Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the finings of Maxine Davison, Lee Martyn, Sophie Martyn, Stephen Washington and Kate Shepherd: Prevention of future deaths report, issued by Senior Coroner Ian Arrow, what steps she has taken to help ensure accredited training for Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit staff.

This recommendation was made as part of the Prevention of Future Deaths report issued by the Senior Coroner in Plymouth on 8 March, following the Inquest into the tragic shootings in Keyham on 12 August 2021, to the College of Policing (CoP), the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Home Office.

The CoP are responsible for the development of training, and we are supportive of the work that they are currently undertaking to develop new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and a package of accredited training for police firearms licensing staff.

I hope to make an announcement, as part of a future statement to the House, when I set out how the Government intends to proceed with the recommendations made by the Senior Coroner at the Inquest, together with the other recommendations made in recent reports by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in relation to Keyham, and the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in respect of their inquiry following the fatal shooting that occurred on the Isle of Skye on 10 August 2022.