Ensure immediate HART resource deployment
Manchester Arena Inquiry · Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response · Issued 3 November 2022 · Addressed to: National Ambulance Resilience Unit, Department of Health and Social Care
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Department of Health and Social Care and the National Ambulance Resilience Unit should develop procedures to ensure that, so far as possible, each ambulance service trust is able to deploy or call upon HART resources immediately in the event of a Major Incident. As part of that, the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Ambulance Resilience Unit should develop procedures to ensure that, so far as possible, each ambulance service trust can call upon cross-border support in respect of HART resources immediately in the event of a Major Incident. There may be some incidents that are so significant that an individual ambulance service will need to mobilise its own HART resources and also draw upon cross-border support. Procedures need to accommodate this.
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 sets out the NHS Core Standards for EPRR requirements for HART deployment: four HART personnel within 15 minutes of call acceptance, six within 10 minutes of confirmation, and 30-minute notice to move anywhere in the UK for mutual aid requests (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 As part of the NHS Core Standards for emergency preparedness resilience and response (EPRR) each ambulance service is required to have the following in place in relation to Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) deployment: * Four HART personnel must be available or released and mobilised to respond locally to any incident identified as potentially requiring HART capabilities within 15 minutes of the call being accepted by the provider. * Once a HART capability is confirmed as being required at the scene (with a corresponding safe system of work) organisations must ensure that six HART personnel are released and available to respond to scene within 10 minutes of that confirmation. The six includes the four already mobilised. * Organisations must ensure that their 'on duty' HART personnel and specialist vehicles and equipment to maintain a 30-minute notice to move to anywhere in the United Kingdom following a mutual aid request endorsed by NHS England or National Ambulance Response Unit. Procedures are developed and implemented and are monitored as part of the NHS Core Standards self-assessment assurance process. Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) resources can be deployed and respond as per the recommendation. Source →
- 14 Nov 2025 As part of the NHS Core Standards for emergency preparedness resilience and response (EPRR) each ambulance service is required to have the following in place in relation to Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) deployment: * Four HART personnel must be available or released and mobilised to respond locally to any incident identified as potentially requiring HART capabilities within 15 minutes of the call being accepted by the provider. * Once a HART capability is confirmed as being required at the scene (with a corresponding safe system of work) organisations must ensure that six HART personnel are released and available to respond to scene within 10 minutes of that confirmation. The six includes the four already mobilised. * Organisations must ensure that their 'on duty' HART personnel and specialist vehicles and equipment to maintain a 30-minute notice to move to anywhere in the United Kingdom following a mutual aid request endorsed by NHS England or National Ambulance Response Unit. Procedures are developed and implemented and are monitored as part of the NHS Core Standards self-assessment assurance process. Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) resources can be deployed and respond as per the recommendation. 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
- 1 Apr 2024 · JESIP 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. View source → Good 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.