§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Mr. Desmond Tallent of Hurlingham Road, Stafford will receive the balance of his compensation for the handguns he surrendered last year. [38413]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Firearms Compensation Section is at present concentrating its efforts on clearing the remaining claims received under Options A and B of the compensation scheme, and this work is expected to be completed by about the end of May. The balance of the compensation due to Mr. Tallent under Option C of the scheme should be paid soon after that.
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list for the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by month, the numbers of unlicensed firearms entering the United Kingdom, excluding the Province of Northern Ireland; [39038]
(2) how many unlicensed firearms he estimates are in current circulation in the United Kingdom, excluding the Province of Northern Ireland. [39037]
§ Mr. MichaelThere is no reliable estimate of the number of illegal firearms in circulation, or of those entering the United Kingdom and escaping detection.
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases to date have been brought against Her Majesty's Government in respect of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, in(a) the European Court of Justice and (b) the European Court of Human Rights. [39036]
§ Mr. MichaelAlthough the Government have had no formal notification of any case arising from the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, lodged either with the European Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights, we have had sight of two applications to the latter Court.