Statutory powers for witness attendance at inquiries
Manchester Arena Inquiry · Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · Issued 3 November 2022
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
It is recommended that consideration be given to the creation of statutory powers under section 36 that can be used to prevent a material witness to an inquiry putting themselves beyond the reach of the existing powers to compel a witness's attendance. One such power, which would have assisted in the cases of Ismail Abedi and Ahmed Taghdi, would be a short-term restriction on the use of a witness's passport prior to attending to give evidence when 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:
- The Cabinet Office is considering wider reforms of the Inquiries Act 2005 following the Statutory Inquiries Committee recommendations (Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, Cabinet Office, February 2026).
- The Ministry of Justice stated these recommendations will be considered in light of the wider reforms and changes needed in legislation will be taken forward as part of a broader package (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 recommendations of the Statutory Inquiries Committee on the efficacy of the law and practice relating to statutory inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 the Cabinet Office is currently considering wider reforms of the Inquiries Act as well as measures to strengthen the public inquiries system as a whole. These Inquiry recommendations will be considered by MoJ in light of these wider reforms and changes needed in legislation will be taken forward as part of this broader package. Source →
- 14 Nov 2025 Following the recommendations of the Statutory Inquiries Committee on the efficacy of the law and practice relating to statutory inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 the Cabinet Office is currently considering wider reforms of the Inquiries Act as well as measures to strengthen the public inquiries system as a whole. These Inquiry recommendations will be considered by MoJ in light of these wider reforms and changes needed in legislation will be taken forward as part of this broader package. 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.