Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Thank you for your email received today in which you make a request for information that Northumbria Police may hold in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We are in the process of dealing with your request and a response should be provided to you by 11/02/2020 which is in accordance with the legislation.

Yours sincerely

Information Management Unit

www.northumbria.police.uk | www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect the communities we serve.'

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Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

Thank you for your email dated 13 January 2020 in which you made a request
for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria Police.

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of
access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority
(including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

You asked:

1.     What policies, provisions, legislation and procedures are used by
your force for guidance and adherence when deciding to approve an
application for any form of Firearms License, including where minors will
gain access to Firearms?

2.     When deciding to approve an application for any form of Firearms
License, is there a legislative, procedural or policy requirement that the
applicant's employment must require use of a Firearm in order to obtain a
license or are licenses available to all meeting the stipulations of
Firearms legislation regardless of the purpose to which they would put a
Firearm, e.g. sport shooting?

3.     When persons are convicted of crimes of violence such as assault or
unlawful killing of wildlife or any animal, what cross-checks/policies,
provisions, legislation and procedures does your force have in place for
guidance and adherence when deciding to withdraw any form of Firearms
License issued to said person(s)?

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I
provide a response for your attention.

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted within the
Operations Department of Northumbria Police.  I can confirm that the
information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.

I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows.

1.     The Firearms Acts and Rules 1968 to 1998.  The Guide on Firearms
Licensing Law April 2016. The Firearms Security Handbook 2019.

2.     Good reason to possess is assessed as per the Guide on Firearms
Licensing Law.

3.     Once granted we continually review/assess all certificate holders
to ensure that they continue to be a suitable person to possess firearms
without danger to public safety or the peace.  We use markers on local
systems and national systems which flag up if a certificate holder/their
address has come to the adverse attention of the police or if there is
anything of note that could raise concerns about their suitability.  All
relevant information is collated and then assessed by the Firearms
Licensing Manager who has the delegated authority to exercise all
functions of the Chief Officer of Police under the Firearms Act 1968.
       

The Northumbria Police website also holds firearm licensing information. 
A simple search for ‘Firearms’ will bring back relevant returns.

Due to the different methods of recording information across 43 forces, a
specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an
indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by another.
Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the
procedures used locally in capturing the data. For this reason responses
between forces may differ, and should not be used for comparative
purposes.

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual
property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.

You may be interested to know that Northumbria Police routinely publish
information via the Disclosure Log. The aim of the Disclosure Log is to
promote openness and transparency by voluntarily placing information into
the public arena.

The Disclosure Log contains copies of some of the information that has
been disclosed by Northumbria Police in response to requests made under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Whilst it is not possible to publish all responses we will endeavour to
publish those where we feel that the information disclosed is in the wider
public interest.

The Disclosure Log will be updated once responses have been sent to the
requester.

I have provided the relevant link below.

[1]https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...

How to complain

If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have
handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue
informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our
complaints procedure, attached.

If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and
reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information
Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain
whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.

Yours sincerely

Michael Cleugh

Data Protection and Disclosure Advisor

[NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED]

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality
Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect
the communities we serve.'

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information
contained in this message and any attachment(s) is confidential and
intended only for the attention of the named organisation or individual to
whom it is addressed. The message may contain information that is covered
by legal, professional or other privilege. No mistake in transmission is
intended to waive or compromise any such privilege. This message has been
sent over public networks and the sender cannot be held responsible for
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disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance of the
information contained herein is strictly prohibited, and is contrary to
the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and of the
Data Protection Act, 2018. Any views expressed are those of the sender
and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the view of
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message in error, please notify the sender by e-mail at once and delete
the message immediately. For more information about Northumbria Police
please visit our website - http://www.northumbria.police.uk

References

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1. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...