I can confirm that the data provided in the answers of 24 June 2009, Official Report, column 886W and 15 October 2009, Official Report, column 1054W, referred to offences involving firearms excluding air weapons, despite the table headings indicating otherwise due to a typographical error. Available data relate to offences recorded in the period 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08, and are reproduced in the following table.
Provisional data show that 8,184 firearm offences (excluding air weapons) were recorded in England and Wales in 2008-09. Data at police force area level are scheduled to be published in the January 2010 Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2008/09”, an internet-only release that will be available at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.html
Data on offences involving firearms including air weapons for the period 1998-99 to 2007-08 were provided in the answer of 21 April 2009, Official Report, column 593W.
Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used as a threat.
The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Firearm offences data for the years up to and including 2001-02 are not directly comparable with those for later years.
Recorded crime Police force area 1998-992 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-023 2002-034 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 North East Region Cleveland 20 26 16 24 18 45 37 41 19 15 Durham 13 40 18 19 16 15 21 18 14 45 Northumbria 76 107 99 86 103 169 182 137 111 78 North West Region Cheshire 32 22 44 50 31 44 61 71 41 59 Cumbria 11 5 13 9 13 11 26 18 21 18 Greater Manchester 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 1,268 1,200 993 1,160 Lancashire 50 78 59 103 66 58 259 372 364 349 Merseyside 286 240 278 299 318 483 491 485 410 398 Yorkshire and the Humber Region Humberside 76 61 69 63 68 68 174 108 117 58 North Yorkshire 11 8 9 28 18 23 13 15 14 17 South Yorkshire 75 114 129 170 153 127 185 301 211 202 West Yorkshire 193 191 335 332 333 269 318 355 319 332 East Midlands Region Derbyshire 52 65 72 58 73 75 149 109 83 70 Leicestershire 98 71 58 74 174 141 123 89 109 134 Lincolnshire 16 19 24 22 37 26 90 72 45 41 Northamptonshire 54 48 40 55 107 123 113 128 159 164 Nottinghamshire 112 173 157 204 264 233 303 277 196 240 West Midlands Region Staffordshire 23 53 108 116 131 108 144 128 94 123 Warwickshire 20 14 39 53 62 102 73 80 90 107 West Mercia 38 36 41 54 48 62 151 115 58 124 West Midlands 407 664 817 1,288 1,101 1,138 959 946 979 974 East of England Region Bedfordshire 46 56 48 82 86 89 94 103 86 83 Cambridgeshire 35 43 31 49 57 34 50 34 24 30 Essex 47 61 77 98 148 145 193 280 255 260 Hertfordshire 30 36 36 69 139 138 139 114 89 112 Norfolk 34 24 20 26 36 33 23 29 34 43 Suffolk 15 18 22 15 28 45 59 58 42 38 London Region5 2,034 2,945 3,036 4,199 4,202 3,891 3,697 3,884 3,331 3,399 South East Region Hampshire 38 52 49 58 97 130 148 85 122 100 Kent 76 109 108 60 64 65 100 142 92 82 Surrey 35 42 52 40 34 88 63 87 60 70 Sussex 115 119 110 155 136 82 67 85 84 69 Thames Valley 96 107 198 267 362 421 437 401 332 322 South West Region Avon and Somerset 71 103 100 131 119 123 196 167 138 116 Devon and Cornwall 75 81 64 52 36 84 189 174 132 111 Dorset 11 12 14 34 17 45 49 27 28 21 Gloucestershire 22 21 23 89 92 108 87 77 65 43 Wiltshire 19 10 13 26 60 53 49 43 69 49 Wales Dyfed-Powys 16 13 26 26 17 37 40 21 17 25 Gwent 26 19 11 18 52 74 85 53 33 47 North Wales 27 10 6 6 18 11 60 88 98 53 South Wales 31 52 67 56 74 47 104 71 67 84 England and Wales 5,209 6,843 7,471 10,024 10,248 10,338 11,069 11,088 9,645 9,865 England and Wales (excluding London Region) 3,175 3,898 4,435 5,825 6,046 6,447 7,372 7,204 6,314 6,466 1 Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. 2 There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. 3 Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. 4 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable. 5 City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.