asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if, further to his reply to question No. 198 of 10 March to the hon. Member for Londonderry, he will state, for each of the seven headings given, the proportion of costs taken into acount and the sums involved in the total and for each individual heading.
[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1980]: For the year 1980–81 the estimated costs taken into account in fixing fees for the issue and renewal of firearm certificates are as follows:
| 1. RUC Headquarters Salaries and wages | |
| (a) RUC personnel | 38,700 |
| (b) Civilian staff | 73,000 |
| 2. Police authority staff | 2,600 |
| 3. Supervision | 11,400 |
| 4. RUC overtime and allowances | 16,500 |
| 5. Superannuation | 22,900 |
| 6. Accommodation and allied services | 17,100 |
| 7. RUC divisional and station level costs | 167,600 |
asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will indicate the legislative base for seeking to ensure that the cost of the licensing of firearms should be covered by licence fees.
[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1980]: Section 47 of the Firearms Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 permits the Secretary of State to make orders for the variation of fees for the grant, renewal or variation of firearms certificates. In making such orders the Secretary of State has regard to the principle laid down in section 5 of the Public Expenditure and Receipts Act 1968 that fees payable should correspond to the cost of the matters for which they are payable.