§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the current status is of the Firearms Consultative Committee; how many times it has met during the last two years; and what plans he has regarding future meetings of the committee. [28983]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Firearms Consultative Committee (FCC) is a statutory body which was set up for an initial period of five years under section 22 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988. Its existence was last extended to the Firearms Consultative Committee Order 1996 made under that Act. It is due to expire on 1 February 2000 unless a further order is made. Its composition and purpose remains as set out in section 22 of the 1988 Act.
The Firearms Consultative Committee held nine meetings in 1996 and four meetings in 1997. It has met once to date in 1998.
The Government have made it clear that they intend to look again at firearms controls once all handguns have been banned to see whether other measures are needed to 215W safeguard the public. As part of this process we shall consider any views from the FCC and will also look carefully at the role and composition of the FCC itself.