§ Mr. FaberTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Lord Cullen's recommendation that the Government consult on the role which police surgeons might play in advising chief officers of police on applications for firearms certificates. [15564]
§ Mr. HowardIn their response to Lord Cullen's inquiry—Cm 3392—the Government accepted Lord Cullen's recommendation that interested bodies should be consulted on this issue. I have duly consulted the Association of Chief Police Officers, the British Medical Association and the British Shooting Sports Council, but there has been no support for it from any of these parties. All saw practical or ethical difficulties with the idea. The Association of Police Surgeons has since withdrawn this proposal in view of lack of support for it in other parts of the medical profession.
I am grateful to the Association of Police Surgeons for its constructive efforts in seeking a way of resolving these difficult questions, but I have concluded that this is not a proposal which can be taken further.