Violent Crime Reduction Bill

I make it clear at the outset that we are more than happy to consult on the details of any regulations to be made under this part of the Bill. We recognise that these are complex issues and we would want to have a close dialogue with the gun trade, the main shooting organisations, toy manufacturers, the police and any other interests before making any regulations. Should we not do so there would be a strong risk that the regulations in question would be prayed against when they were submitted to both Houses as required by subsection (5) of Clause 32. However, it is generally unhelpful and inflexible to enshrine such a requirement in statute in the way that the noble Baroness suggests. While I pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Shrewsbury, for his very important work as chair of the former Firearms Consultative Committee, one of its drawbacks was its statutory terms of reference. I accept that the amendment is not overly prescriptive in its detail but nevertheless it refers to persons appearing to have an expertise in firearms. Does this mean an expertise in firearms technology perhaps, or in buying and selling guns, or perhaps in enforcing the firearms legislation or in their actual use for target shooting or hunting? What sort of expertise would that mean? I have given a few examples of the difficulty that such phrasing might create. As was made clear in another place, we will look again at how a new firearms advisory committee might be constituted once we have determined how to proceed with the review of firearms controls. The formulation of regulations would certainly be among the issues for consideration. I again assure the Committee that we will take on board the views of all interested parties when making regulations, but we see no reason why that needs to be put on a statutory basis. The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, mentioned a two-tier system. The aim of a two-tier system is to create a main committee to look at broader issues and a second tier to look at technical issues. We considered the range of issues and the elements of expertise that we needed to have in place and came up with a two-tier or two-part system. I hope that that helps the noble Baroness. I invite her to withdraw the amendment.