Dear Brother / Sister
Manchester Arena Inquiry: FBU and Other Evidence
On 9 and 10 March 2021, the FBU gave evidence at the Manchester Arena Inquiry (MAI). For newer members, the MAI is the independent public inquiry set up by the Home Office in October 2019 to investigate the deaths of the victims of the bomb attack on the Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.
In line with a ruling made on 10 June 2020, the FBU was asked to supply information to the Inquiry. This request, including suggested matters which the statement might cover, was formally made on 25 November 2020, and was supplied on 19 January 2021. In line with the general principle of redacting sensitive information from statements from any source which would be put in the public domain, specific parts of the statement were redacted, however the full content is available to the Inquiry chair Sir John Saunders.
The evidence provided by the FBU in its statement was quite broad-ranging and focused primarily on the arrangements, such as they are, for fire and rescue service response to marauding terrorist incidents, shortcomings in those arrangements and measures which the union believes should be put in place to account for those shortcomings. The evidence was provided to inform how the arrangements impacted on the fire and rescue service response to the incident on 22 May 2017.
The statement has not been uploaded to the MAI website. It is unclear at this time whether it can be provided to members, however, the key elements were explored and explained at the Inquiry in oral evidence.
The transcript of the FBU’s evidence can be found by following these links:
https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/03/09183811/MAI-Day-72_Redacted.pdf
and
https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/03/10165852/MAI-Day-73.pdf
Evidence sessions are broadcast via YouTube by the Inquiry on a ten-minute delay and, for now at least, are retained on YouTube. The FBU’s evidence session can be viewed via the links detailed below. The video footage commences after the length of the time shown in brackets:
9 March a.m. (22:34 mins): Manchester Arena Inquiry 9/3/2021 AM - YouTube
9 March p.m. (1:38 mins): Manchester Arena Inquiry 9/3/2021 PM - YouTube
10 March a.m. (22:13 mins) Manchester Arena Inquiry 10/3/2021 AM - YouTube
A large number of files and documents were considered relevant to the content of the FBU statement. Those which, on the day, were actually cited or referred to by the counsel for those ‘core participants’ [key interested parties such as the families, North West Fire Control; Greater Manchester Combined Authority (also for GMFRS)] can be found here:
https://manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/evidence/3643/
and
https://manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/evidence/evidence-10-march-2021/
The FBU’s evidence was taken on days 72 and 73 of the Inquiry and formed part of ‘Chapter 10’ of the oral evidence. Chapter 10 concerns ‘the Emergency response’ to the incident. Many members will want to read or watch other evidence provided to the Inquiry. The following links are provided to assist members in doing so:
- The homepage of the MAI is to be found at:
- The structure and timetable of the main proceedings can be found at:
Indicative-Structure-and-Outline-Timetable-1.pdf (manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk)
- The description of the evidence given on each of the days when the Inquiry was sitting; the link to the YouTube pages for the respective day; the link to the transcripts for the respective day; and the documentary evidence referred to on each respective day can be found at:
Hearing/events – Manchester Arena Inquiry
The Manchester Arena Inquiry continues to hear evidence, and the pages on the MAI website will be updated accordingly.
We are sure that the information in this circular and the broader associated information in respect of the MAI itself will be of interest to members.
Best wishes.
Yours in solidarity
Andy Dark
Assistant General Secretary
