§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been(a) killed and (b) injured by (i) legally owned handguns and (ii) handguns illegally owned or used in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1992; and for how many deaths and injuries it has not been determined whether the handgun used was legally or illegally held. [21838]
§ Mr. Michael[holding answer 19 December 1997]: In the past, information as to whether or not firearms used in offences were held legally has not been collected centrally as a matter of routine in England and Wales. A special exercise was conducted last year to find out whether the guns used in homicide were licensed or not. This covered the years 1992 to 1994, and out of a total of 90 homicides involving the use of a handgun, information was available in 62 cases to show that four were held legally and 58 held illegally by the suspect. The latter figure would, of course, include any handguns used in homicide which had been stolen from a legal owner.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many handguns were illegally taken from(a) firearms dealers, (b) police, (c) the armed forces, (d) members of the public, (e) a common carrier while in transit and (f) firearms clubs, for each year from 1992 to the latest available date and for each police force area; what was the largest number taken at any one time; and what were the descriptions of the firearms taken as recorded by the police. [21839]
§ Mr. Michael[holding answer 19 December 1997]: The information requested is not available centrally in the form requested. The information that is collected and published shows the number of notifiable offences of burglary and theft recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been stolen by type of principal weapon and location. (This is in table 3.12 of Chapter 3, "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—copies of which are in the Library).
From 1996, the basis of the figures was changed to show the number of weapons misappropriated (defined as stolen, obtained by fraud or forgery etc., or handled dishonestly). Such figures by individual police force area could be made available only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many handguns taken from their legal owners in each year since 1992 in each police force area were subsequently recovered by the police; how many in each such area in each year are known to have been used in the commission of armed crime; and562W what percentage these figures represent of total thefts of handguns and of total crime in which handguns are known or believed to be used. [21836]
§ Mr. Michael[holding answer 19 December 1997]: The information requested is not available centrally. However, research published by the Home Office in 1994, based on investigations into 643 offences in which firearms were misappropriated in 1992, showed that about one in six of those stolen was recovered by the police. The limited evidence provided by this study suggested that 9 per cent. of the recovered firearms were known to have been used in crime (although others may have been). Virtually all the guns were licensed. Details are provided in "The theft of firearms", Home Office Research and Planning Unit Paper No. 84, a copy of which is in the Library.
§ Mr. MooreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the timetable for claims under each of the options under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 to be(a) approved and (b) paid out; and what consideration will be given to claims submitted late; [22087]
(2) how many claims for compensation he received under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 under claim options A, B and C in the month the legislation took effect and in each subsequent month until the deadline occurred; how many claims in each category were received late; how many claims for compensation under each of the options have been (a) approved and (b) paid out in each of the months since the Act took effect; and for each figure what percentage of the total this represents. [22086]
§ Mr. MichaelIt has always been recognised that the pressure of claims received over the short hand-in period was bound to involve time in processing, and claimants were advised that they may have to wait several weeks before receiving any payment.
Most claims under Options A and B will have been dealt with before the end of March; regular payments on Option C claims will have begun by then. Some dealers who have claimed under Option C have already received at least one interim payment. Under the terms of the Scheme the deadline for the surrender of handguns to the appropriate police force was 30 September 1997, although claims continue to be received in the Home Office Firearms Compensation Section in respect of items surrendered by that date. These will be considered in the normal way. No claims can be accepted in respect of items surrendered after 30 September 1997.
As at 12 December 1997, 39,896 claims have been received and 23,183 payments made, as follows:
563W
Month Number of claims received Number of payments made Payments as a percentage of claims received July 7,514 351 4.7 August 11,117 2,602 15.9 September 13,387 4,091 22.0 October 6,407 7,646 38.2 November 1,225 5,483 50.9 1–12 December 246 3,010 58.2 Total 39,836 23,183 With the exception of a few interim payments to dealers under Option C, all payments are under Options A and B of the Scheme. The totals include payments under the ex gratia scheme for the surrender of small calibre pistols. Payment is normally made immediately after a claim has been authorised.