, ensuring alignment with service needs, identified capability gaps, and existing commitments. Where necessary, the group may intercept or restructure existing working arrangements to enable effective delivery. The outcome of this work will be presented to DHSC to give consideration to as required as part of another recommendation. Emerging insights from the 2025-26 planning and contracting round suggest limited evidence of additional funding from commissioners to date in response to these submissions. Ambulance response times have improved and there has been a similar improvement in the time lost to handover delays at emergency departments over the last two years as a consequence of the UEC Recovery plan therefore giving ambulance trusts greater capacity to respond to a major incident. Source →
- 14 Nov 2025 Following the ambulance trust's reviews and submissions of their bids to their lead commissioners, NHS England and NHS Resilience Emergency Capabilities Unit is establishing a cross-functional working group to work directly with Ambulance Trusts and their lead commissioners. This group will review and prioritise bid content, ensuring alignment with service needs, identified capability gaps, and existing commitments. Where necessary, the group may intercept or restructure existing working arrangements to enable effective delivery. The outcome of this work will be presented to DHSC to give consideration to as required as part of another recommendation. Emerging insights from the 2025-26 planning and contracting round suggest limited evidence of additional funding from commissioners to date in response to these submissions. Ambulance response times have improved and there has been a similar improvement in the time lost to handover delays at emergency departments over the last two years as a consequence of the UEC Recovery plan therefore giving ambulance trusts greater capacity to respond to a major incident. 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.