§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What sums have been set aside during the current and next financial year respectively to meet their obligations under Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 to establish a central register of persons who have applied for a firearm or shotgun certificate or to whom a firearm or shotgun certificate has been granted, which obligation came into force on 1 October 1997; and whether they will estimate the cost of complying with this statutory obligation. [HL770]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe intention is to establish this register as part of the Police/Home Office Extended Names Index (PHOENIX). The full cost of establishing the register cannot be determined until the detailed police user requirement has been finalised, but is expected to be in the region of £300,000'£500,000. No dedicated sum has been set aside for this project. Once finalised, the user requirement will be submitted to the Association of Chief Police Officers Police National Computer Steering Committee and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) to assess the operational priority of the database. That will enable PITO to determine how the costs of the project should be met from within the overall resources available to them.
§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What facilities exist for the authorities to establish whether a person suspected of, arrested for or convicted of a criminal offence has been granted a firearm or shotgun certificate by a police force which is not that of the area in which the suspect, accused or criminal is currently residing. [HL771]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThere is currently no central facility in England and Wales for this purpose but it is open to the police to make enquiries of any force in whose area the person is known to have previously lived. A suitable computer module is being developed as part of the Police/Home Office Extended Names Index which will ensure that information about firearms and shotgun certificate holders is available on-line to all police forces. In Scotland the Scottish Criminal Records Office database already holds a marker for all firearms and shotgun certificate holders which shows in which force area the certificate was issued.