APPENDIX 3
Supplementary note by the Association
of Chief Police Officers
LETTER TO THE CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE
I am now able to provide the additional information
required by the Home Affairs Committee with regard to the current
position concerning the implementation of a National Firearms
Database.
The fact that there has been little progress
in establishing a central register can be attributed initially
to the lack of Police National Computer (PNC) development resources
to take forward this work in parallel with other Ministerial and
ACPO priorities. However, there was also a need for an agreed
police user requirement to be specified which took a while to
complete. An outline police user requirement was agreed earlier
this year and a copy is attached[10]
for the Committee's information.
As a next step, it will be necessary to carry
out a detailed impact assessment of the work needing to be undertaken
(at PNC and in forces) to link PNC to existing firearms systems
in forces. We expect to begin the work in February and complete
this first stage in April. (This was advised on 10 November in
a written answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton to a Parliamentary
Question from Lord Marlesford).
In advance of the impact assessment being completed
it is, of course, not possible to give an accurate indication
of when the system would be in live operation. An initial estimate
suggests though that if development could begin in April 2000,
it might be completed around April 2001 (at a likely cost of perhaps
£500,000). This would point to live operation about Summer
2001, allowing for implementation and training across forces.
I trust the Committee will find this information,
together with the attached, useful when considering the advantages
and issues surrounding a National Database.
James Hart QPM BSc PhD FMgt
Assistant Commissioner
City of London Police
23 December 1999
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