(CB): My
Lords, I will continue on the subject of the involvement of GPs
but will look at it slightly more systematically. The Minister
referred to NHS Digital and markers in GP records, but he also
referred to inconsistencies across police forces. As we come to
the review and we look at how data and the system are shared, can
he assure the House that the various police forces,
the Police and Crime
Commissioners and GPs across England and Wales,
which are much more shared systems, are consistent in how they
approach these matters?
(Con): I thank
the noble Baroness for her comments; that will certainly be part
of the approach we will take. Obviously, the tone of this
discussion has to be very gloomy, but there are a number of
things that would suggest that firearms licensing is being
carried out safely in other forces. I will refer to that, because
it is important that we do so. Immediately following the tragic
shootings, the then Home Secretary asked all police forces to
review urgently their licensing practices, and, in particular, to
carry out a full review of all the certificates that had been
seized, refused, revoked or surrendered in the previous 12 months
and subsequently approved by the police. The main points from
that review, which were announced on 1 November 2021, were that,
collectively, a total of 6,434 firearms and shotgun licences had
been surrendered, seized, revoked or refused over the previous
12-month period across England, Wales and Scotland. Of those, a
total of 908 licences had been subsequently returned or issued
following further checks or appeals decided by the courts. As a
result of that review of returned licences, in eight cases the
original decision was overturned, and licences were resurrendered
or revoked. Those findings ought to provide some reassurance that
the police have in place robust processes for issuing and
reviewing firearms and shotgun licences—which is not to say that
we could not do more and perhaps introduce a bit more national
consistency, as discussed.
For context, OPEN HERE
