Recommendation MAI-6: Ensure Airwave Tactical Advisors availability
From Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response, published 3 November 2022.
Recommendation
All police services should ensure that they have made adequate provision for Airwave Tactical Advisors, in particular that an identified Airwave Tactical Advisor is either on duty or on call at all times.
In brief (written by this site)
The Cabinet Office reported in February 2026 that delivery remained in progress, noting that there were approximately 700 Airwave tactical advisors across the three emergency services (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). It stated that revised national guidance on training and testing was launched in August 2024, alongside regular testing of shared radio talk groups and alignment with the Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). The UK government had 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, 26 Sep 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)
Post the attack a new multi-agency radio control talk group was developed, which is shared with police, fire and ambulance and monitored 24/7 in control rooms. There are established tri service testing and training arrangements for this talk group. In addition, there is a 'all Forces Police Airwave hailing channel' enabling forces to easily call up and again this is tested regularly. In relation to improving the use of airwave tactical advisors, there are now approximately 700 across the 3 services. National guidance for services on training and testing has been revised and launched in August 2024, taking into account these recommendations to support the requirements around interoperability. This work is also linked closely with the Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) that seeks to prepare over 300k emergency workers to transition from the current radio system to a new commercial network.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
Cabinet Office (14 November 2025)
Post the attack a new multi-agency radio control talk group was developed, which is shared with police, fire and ambulance and monitored 24/7 in control rooms. There are established tri service testing and training arrangements for this talk group. In addition, there is a 'all Forces Police Airwave hailing channel' enabling forces to easily call up and again this is tested regularly. In relation to improving the use of airwave tactical advisors, there are now approximately 700 across the 3 services. National guidance for services on training and testing has been revised and launched in August 2024, taking into account these recommendations to support the requirements around interoperability. This work is also linked closely with the Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) that seeks to prepare over 300k emergency workers to transition from the current radio system to a new commercial network.
From: Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, original version (data file)
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement