Regular assessment of assets and resources

HMCG recognises the importance of regular assessments and has the following operational measures in place for the review of assets: • SAR asset availability (surface vessels and aircraft) is assessed daily, and every watch assesses asset allocation at the start of and throughout their watch. Should availability of assets change (e.g. due to technical defect), contingency measures will be implemented as required. • The network resource (Dover, JRCC, and Humber) is used to support unpredicted small boat crossings. This allows incidents to be coordinated from specific sites that have experience with small boat crossings rather than flexing through using any location in the network, ensuring critical resilience. The measures outlined in response to Recommendation 1 support situational awareness if the JRCC or Humber MRCC is coordinating incidents. • Network Commanders dynamically allocate staffing resources across the network to ensure the best possible response to incidents, especially during high-demand or complex situations. • Biannual MCA reviews of overall adequacy of resourcing to meet projected demand. The MCA formally presents all key risks for discussion to the DfT’s MCA sponsorship board (chaired by the responsible Director General) on a quarterly basis. MCA also shares its monthly Executive risk report, enabling discussion and escalation of MCA risks up through DfT’s risk management structures as required to ensure sufficient sight within the Department. MCA is also able to communicate emerging or worsening risks as needed directly at any point in the quarterly cycle. There is regular engagement between the responsible DfT Director General and the MCA CEO, as well as the responsible DfT Director and MCA CEO and Chair. There is also frequent engagement between the DfT sponsorship team and MCA officials (both MCA’s central governance team and other operational leads). When risks or issues are identified where joint action or DfT support is required, MCA and DfT officials work closely at all levels to identify and implement solutions.

The Department for Transport published its interim response to the Cranston Inquiry in July 2026, which included updates against this recommendation. This update noted that many of the recommendations - including this one - have been marked as complete but are necessarily based on an on-going approach, rather than having a single end point. The Department (DfT), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), and His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG) are committed to on-going learning and improvement, and will regularly review processes and practices, learning from best practice, to ensure that they are fit to meet the evolving challenges of maritime search and rescue (SAR). Due to the operational and ongoing nature of these recommendations, the MCA has established an internal process of monitoring, verifying and reporting against recommendations that are its responsibility, noting that many recommendations require an on-going approach rather than reaching a single, fixed point.