§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on what date Mr. Winser ACC Cambridge Constabulary chaired the first meeting of the working group into the National Firearms Database set up under the Association of Chief Officers Sub-committee (group) on the administration of firearms licensing; [106416]
(2) if he will place in the Library copies held by his Department of all documents, letters, agendas and minutes provided by the Association of Chief Officers Sub-committee (group) on the administration of firearms licensing since 1996; [106412]
238W(3) if he will place in the Library a copy of the names of the current membership of the Association of Chief Officers Sub-committee (group) on the administration of firearms licensing, giving the names of their forces and the dates on which they took up positions on that committee. [106413]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe arrangements made for appointing members and for managing and publishing the work of the Sub-committee on the Administration of Firearms and Explosives Licensing and any associated working groups are matters for the Association of Chief Police Officers.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place copies in the Library of the reports compiled by the PNC directorate into the resource and financing implications of the National Firearms Database computerisation. [106417]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeA realistic estimate of the resource and finance implications for this database can be compiled only when a detailed impact assessment has been completed. The Police Information Technology Organisation plans to begin work on this assessment in February and to complete it in April. It will be placed in the Library as soon as it is available.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in relation to the implementation of section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997(a) who is responsible for the problem, (b) who are the stakeholders and (c) what are the success criteria; and if he will make a statement. [106419]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAs indicated in the reply I gave to the hon. Gentleman on 18 January 2000,Official Report, column 370W, the Act does not specify the person or organisation which is to provide the central register referred to in section 39. When completed, the register will form part of the PHOENIX database and the principal stakeholders will be the police service and the Police National Computer Directorate. The success criteria will be the establishment of a computer system accessible on-line to all police forces and containing details of all persons who have applied for a firearm or shotgun certificate or to whom a firearm or shotgun certificate has been granted or whose certificate has been renewed. It is not possible at this stage to give a firm date but it is hoped that the system will be up and running by the summer of 2001.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place a copy in the Library of the user requirement of the Central National Firearms Database, indicating the date when it was drafted. [106415]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeA copy of the user requirement was placed in the Library in March 1999 shortly after it was finalised.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the dates of all meetings attended by Mr. Paul Pugh of the Home Office OPPU and his deputies since January 1997 concerning the proposed implementation of the computerisation of the National Firearms Database requirement contained in 239W section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997; and if he will place copies of all such documents produced and discussed in the Library. [106414]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeApart from a presentation which was given by the Police National Computer Directorate at Hendon on 11 February 1997, no staff of the Operational Policing Policy Unit (OPPU) have attended specific meetings to discuss the proposed implementation of the database. The initial work to establish the database was undertaken by a working group set up under the auspices of the Association of Chief Police Officers Sub-Committee on the Administration of Firearms and Explosives Licensing, on which OPPU is not represented. We have no plans to place ephemeral papers considered by the group in the Library, but copies of final documents such as the user requirement and detailed impact assessment have been or will be made available in this way.
§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes involving firearms were committed in each of the past 10 years. [106313]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe information requested was published in an Annexe to the statistical bulletin "Firearm Certificate Statistics, England and Wales 1998" on 26 November 1999. A copy is in the Library.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) software and (b) hardware systems used by the (a) City of London, (b) Cumbria, (c) Dorset, (d) Humberside, (e) Norfolk and (f) West Mercia police forces to hold the register of privately held firearms and persons holding firearms certificates; and if he will place a copy of the functional specification and user guide of each system in the Library. [106768]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAs indicated in my reply of 18 January 2000,Official Report, column 370W, the functional specifications and user guides of systems used by the police to record details of firearm certificate holders are not held centrally.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 January 2000,Official Report, column 370W, on firearms what steps he (a) has taken and (b) is taking to ensure full compliance with section 39 of the Firearms Amendment Act 1997; for what reasons the system is not in full operation; and if it has been piloted. [106772]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeDevelopment of the national firearms database currently features in the Police Information Technology Organisation's business plan for 2000–01. Development could not have begun earlier because the resources available were required for projects of even higher priority. It has not been piloted and the next step is to carry out a detailed impact assessment which should be completed in April. It is not possible to give a firm implementation date at this stage but it is hoped that the system will be in place by the summer of 2001. I propose to monitor the situation carefully.