§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress is being made with the establishment of a central register, as required under Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1977, which came into force on 1 October 1997, of persons who have applied for a shot gun or firearm certificate or to whom a firearm or shot gun certificate has been granted; and whether they still expect this database to be operational in February 2002, as indicated in the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 23 April. [HL450]
7WA
§ Lord RookerI understand that work has begun on the project, which will create a central register on the police national computer of firearms certificate Holders, drawn from the register already held by local police force systems.
This development work will continue, but I regret to say that it will not be possible for the register to be implemented on the live operational PNC system until an upgrade of PNC software has been completed. This upgrade is essential for the continued daily operation of PNC, which might otherwise be prejudiced, and should be completed in March 2002 and advised that the firearms certificate holders register will go live as soon as possible after that; timing is dependent on rework necessary to ensure existing applications run on the upgraded software. I am asking the PITO board for a full report on this unwelcome slippage and will write to the noble Lord when this has been received.