§ Mr. Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in each of the past five calendar years how many cases of criminal offences involving (a) firearms and (b) knives were recorded.
§ Mr. Mellor:The available information on firearms relates to notifiable offences recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been used and is given in tables 3.1 and 3.2 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1983", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The available information on knives relates only to offences currently recorded as homicide in which sharp instruments were used, which is published in table 4.3 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1983".