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Firearms
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legally registered firearms have been (a) reported stolen, (b) found to be missing and (c) otherwise separated from (i) private and (ii) public owners in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage that represents of the total number of legally held weapons. [81134]
Mr. Boateng: The information is not available in the form requested. However, figures for the misappropriation of firearms are published annually in Chapter 3 of "Criminal Statistics: England and Wales", copies of which are in the Library.
| Misappropriation of firearms | |
|---|---|
| 1988 | 1,875 |
| 1989 | 1,821 |
| 1990 | 2,089 |
| 1991 | 2,500 |
| 1992 | 2,750 |
| 1993 | 3,190 |
| 1994 | 2,830 |
| 1995 | 3,915 |
| 1996 | 3,679 |
| 1997 | 2,912 |
Prior to 1995, only estimates of the number of firearms and shotguns held on certificate were recorded centrally. Although details of actual numbers were subsequently recorded, comparing the figures for misappropriated firearms for the last three years against the total number of firearms held on certificate in those years does not provide a reliable estimate of the proportion of lawfully owned firearms that are misappropriated every year. The former figures include firearms that need not be held on certificate (eg air weapons, starting guns and imitation firearms) whilst the latter figures do not cover all lawfully owned firearms (eg they do not cover firearms held by registered dealers, those held by the Crown or those that do not require a certificate). Subject to those significant caveats, the figures given in the table provide a very rough estimate of the proportion of lawfully owned firearms in England and Wales which have been misappropriated since 1995.
21 Apr 1999 : Column: 585
| Number of firearms on certificate | Number of firearms misappropriated | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,739,400 | 3,915 | 0.225 |
| 1996 | 1,753,300 | 3,679 | 0.210 |
| 1997 | 1,648,900 | 2,912 | 0.177 |
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the types of (i) public and (ii) private institution falling within his area of responsibility in which individuals aged under 18 years may be trained in the use of firearms; and if he will estimate the numbers of individuals receiving such training in each type of institution in each of the last five years. [81135]
Mr. Straw: There are currently a total of 113 target shooting clubs at schools in England and Wales which have been approved by the Home Office under the terms of section 15 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988. All approved clubs are expected to have at least ten members but no record is kept centrally of the number of members at any one time. Nor is any record kept by the Department as to which of these are state and which are private schools.
The Home Office is also responsible for the approval of target shooting clubs other than those based at schools. There are 1,314 clubs approved in England and Wales many of which will have younger members under the age of 18.
Prior to the passage of the Armed Forces Act 1996, the Home Office was responsible for the approval of cadet corps based at schools, colleges and universities. In 1996, there were 600 such corps, of which approximately half were based at schools and likely therefore to have members under 18. The number of individual cadet members at that time is not recorded.
It is not possible on the basis of the information kept to provide an estimate as requested of how many young people have been trained in the use of firearms over the last five years.
Mr. Walter:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the level of the charge to the Scout Association for use of the Criminal Records Bureau for the purpose of vetting volunteers; and what plans he has to review those charges. [81623]
Mr. Boateng:
I have not made an estimate of any additional costs which might accrue to the Scout movement as a result of checks which may be carried out with the Criminal Records Bureau. I understand that the Scout Association has estimated that additional costs of £750,000 per year will accrue to it, but I have no knowledge of the basis on which it has reached this estimate.
21 Apr 1999 : Column: 586
Mr. Truswell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what environmental appraisals of policy his Department has (a) completed, (b) started and (c) planned. [79624]
Ms Hewitt:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale), on 13 April 1999, Official Report, column 66.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which officials in his Department had discussions with representatives of GJW, and on how many occasions and on what dates concerning the wish by Cape plc to amend the Access to Justice Bill [Lords] to ban foreign workers of British companies obtaining legal aid; and whether the statement of the Head of legal aid spending in his Department that the implication of such a multiple claim by foreign nationals on the public purse would be a matter of serious concern was made with the knowledge of Ministers. [78746]
Mrs. Roche
[holding answer 31 March 1999]: There have been no such discussions, and no such statement was made.
Mr. Whittingdale:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of reducing the level of duty on road fuel gas to (a) eight pence per kilogram and (b) zero. [80016]
Ms Hewitt:
Although the revenue from duty on road fuel gas is currently small, cutting the duty rate to either (a) 8p per kilogram, consistent with the EU minimum rate, or (b) zero would result in switching from other road fuels, which could have a significant revenue cost. Because the extent of such switching is uncertain, it is not possible to provide a precise estimate.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of National Insurance numbers are found on routine inspection to be bogus. [81036]
Dawn Primarolo:
It is not known what proportion of National Insurance Numbers (NINOs) are found to be bogus on routine inspection.
The DSS has identified 5,312 NINOs which have been flagged on the Departmental Central index and can no longer be used.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on developing methods of cross-checking records within the National Insurance Recording System. [81091]
21 Apr 1999 : Column: 587
Dawn Primarolo:
A person to person link to cross-reference husband and wife is a feature of NIRS2.
Data matching exercises have been used to cross check the validity of National Insurance numbers on NIRs.
A number of pilot exercises have been constructed to cross check details of NI accounts on NIRS. Each of these exercises has contributed to the intelligence needed to establish rules for identifying anomalous NI accounts.
The Benefits Agency presently matches the information on forms P46 completed when an individual starts work. This information is matched against the various DSS benefit systems to identify potential incorrectness.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount spent and to be spent in (a) 1998-99 and (b) 1999-2000 on advertising individual savings account by (i) the National Savings bank, (ii) the Inland Revenue and (iii) other Government Departments and agencies. [80867]
Ms Hewitt:
The amounts requested are as follows. The Inland Revenue figures relate to a general awareness campaign for ISAs which was conducted in March and April 1999. National Savings figures relate to the launch of a National Savings ISA product. No Government Department or agency other than the Inland Revenue and National Savings is involved in promoting ISAs.
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 (10) | |
| Inland Revenue(8) | 993,422.64 | nil |
| National Savings(9) | 1,445,640 | 3,052,000 |
(8) Includes agency fees, production and research costs and the cost of purchasing space in newspapers.
(9) Includes space, airtime, printing and postage costs only. ISA advertising forms part of a larger National Savings rebranding campaign and it is not possible to isolate agency fees and production costs for the ISA component of the campaign with any precision.
(10) Estimated.
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