§ Mr. Fordasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the fact that almost all chief constables publish figures in their annual reports, he will arrange for the total number of firearms and shotgun certificates in existence at 31 December each year to be published in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" at chapter 3, with cumulative tables showing the trends in the legitimate ownership of firearms.
§ Mr. WhitelawFigures on numbers of firearm and shotgun certificates are not collected centrally from police forces on a regular basis. However, as stated in the reply on 4 March to a Question by the hon. Member for Harlow—[Vol. 980, c. 105.]—figures are being obtained for 1979. "Criminal Statistics" would not appear to provide a suitable means of publishing data on the legitimate ownership of firearms.
§ Mr. Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, be- 318W fore deciding on any increase in the level of firearms fees, he will give consideration to increasing the period of validity of firearm and shotgun certificates.
§ Mr. WhitelawAn order increasing the fees charged under the Firearms Act 1968 will be laid shortly after the Easter recess. The increase provided for in that order will, however, be an interim one: the costing system used to determine the level of fees has given rise to criticism and I am arranging for it to be reviewed in detail.
This review will consider, in the light of Government policy on fees and charges, a number of suggestions which have been made to reduce police tasks and thus reduce costs, including extending the period of validity of certificates, and combining firearm and shotgun certificates for those who currently hold separate certificates. The need to maintain the effectiveness of the existing controls on firearms and shotguns will be borne in mind throughout the review.