The government has agreed to all 67 recommendations of the Southport Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, in a formal response published today (2 July).
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government “will do whatever is needed to protect the public”
The Southport Inquiry, chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford laid out 67 recommendations in response to the 2024 attack at Hart Street.
The recommendations cover a broad range of areas including taxi hire, emergency service response, venue security, weapons and Prevent.
The government confirmed that it will criminalise planning a mass casualty attack and set up a new Home Office taskforce on ‘non-ideological extreme violence’.
While the government accepted the recommendations, it said that no firm decisions had been made in a number of areas such as ambulance training funding, castor bean regulation and powers for coroners.
Taxi drivers will be subject to a new set of national standards, and schools will be given access to booking information with private hire firms under specific criteria, though the government response warns the recommendation may not be workable in all circumstances.
The government also accepted Chair Sir Adrian Fulford’s assessment that “the role of the perpetrator’s parents” was a key failure.
In response, the government said it would seek to more regularly use the existing mechanism of Parenting Orders, and has asked the Law Commission to review potentially creating a statutory duty for parents to warn or report about a child’s criminality.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We have already taken action to strengthen our response in several areas, including Prevent, online safety and knife crime.
“These are important steps – and they will make a difference. But we know we must go further. That includes facing up to the reality that the perpetrator of this horrendous crime is not unique.
“Across this country, we face a threat from individuals who, while not driven by any clear ideology, are intent on conducting acts of extreme violence. Often, they are influenced by material and communities they encounter in dark corners of the online world.
“We must do more to understand this threat and adapt our response accordingly.
“The Southport Inquiry identified fundamental failings, across many of our public services, in the years leading up to July 2024. These devastating failures led to the senseless killing of three young girls and violent attacks on others.
“My thoughts today are first and foremost with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of that awful day. We owe it to them to right these wrongs.
“For that reason, we have accepted Sir Adrian’s recommendations for central government in full. My department will now drive this work across government, with the urgency it deserves.
“We will do whatever is needed to protect the public.
“Responsibility for what happened in Southport in the summer of 2024 rests with the perpetrator. But there is also an onus on the state to honour the victims, their families and all those affected by working relentlessly to prevent anything like this ever happening again. That is what we will do.”
