THE MAYOR of Greater Manchester has thrown his weight behind a campaign to tighten up security at public events.

It follows the publication of 'Progress Update' detailing the response of public bodies over the terror attack which claimed the lives of 22 at Manchester Arena last year.

Andy Burnham said he would support the principle of “Martyn’s Law” – a campaign started by Figen Murray, mother of Arena victim Martyn Hett, a PR manager from Stockport, which calls for enhanced security checks at large-scale public venues.

Mr Burnham's report - released nearly a year after the horrific attack - notes progress in a number of areas, including clarification of roles within the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and a major transformation plan aiming to secure the organisation for the future.

“We need to have clear minimum and mandatory standards at all venues so there is clarity for operators, and confidence for the public. Figen Murray has rightly highlighted this issue and her call for a change to the law needs to be taken seriously by the government," Mr Burnham said.

“While we are proud of the way Greater Manchester responded, it was right to take an honest look at what happened. I am now confident that, thanks to the Kerslake Report and the follow-on work we have done over the last year, we are even stronger going forward.

“But one gap that does remain is around the wider security considerations at events.

"At present, security arrangements are essentially voluntary and this can lead to confusion and variation.

"I believe there is a clear case for a thorough review of security measures at major sporting and entertainment event venues to establish clearly understood mandatory standards and I call on the government to initiate one."

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Since the incident, GMP have increased the capacity to hire senior officers and its resiliency in case of major incidents.

The North West Ambulance Service was also praised for its reaction, with more stretchers and response vehicles brought in to assist with removing casualties in the event of a similar situation.

In addition, mobile network company Vodafone have made guarantees to the government that the failure of the National Mutual Aid Telephony system, which hampered the timely activation of the casualties on the night of the attack, will not happen in future.

The report also highlights efforts made by the media to improve the reaction in the event of other attacks.

Many of the families involved at the time criticised press and media intrusion into their lives in the days following the attack.

This resulted in a number of recommendations, specifically that the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) review the operation of its code of practice.

Ipso has subsequently committed to relevant training for journalists and compiling guidance for editors and reporters.

Mr Burnham said: “I welcome the steps taken by Ipso and am grateful for their acknowledgement of the issues raised by the Kerslake Report.

"However, I remain unconvinced that they go far enough to prevent a repeat of what happened and would call on them to keep this issue under review.

"As I have said before, there was much responsible reporting, particularly from our regional media, but it is clear that the industry as a whole still has issues to address.”