Huge cuts to policing budgets had a 'damaging impact' on Greater Manchester Police's planning for emergencies, according to the chair of the Manchester Arena public inquiry into the terrorist bombing.
Sir John Saunders, in his second inquiry report arising from the atrocity, said in his view, cuts 'did have a significant impact on the ability of GMP to provide an adequate public service in certain respects'. Sir John said in terms of planning: "The result is that a vital function of policing in GMP was not operating as well as it should."
"This had real consequences," he added in the damming report on the response of the emergency services to the May, 2017, attack. "I have no doubt that the cuts that resulted from austerity had a damaging impact upon GMP's planning for all emergencies.
"Whether that is an area in which cuts should not have been made is not a matter for me. However, cuts appear to have landed very heavily in this area, to the detriment of policing within Greater Manchester."
Sir John went on to issue a radical, and apt in the current political and financial climate, call to the government - urging the Home Office to 'consider different arrangements for funding police services if a similar programme of budgetary cuts and austerity occurs in the future'.
His comments came as the report, published last week, exposed a series of failings on the part of the emergency services - Greater Manchester Police, British Transport Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and North West Ambulance Service.
The current Chief Constable of GMP, Stephen Watson, who wasn't in post at the time, later apologised unreservedly for the force's response on the night and in a detailed, post-publication statement, accepted the force had 'failed to plan effectively and the execution of that which had been planned, was simply not good enough'. He went on to list 'substantial and beneficial' changes made.
One of the 22 victims of the suicide bombing, John Atkinson, 28, could have been saved if not for the 'inadequate' response of police, paramedics and fire crews, Sir John found in the report.
He said on the night of the attack, GMP's Force Duty Officer (FDO) had 'correctly' launched Operation Plato - the response to a continuing terror attack. It was 'vital' he shared the declaration with the other emergency services on night, but 'failed to do so', said the report. GMP, found Sir John, 'had failed to put in place proper mechanisms of support' for officers who performed the FDO role, a key hub for any major incident required to co-ordinate with other blue light agencies.
The force also didn't declare a major incident until some two and a half hours after the blast, with the chair also criticising a number of senior GMP commanders on the night. Plans that should have been rewritten but weren't were highlighted and GMP, said the report, 'failed to embed' joint emergency services protocols properly with its officers and staff.
The report, however, praised the work of armed police at the scene, who Sir John said would have 'neutralised' any threat, and also the work of GMP's 'bronze commander' at the City Room blast zone, who he said acted 'admirably under great pressure'.
Sir John, in his report, highlighted the financial crisis of 2008, which he said led to a period of economic recession in the UK. Two years on, it culminated in the introduction of an austerity programme by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, with the following period branded the 'age of austerity' by then Tory Prime Minister David Cameron.
Sir John's report referenced a 'drive to reduce public expenditure by billions of pounds each year' - calling resulting £87m-plus cuts to GMP's budget and personnel over six years 'striking'.
He said: "A number of GMP officers gave evidence about the impact of austerity upon their work. At a corporate level, both former Chief Constable Ian Hopkins and Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling gave evidence about the level of savings that it was necessary for GMP to make.
"Between 2010/11 and 2017/18, GMP's income fell substantially from £632,987,763 to £545,394,197.241 The number of officers fell by 25 per cent from 8,219 to 6,159. Staff posts and PCSOs were also lost. The decrease in income and personnel is striking.
"In my view, the cuts did have a significant impact on the ability of GMP to provide an adequate public service in certain respects.
"I have no doubt that the cuts that resulted from austerity had a damaging impact upon GMP’s planning for all emergencies. Whether that is an area in which cuts should not have been made is not a matter for me. However, cuts appear to have landed very heavily in this area, to the detriment of policing within Greater Manchester. The result is that a vital function of policing in GMP was not operating as well as it should.
"There was confusion about which version of the Operation Plato plan was in place. Even more significantly, no action cards had been introduced into GMP Control by the date of the attack.
"I am confident the removal of resources from the planning function of GMP played a part in this, although that does not provide a complete explanation. I do not consider that it is appropriate or possible for me to make a recommendation in this area. The most I can say is that, while frontline policing is, of course, of vital importance, the evidence has demonstrated to me that the value of those involved in planning for policing should not be underestimated.
"The events in Manchester demonstrate the critical role of planning in effective policing, and the consequences or potential consequences if that does not occur."
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