Violent Crime Reduction Bill

Before my noble friend responds, I would like to add that I am grateful to the Minister for the information that he has given us as far as it goes. My concern is that although we have had a six-month consultation, I am not aware of whether the Government have had any negotiations during period or whether the issue has been put on hold. The Minister seemed to say that the right time for negotiations is afterwards. The difficulty is whether the Government’s method is going to be better and whether it will properly take into account the needs of the trade when the regulations are formulated. I asked specifically whether the Government had taken into account the fact that not all air weapons have a specific number, so it is more difficult to keep to registration. I am also aware that there may be advantages for the trade—for example, if the Government were to adopt a pragmatic way of allowing registration by batches of sales. Could the Minister give us any idea of what the Home Office thinking has been so far and whether they have had any meetings with the trade in the past six months? Will he give the House some indication of the practical steps are being taken?