The Manchester Arena bombing inquiry is over, but the fight for lasting change isn't

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

It took three years and cost the public purse £32m. The Manchester Arena Inquiry finally came to a close on Wednesday, but instead of back-slapping and congratulations for a job well done, there was palpable frustration and fear that this vast and expensive effort may, in some respects, have been in vain.

That frustration was felt not just by the families who have watched 283 witnesses give live evidence across 201 days of hearings in which the catastrophic failures of our emergency and security services were laid bare.

It was felt by the chairman of inquiry himself, Sir John Saunders who lamented some organisations had been 'somewhat slow' in implementing change. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link Among those organisations is the Department of Health, whose witness prompted exasperation from watching families when she baulked at a demand to regulate healthcare provided at big events like pop concerts and festivals.

Sir John said he believed it 'ought to have been done' already and that a simple deletion of a 37 word exemption in the legislation would allow the Care Quality Commission, which has been lobbying the department for the change since 2019, to regulate the sector.