Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May to Question 183038,on Offensive Weapons, if she will publish the management information maintained by the National Crime Agency for the (a) number and (b) type of firearms seized by (i) police forces and (ii) the Agency in the last four years for which figures are available.

Information provided by the National Crime Agency for seizures of firearms in the last four years is as follows:

2019/20 - 246

2020/21 - 464

2021/22 - 145

2022/23 - 133

NCA is limited in its ability to provide a more comprehensive picture of the numbers and type of firearms seized by police forces and the NCA, as at present there is no single system or agency with complete oversight of national firearms seizure related to crime.

The current implementation by police forces and the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) of the Agency and Partner Management Information System (APMIS), will improve the recording of the entire law enforcement system’s activity against Serious and Organised Crime, including data on firearms seized.