Cranston Inquiry recommendations accepted in Government interim response

The Government has published its interim response to the recommendations of the Cranston Inquiry, established to investigate the events of 24 November 2021, when at least 30 people died attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat.

The Inquiry’s 15 operational recommendations have all been accepted in full by the Government. The outstanding three recommendations as to policy and legislative change will inform the Government’s response and the Department for Transport will report to Ministers later this year.

The Inquiry would not have taken place without the efforts of the families of the bereaved and the survivor. Several Garden Court barristers were instructed in the Cranston Inquiry on their behalf, including Sonali Naik KC, Nadia O’Mara, Alex Schymyck and Sophie Lucas.

On 5 February 2026, Sir Ross Cranston published The Cranston Inquiry’s Report, which made 18 recommendations. 15 were principally operational, and three focused on policy matters related to legislation, oversight and ownership of rescue vessels. The Inquiry’s recommendations, in line with the inquiry’s terms of reference, are intended to reduce the likelihood of a similar mass casualty incident in the future.

The Government interim response states:
“The Department (DfT), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), and His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG) are committed to ongoing learning and improvement, and will regularly review our processes and practices, learning from best practice, to ensure that they are fit to meet the evolving challenges of maritime search and rescue (SAR). Therefore, the actions set out in this document will continue to be built upon and improved.”

“[The response] focuses on the [Inquiry’s] 15 operational recommendations, which have all been accepted in full, and sets out where action has been taken, or is being taken, against each recommendation. Many of the recommendations, and the responses to them, are based on an ongoing approach, rather than having a single end point.”

Recommendations have been grouped into the following areas:
1. Recommendations specific to small boat crossings.
2. Recommendations relating to the response to mass casualty incidents at sea, not limited to small boat crossings.
3. Recommendations relating to the structure and capability of organisations involved in search and rescue activities.
4. The publication of implementing measures in response to the MAIB’s recommendations following an investigation.

The Government’s interim response has not yet indicated whether the Inquiry’s recommendations of 11 to 13 will be adopted, which relate to UK organisations involved in maritime search and rescue activities:
Recommendation 11: The role and functions of HMCG should be set out in up‑to-date legislation.
Recommendation 12: An independent external body should be given responsibility for the regular assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of HM Coastguard. Consideration should be given to extending the remit of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services as the responsible body to undertake the task.
Recommendation 13: The government should reconsider Mr Downer’s recommendation in his independent review of Border Force that Border Force Maritime should not be providing an ongoing search and rescue function in the English Channel, with the result that HMCG would assume responsibility for the surface assets used for search and rescue.

The Government’s interim response introduction also states: “The Department is conducting a review of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) which will consider its functions, form, governance and performance. It will report to Ministers this year and inform Government’s response to the outstanding recommendations of the Cranston Inquiry.”

We hope that the Government will give them serious and urgent consideration in that process.

Read the statement from Garden Court Chambers on the findings of The Cranston Inquiry here.

Joint Head of Garden Court, Sonali Naik KC, leading a team of juniors (James Robottom, Zoe McCallum, Rosalind Comyn of Matrix) Sarah Dobbie (Doughty Street Chambers) and Sophie Lucas, Nadia O’Mara, Alex Schymyck of Garden Court, acted for the 27 families and the survivor instructed by Maria Thomas, Nicholas Hughes, Manini Mennon, and Toufique Hossain of Duncan Lewis solicitors.