Recommendation MAI-4: Appoint control room intelligence collators (Fire)
From Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response, published 3 November 2022.
Recommendation
All fire and rescue services should consider appointing a person within their control rooms who, in the event of a Major Incident, has the sole role of gathering and collating all available information and intelligence, and sharing it internally and externally to the extent appropriate.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked fire and rescue services to appoint control room intelligence collators. In February 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that 64 percent of 50 responding fire and rescue services (FRS) had completed the recommendation (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). It stated that actions taken included establishing operations rooms alongside control rooms and supplementing staff with flexi duty officers as single points of contact during major incidents (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). Earlier, the UK Government accepted the recommendation in full in November 2025 (Cabinet Office response, Nov 2025).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Government response
Accepted in full
Delivery
Cabinet Office says in progress (27 February 2026)
There has been a 33% increase in services that have completed R-131. This takes the total completion rate to 64% across all responding services (50 FRS). Evidence includes establishing 'operations cell' or 'operations rooms' to support incidents along side control rooms, supplementing the control room with additional flexi duty officers to act as single points of contact during major incidents.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
Cabinet Office (14 November 2025)
There has been a 33% increase in services that have completed R-131. This takes the total completion rate to 64% across all responding services (50 FRS). Evidence includes establishing 'operations cell' or 'operations rooms' to support incidents along side control rooms, supplementing the control room with additional flexi duty officers to act as single points of contact during major incidents.
From: Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, original version (data file)
Published evidence
Published findings referenced by inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether the finding is independent or government self-reported. Each finding is this site's summary of what the source found, with a link to the source; this site does not add its own progress rating.
Summary by this site of the published finding
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.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement