HL Deb 03 February 1997 vol 577 c130WA
Lord Marlesford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list those police authorities which keep their firearms and shotgun licensing records on computer and which do not, and what arrangements, if any, exist for direct electronic exchange of information between the databases concerned.

Baroness Blatch

I understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales and the equivalent association for Scotland that all but two of the 51 police forces in Great Britain keep their firearm and shotgun licensing records on computer. No force can exchange this information directly with another by electronic means. We are currently discussing with the Association of Chief Police Officers the development of a computer system, PHOENIX, which would make this possible.