HC Deb 14 April 1983 vol 40 cc434-5W
Mr. Dobson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South on 31 March, Official Report, c. 277–78, when he expects to be able to issue reliable figures on gun issues within the Metropolitan police;

(2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South on 31 March, Official Report, c. 277–78, if he will give an explanation for the reduction of 233 in the figure for occasions when guns were issued in E district and the increase of 147 for X district;

(3) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South on 31 March, Official Report, c. 277–78, if he will make a statement on the measures taken by him to ensure that comparable criteria for the issue of firearms are applied in each district of the Metropolitan police;

(4) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South on 31 March, Official Report, c. 277–78, whether he is satisfied that no district of the Metropolitan police issues firearms when it neither knows nor has reason to believe it is up against people who are armed.

Mr. Mayhew

The results of the joint study being carried out by Home Office officials and police, to which I referred in my reply to the hon. Member on 31 March —[Vol. 40, c.277]—will be reflected in the returns for future years. Figures for 1982 are not reliable because they are based on information collected during the course of that year which cannot be changed in retrospect and which reflect variations in the interpretation of what should and should not be recorded. For this reason, any further analysis of these figures would be nugatory. The guidelines for the police on the issue and use of firearms to which my right hon. Friend referred in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, West (Mr. Backburn) on 31 March set out comparable criteria for the issue of firearms both within the Metropolitan police and for other forces in England and Wales. We have no reason to believe that any district of the Metropolitan police issues firearms except where there is reason to suppose that a police officer may have to face a person who is armed or otherwise so dangerous that he could not safely be restrained without the use of firearms; for protection purposes; or for the destruction of animals.