Firearms: Licensing Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government: Which police forces have now migrated to the National Firearms Licensing Management System, indicating the date on which each force went live and the dates on which the remaining forces are expected to join the system. [HL1791] The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal) The information requested is given in the attached list. --------------------------------- |Force |GoLive Date| --------------------------------- |Lancashire |16/06/2006 | --------------------------------- |Metropolitan Police|16/06/2006 | --------------------------------- |South Yorkshire |14/07/2006 | --------------------------------- |Lincolnshire |04/08/2006 | --------------------------------- |North Wales |11/08/2006 | --------------------------------- |Suffolk |08/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Norfolk |08/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Merseyside |15/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |South Wales |22/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Cheshire |22/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Cleveland |29/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Humberside |29/09/2006 | --------------------------------- |Thames Valley |06/10/2006 | --------------------------------- |Derbyshire |06/10/2006 | --------------------------------- |Northumbria |13/10/2006.| --------------------------------- |Cumbria |20/10/2006 | --------------------------------- |London, City of |17/11/2006 | --------------------------------- |West Yorkshire |17/11/2006 | --------------------------------- |Durham |24/11/2006 | --------------------------------- |Greater Manchester |01/12/2006 | --------------------------------- |Bedfordshire |01/12/2006 | --------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |08/12/2006 | --------------------------------- |Surrey |08/12/2006 | --------------------------------- |Avon and Somerset |15/12/2006 | --------------------------------- |Warwickshire |12/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Northamptonshire |12/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Kent |19/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Gwent |19/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Hampshire |26/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Nottinghamshire |26/01/2007 | --------------------------------- |Sussex |02/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |Dyfed-Powys |09/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |Wiltshire |09/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |West Midlands |16/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |Dorset |16/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |23/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |Devon and Cornwall |23/02/2007 | --------------------------------- |North Yorkshire |02/03/2007 | --------------------------------- |Essex |02/03/2007 | --------------------------------- |Gloucestershire |09/03/2007 | --------------------------------- |Leicestershire |09/03/2007 | --------------------------------- |Staffordshire |16/03/2007 | --------------------------------- |West Mercia |16/03/2007 | --------------------------------- Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government: When they expect to link the National Firearms Licensing Management System to the police national computer. [HL1792] Baroness Scotland of Asthal A data-cleansing exercise is needed before an interface with PNC can be successfully made. This is being carried out on a force by force basis after each has been migrated to NFLMS. Technical and financial assistance is being given. All forces expect to have completed this work by June 2007. Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government: What arrangements are in place to link police forces in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to the National Firearms Licensing Management System. [HL1794] Baroness Scotland of Asthal The current NFLMS implementation programme covers all forces in England and Wales. So far, Scotland has not opted to join NFLMS but has augmented the existing firearms field on its criminal history system to include all the categories of information required by Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997. They are considering how best to facilitate the exchange of information. Northern Ireland has its own separate firearms legislation and is not covered by these provisions. Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government: What are the main operational-use problems which have emerged with the roll-out of the National Firearms Licensing Management System. [HL1795] Baroness Scotland of Asthal Of the 31 forces so far implementing NFLMS, six have reported intermittent slow running of the system. Each of these forces is being assisted in investigating the problem and identifying a permanent solution. At the local level, work is going on in each force after migration to NFLMS to ensure that locally held data are cleansed. Technical and financial assistance is being given for this.