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Firearms

Mr. Gallie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many handgun licences are currently registered in England and Wales; [4348]

Miss Widdecombe: Information on the number of handgun licences, as distinct from all firearms certificates, is not routinely collected in England and Wales.

However, a special exercise recently conducted showed that at the beginning of 1996 approximately 54,280 firearm certificates current in England and Wales allowed the holder to possess a handgun.

Mr. Gallie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many offences involving the discharge of a firearm took place in each year since 1966 in England and Wales; [4355]

Miss Widdecombe: Detailed statistics on offences involving firearms have been published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales". However, the level of detail and the coverage have varied over the years. The following table gives the available information:

Offences involving firearms, England and Wales, 1967-1995

Number of offences in which firearms were used Number of offences in which firearms were carried but not presented or usedNumber of offences in which firearms were fined
196779271n/a
196887883n/a
19691,308109n/a
19701,358104n/a
19711,734127n/a
19722,07085n/a
19732,466101n/a
19742,828116n/a
19753,850149n/a
19764,632223n/a
19775,302186n/a
19785,672232n/a
19796,547270n/a
19806,587185n/a
19818,067315n/a
19828,400221n/a
19837,961218n/a
19848,376207n/a
19859,7421256,908
19869,3681776,443
19879,0022085,793
19888,5242595,338
19899,5023635,551
199010,3733325,771
199112,1292615,984
199213,3052556,687
199313,9512907,012
199412,9771867,642
199513,104n/a7,986

25 Nov 1996 : Column: 5

Mr. Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legally held firearms are known to have been used in the commission or furtherance of criminal acts in each of the last 10 years to March 1996. [4380]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 18 November 1996]: Information as to whether firearms used in offences are legally held has not, in the past, been routinely collected centrally in England and Wales.

A special exercise has recently been conducted to find out whether the guns used in homicide were licensed or not.

This covered the years 1992 to 1994, and out of a total of 196 homicides, information was available in 152 cases to show that 22 cases or 14 per cent. involved the use of a firearm legally held by the suspect.

Al Fayed Brothers

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Government have spent on (a) legal assistance and (b) other costs arising from the applications by Mohamed and Ali Al Fayed for British citizenship. [4824]

Mr. Kirkhope: Up to 28 October 1996, the Home Office's legal costs were £53,915.41. Details of internal Home Office administrative and other costs are not available as they have not been recorded separately.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what considerations led him to indicate his intention of lodging an appeal in the House of Lords against the decision in the Appeal Court on the citizenship applications of Mohammed and Ali Al Fayed. [4823]

25 Nov 1996 : Column: 6

Mr. Kirkhope: I decided to appeal to the House of Lords because the case raises an important point of law concerning the operation of the British Nationality Act 1981 which needs to be settled.

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an estimate of the costs of both parties payable by the Home Office following the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in R. v. the Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Al Fayed. [5270]

Mr. Kirkhope: Up to 28 October 1996, the Home Office's legal costs were £53,915.41. I have no means of estimating what the costs of the appellants might be.

Thorn Cross

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the prison officer to inmate ratio and the cost per inmate place at Thorn Cross. [4299]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 25 November 1996:


Doncaster Prison

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reoffenders have been discharged from HMP Doncaster since it was opened in 1994; what percentage this is of all reoffenders; and what is the breakdown of the figures by category of crime. [5180]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 25 November 1996:


25 Nov 1996 : Column: 7

Asylum Seekers (Zaire)

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given in recent weeks to declaring Zaire a country in which there has been a fundamental change in circumstances under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. [5289]

Mr. Kirkhope: My right hon. and learned Friend has no present plans to declare that Zaire has undergone a major upheaval such that we would not seek to return people there for the time being. Most of Zaire is unaffected by the conflict in the east of the country.

Fire Safety

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of Her Majesty's inspectorate of the fire service in respect of the development of fire-related European standards and methods for building products; how many offices are at present involved in this test work; and at what level. [5579]

Mr. Sackville: The role of Her Majesty's fire service inspectorate in respect of the development of fire-related European standards and test methods for building products is to provide technical advice to the fire safety unit of the fire and emergency planning directorate of the Home office. In addition, some inspectors make technical representation on behalf of the Department at relevant European standards meetings.

Currently, there are three grade 2 inspectors and one assistant inspector, grade 1, who attend appropriate European standards committees on behalf of the Department.

The fire service inspectorate also liaises with other Government Department representatives in relation to European technical committees dealing with fire matters which fall outside the policy responsibility of the FEPD.

Prisons (Costs)

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the annual cost of keeping a prisoner in each type of English and Welsh prison. [5154]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 25 November 1996:


25 Nov 1996 : Column: 8


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