§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his target is for police forces to deal with applications for(a) new and for (b) variations of firearms certificates; and what the average time taken by each police force is. [53466]
§ Mr. Keith Bradley[holding answer 30 April 2002]: No central target is set by the Home Office. It is for each police force to establish its own targets for dealing with applications for new firearms certificates and for variations to existing ones. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1999 all forces are required to carry out a five year rolling programme of best value reviews of all areas of business, including firearms licensing.
The average times taken for each force to undertake these functions are not centrally recorded, but we understand that most forces would aim to deal with the majority of currently completed applications within four to eight weeks.