Recommendation CR3: Regular assessment of assets and resources
From The Cranston Inquiry Report, published 5 February 2026.
Recommendation
There should be regular assessments by HM Coastguard of the adequacy of the available assets and human resources to respond to both current and reasonably foreseeable levels of small boat activity. Where the forecast level of resourcing need cannot be delivered within budget, the position must be escalated rapidly to the Department for Transport.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked His Majesty's Coastguard to regularly assess small boat response resources. In October 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that the recommendation had been marked as complete under an ongoing approach, with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency establishing an internal process to monitor and verify progress (Cabinet Office, Oct 2026). The Department for Transport stated in July 2026 that operational measures were in place, including daily assessments of search and rescue asset availability, dynamic allocation of network staff, and biannual reviews of resourcing (Department for Transport response, Jul 2026). The department also detailed mechanisms to present risks to its sponsorship board quarterly and escalate worsening resource concerns directly when necessary (Department for Transport response, Jul 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 16 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
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.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: Cranston Inquiry Report: Interim Response (CP 1635), presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Transport in July 2026. The words are the Department for Transport's. The paper describes HM Coastguard, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch in the third person ("HMCG recognises ..."), so the site files each passage under the Department, not under the body the recommendation is addressed to.
Delivery
Cabinet Office says completed (5 October 2026)
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.
From: Cranston Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, October 2026 (data file)
Site note: The dashboard gives each recommendation its own cell. The cells for recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 16 carry the same words, so the same passage is recorded on each.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department for Transport
Response - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement