Manchester Arena Inquiry: Police force 'better prepared for terror attack'

Police in Manchester will be "far better prepared" for a terror attack after the 2017 arena bombing, a deputy chief constable has said.

Terry Woods, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), made the comments at a hearing about recommendations made following the inquiry into the attack.

He said a structure put in place by GMP to learn lessons after the attack, which killed 22 people, would remain.

But he warned that other forces in the country should be doing more.

He told the hearing, which was attended by family members of some of the victims, the Manchester Arena Inquiry would have a "legacy" in the force.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds more were injured when Salman Abedi detonated a device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.

The public inquiry into the attack ended in March 2022 after hearing evidence from 267 witnesses since September 2020.

Mr Woods said: "It will be an assurance to us and I hope the public that if anything happens again we will be far better prepared.

"This attack happened on our patch. It's never not going to be in the DNA of GMP.

"It's important to us and that's one of the reasons why this will carry on."

Asked by the inquiry chairman, Sir John Saunders, if police in other areas of the country should be doing more, Mr Woods said: "As it stands, at present, yes.

"I do think other forces should be doing more."

But he said there had been "positive moves" towards more training nationally.

Mr Woods said GMP had fulfilled recommendations, including to regularly review its major incident plan and ensure it had guidance on the roles of North West Ambulance Service and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

The public inquiry found a decision to send fire crews three miles away from the scene led to firefighters arriving more than two hours later.

Sir John said: "To me, one of the most surprising things of the inquiry is that people didn't realise the fire service were not there, with all their ability to remove people."

The inquiry, sitting for three days for evidence about progress on the recommendations, also heard from representatives of arena operator SMG and British Transport Police.

Counsel to the inquiry, Paul Greaney KC, said: "This week is an opportunity to identify what is being done to drive change that is needed to avoid the repetition of what went so wrong and also to examine whether more still can be done."

Sir John said he had issued the second part of the third volume of his report, which dealt with the security services and counter-terror policing, which was not being made public.

The chairman told the hearing it was of "critical importance" that the recommendations were monitored and said he hoped it could be done by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.

He said: "It's important the public and those who have been closely involved in this inquiry, such as the bereaved families, receive an assurance that recommendations I have made are being carried out."

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