[holding answer 9 February 2007]: The Home Office works with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on a range of issues, including the importing of illegal firearms. HMRC are represented on the Home Secretary's Round Table on Guns, Knives and Gangs, which met most recently on 7 February. A further meeting will be held shortly. HMRC and the Home Office are also represented on the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Criminal Use of Firearms group which is taking forward a wide ranging action plan which focuses on enforcement, intelligence and prevention issues, including the supply of prohibited firearms.
A Joint Firearms Intelligence Cell (JFIC) has recently been established between ACPO, HMRC, Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND), and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The JFIC is working on an action plan on the illegal supply and distribution of firearms within the UK.
In addition, the ACPO CUF Secretariat represents the UK at the European Firearms Experts Working Group. A priority for that working group is the illegal distribution and supply of firearms from a European perspective.
The chair of the ACPO CUF (chief constable Keith Bristow, Warwickshire) currently chairs the G8 Law Enforcement Projects Sub Group (LEPSG). This group seeks to improve co-ordination and co-operation between the law enforcement agencies of G8 countries.