Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of guns in England and Wales; and how many of those guns are lawfully owned.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office publishes statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates issued by police forces in England and Wales under the Firearms Act 1968. This provides a useful account of the number of firearms that are lawfully owned. The latest figures on the number of firearm and shotguns on issue are available from tables 1 and 3 of the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2017/18’ publication.
Data as at 31 March 2019, will be reported in the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2018/19’ publication. This has been pre-announced on gov.uk to be released in June/July 2019.
In relation to illegal firearms, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and wider law enforcement regularly assess the volume of illegal firearms used in crime in the UK. NABIS produce quarterly reports on the threat, but their assessment is continuous and key information is shared amongst law enforcement on a real time basis. This information is operationally sensitive and not published.
Annual statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates granted, renewed and revoked by police forces in Scotland are published by the Scottish Government. The figures are considered to be broadly comparable with those for England and Wales, due to the common legislation that governs the certification process.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland lists its statistical outputs on the Statistics page of its website, but there are no series that are directly compara-ble to those for England and Wales.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of guns in the UK; and how many of those guns are lawfully owned.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office publishes statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates issued by police forces in England and Wales under the Firearms Act 1968. This provides a useful account of the number of firearms that are lawfully owned. The latest figures on the number of firearm and shotguns on issue are available from tables 1 and 3 of the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2017/18’ publication.
Data as at 31 March 2019, will be reported in the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2018/19’ publication. This has been pre-announced on gov.uk to be released in June/July 2019.
In relation to illegal firearms, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and wider law enforcement regularly assess the volume of illegal firearms used in crime in the UK. NABIS produce quarterly reports on the threat, but their assessment is continuous and key information is shared amongst law enforcement on a real time basis. This information is operationally sensitive and not published.
Annual statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates granted, renewed and revoked by police forces in Scotland are published by the Scottish Government. The figures are considered to be broadly comparable with those for England and Wales, due to the common legislation that governs the certification process.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland lists its statistical outputs on the Statistics page of its website, but there are no series that are directly compara-ble to those for England and Wales.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has been made of trends in the level of dog theft.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government has not specifically assessed trends in the level of dog thefts. The Home Office holds information on notifiable offences recorded by the police including theft offences, but it is not possible to tell from this information how many dogs or pets in general were stolen.
The Government recognises that these are distressing crimes for pet owners and they must be reported to the police so that they can be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU nationals who have left the UK with NHS debts of more than £500 outstanding for two months have been refused permission to re-enter the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
This information is not held centrally. The Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR), which provides a quarterly summary of long-term international migration statistics, includes data relating to general refusals at the UK border. However, this data does not capture details relating to NHS debtor refusals specifically.