Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of potential levels of (a) financial and (b) carbon savings from (i) estate and (ii) digital budgets through consolidation of disparate legacy IT systems located at (A) fewer, (B) more energy efficient and (C) AI-enabled data centres.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government is looking to understand what Legacy IT systems it currently has, and how to best prioritise and mitigate the risks they carry. By their nature, Legacy IT often underpins complex and critical services that have unique requirements, informing how they need to be treated.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has recently published the AI Opportunities Action Plan and A blueprint for modern digital government. This describes how the Government will work across Government and the wider public sector to ensure digital services - including legacy IT - are delivered efficiently and take advantage of AI.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on the proportion of general practitioners who place medical markers on the medical notes of patients who are firearms certificate holders.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing sets out clearly the different factors that police forces must consider when deciding whether someone is suitable to have a firearms licence. The Statutory Guidance requires that medical information is supplied by the applicant before a firearms licence can be granted by a police force.

The firearms licensing system is supported by the placing of a firearms marker by the GP on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence. As part of the medical arrangements for firearms licensing, GPs are asked to place a marker on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence and guidance is issued by the British Medical Association to support doctors in using the marker. The marker prompts the GP to alert the police if the licence holder begins to suffer from a relevant medical condition.

Since 2023, a digital firearms marker has been available to all GP surgeries in England to use with a person’s medical record and replaces the previous marker. The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to put measures in place to monitor the use of the digital marker to ensure that it is operating as intended.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that firearms certificate holders should have a marker placed on their medical notes.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing sets out clearly the different factors that police forces must consider when deciding whether someone is suitable to have a firearms licence. The Statutory Guidance requires that medical information is supplied by the applicant before a firearms licence can be granted by a police force.

The firearms licensing system is supported by the placing of a firearms marker by the GP on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence. As part of the medical arrangements for firearms licensing, GPs are asked to place a marker on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence and guidance is issued by the British Medical Association to support doctors in using the marker. The marker prompts the GP to alert the police if the licence holder begins to suffer from a relevant medical condition.

Since 2023, a digital firearms marker has been available to all GP surgeries in England to use with a person’s medical record and replaces the previous marker. The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to put measures in place to monitor the use of the digital marker to ensure that it is operating as intended.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason she is not making placing of a marker on the medical notes of firearms certificate holders mandatory for general practitioners.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing sets out clearly the different factors that police forces must consider when deciding whether someone is suitable to have a firearms licence. The Statutory Guidance requires that medical information is supplied by the applicant before a firearms licence can be granted by a police force.

The firearms licensing system is supported by the placing of a firearms marker by the GP on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence. As part of the medical arrangements for firearms licensing, GPs are asked to place a marker on the medical records of those who hold a firearms licence and guidance is issued by the British Medical Association to support doctors in using the marker. The marker prompts the GP to alert the police if the licence holder begins to suffer from a relevant medical condition.

Since 2023, a digital firearms marker has been available to all GP surgeries in England to use with a person’s medical record and replaces the previous marker. The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to put measures in place to monitor the use of the digital marker to ensure that it is operating as intended.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the Home Office Firearms Fees Working Group met in 2022 and 2023; what conclusions it reached on firearms licensing fees; and if she will publish its report.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. This gave effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto. The fees had not been increased since 2015 and they no longer met the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that the fees were increased to provide full-cost recovery so that service improvements can be made.

A review of firearms licensing fees was started in 2022 under the previous Government, and was informed by a Firearms Fees Working Group, chaired by the Home Office and including representation from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the Scottish Government, the Countryside Alliance and national representative shooting organisations.

The Working Group met in person on 7 April 2022 and again on 3 May 2023. There were also communications between Working Group members on the development of the fee proposals in this period in addition to the meetings. As part of the review, data was collected on firearms licensing costs in 31 police forces in January 2023, and this data was discussed by the Working Group. The previous Government reached no final conclusions before the General Election was called.

The new full-cost recovery fees introduced by this Government are based on the 2023 data, updated to reflect increases in costs since then. A full impact assessment, which shows how the data was used to calculate the fees, was published alongside the relevant statutory instrument.

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