Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 75
75
Accepted in Part
GPs can place ‘flags’ on patients’ medical records to alert clinicians that individuals own firearms.187...
Recommendation
GPs can place ‘flags’ on patients’ medical records to alert clinicians that individuals own firearms.187 Both policy experts advocating gun control and shooting associations have expressed concern that the flagging system is inadequate. Professor Peter Squires, Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Public Policy at the University of Brighton, has stated that police needed to engage in “much more involvement with health services to ensure people with mental health problems didn’t get through the licensing system”188, while the British Shooting Sports Council told us that the flagging system as a whole is “unacceptably weak”.189 The Council said that: “In the absence of agreement from the medical profession for a GP to be required by law to place the marker, the Statutory Guidance envisages it 180 Q159 181 Q218 182 Q139 183 Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, Facts about NHS funding in Scotland, accessed 8 December 2022 184 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 8 185 “Dunblane victim’s dad calls for stricter gun laws after Skye shooting”, The National, 14 August 2022 186 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 6 187 British Medical Association, The firearms licensing process, accessed 13 September 2022 188 BBC Sussex Radio, Interview of Professor Peter Squires by Danielle Perry, transcript accessed 13 September 2022 189 British Shooting Sports Council (FLR0010) Firearms licensing regulations in Scotland 25 being placed by the GP on a ‘best endeavours’ basis. We believe that to be inadequate insofar as it allows for the possibility that a medical practitioner is left unaware that the patient who he is treating may be in possession of firearms”.190
Government Response Summary
The UK Government acknowledges the recommendation and highlights the development of a new digital firearms marker in England, offering to work with the Scottish Government if they decide to introduce a similar marker in Scotland; they are also seeking views on interim checks.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The Committee made recommendations for changes to the GP role in firearms licensing, specifically around the GP medical marker, making their role mandatory in the process and their involvement in suggested interim checks during the life of a certificate. There has been significant strengthening of the medical checks for firearms licensing in the past couple of years, including making it a requirement for all applicants to provide relevant medical information to the police, and the development and introduction of a new digital firearms marker in England to ensure that the police are notified by the GP if there is a concerning deterioration in the certificate holder’s physical or mental health at any point after the grant of the certificate. The UK Government stands ready to work with the Scottish Government if they decide to introduce the digital marker to GP surgeries in Scotland. The Home Office will work with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Scottish Government on how to take forward the issues raised by the Committee about the medical aspects of firearms licensing, including the recommendation that GP involvement could be made mandatory. On the recommendation that the UK Government and Scottish Government work together to investigate the merits of medical practitioners and police conducting interim checks on firearms licence holders, you will see that we are seeking views on this in the consultation paper. It is the intention that the digital marker is applied by the GP in surgeries in England to the certificate holder’s medical record, to ensure that the police are notified of any concerning deterioration in the certificate holder’s physical or mental health at any point after the grant of the certificate. The Home Office will work with the Scottish Government, if it decides that it wishes to adopt a similar digital marker in Scotland. The Statutory Guidance also supports and details the requirements of continuous assessment by the police during the lifespan of a firearm or shotgun certificate, so that the police will receive information about the ongoing suitability of a certificate holder from any source during the life of the certificate.