Recommendation CR15: Joint training exercises plan
From The Cranston Inquiry Report, published 5 February 2026.
Recommendation
HM Coastguard should develop and implement a plan for joint training exercises, to occur at set intervals, with participation by those involved in maritime search and rescue in the English Channel and elsewhere.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked His Majesty's Coastguard to schedule regular joint maritime training exercises. 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 (MCA) establishing internal monitoring and reporting for its operational responsibilities (Cabinet Office, Oct 2026). In July 2026, the Department for Transport stated that regular liaison and annual live exercises with partner organisations were established, with two yearly table-top exercises instituted and the next live exercise planned for October 2026 (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
The most recent joint exercise involving all participants simultaneously was at Dover MRCC on 7 December 2023. Representatives from French Coast Guard and SNSM (the French lifeboat service) were present, alongside UK Border Force and the RNLI. Since then, HMCG has participated in monthly meetings with the RNLI and Border Force (now Border Security Command) and 6-monthly meetings with the French Coastguard, at which tactics, techniques and procedures are discussed so that best practices can be shared. This culminates each year in the live Mass Person in Water Exercises hosted by the RNLI, where the last live play exercise occurred on 10 September 2025. The most recent Table-Top Exercise took place at the end of March 2026. Going forward there will be two table-top exercises each year. Key internal stakeholders and external partners will participate, including French authorities, RNLI, HMCG Aviation, JRCC, and Network Commanders. The next live exercise is planned to take place in October 2026.
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