Manchester Arena Public Inquiry - Second report published

The legal team at Hogan Lovells, who represent a number of the families, commented: "Today we welcome the publication of Volume Two of the Chair's report in the Manchester Arena Public Inquiry. We appreciate the care taken by the Chair in assessing and evaluating what went wrong with the emergency response on the night and, importantly, determining why it went wrong.

It is clear that a fundamental lack of coordination and communication between the police, ambulance and fire services across different levels of seniority significantly contributed to the failings on the night. Whilst the mistakes of specific individuals are also highlighted throughout the report, such fundamental errors at an institutional level should not have occurred. This is even more alarming in circumstances where some of these shortcomings were known about before 22 May 2017.

Additionally, we are pleased that the Chair has accepted our submission and recommended that the Government establish a statutory duty on venues to provide an appropriate standard of medical and first aid to attendees. This must be considered as a matter of urgency.

Our specialist Safety practice will continue to work with the Inquiry Legal Team to ensure that the monitored recommendations are implemented and we hope these changes will reduce the likelihood of similar attacks in the future."

Hogan Lovells is representing:

The parents of Chloe Rutherford (17) and the mother of Liam Curry (19).

The mother of Courtney Boyle (19).

The daughters of Jane Tweddle (51).

The husband of Michelle Kiss (45).

The father and step-mother of Olivia Campbell-Hardy (15).

The Hogan Lovells core team working on this significant and important matter includes Scott Baxter, senior associate, Haylea Campbell, associate, Helen Boniface, counsel, and Victor Fornasier, partner.