Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last reviewed the adequacy of the firearms unit provision made available to police forces in the UK.

The Home Office does not hold information on response times by firearms units. Decisions on firearms unit provision is a matter for individual Chief Officers. Chief Officers will assess the threat, risk and geography in their force area
to ensure that they have sufficient armed capability to respond effectively.

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, to be absolutely sure that we have the right number of officers, with the rights skills and equipment, in the right places, we are working with police to review the arrangements for responding to terrorist firearms attacks.

Statistics on police use of firearms in England and Wales are published on an annual basis by the Home Office. The most recent publication was on 27 March 2014. The statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-firearms-statistics