[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Ex Gratia Payment Scheme for Small Calibre Pistols

2. Ex gratia payments will be made for small-calibre pistols which are surrendered voluntarily in accordance with the arrangements set out in this Scheme.

3. Ex gratia payments will also be made for certain ancillary equipment (that is equipment which is designed or adapted for use in connection with small-calibre pistols and which has no practicable use with any firearm which is not a prohibited weapon) which is specified in Annex B, and which is surrendered voluntarily in accordance with the arrangements set out in this Scheme.

4. This Scheme is open to both firearm certificate holders and registered firearms dealers.

- surrender of pistols and equipment

- receipt and verification of applications

- evaluation of applications (including, where appropriate, independent valuation)

6. At the present time the surrender of small-calibre pistols and ancillary equipment is voluntary. However, any property for which ex gratia payment is sought must be surrendered to the police in accordance with the arrangements contained in this Scheme.

7. Any property for which ex gratia payment is sought may be surrendered as from the date on which the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 Compensation Scheme comes into force.

8. The property in question must have been held by the individual or dealer (in the case of a firearm or ammunition by virtue of a firearm certificate or registration as a dealer) on or immediately before 14 May 1997, or be property which the individual or dealer was entitled to hold (in the case of a firearm or ammunition by virtue of a certificate or registration) after that date by virtue of a contract entered into before that date. This is the date on which the Government's intention to introduce a Bill extending the prohibition of handguns to small-calibre pistols was first announced

9. The police will inform individuals and dealers where they may surrender their property. To be eligible for ex gratia payment, an individual must surrender his property to the police force which granted or renewed the firearm certificate in respect of any firearms or ammunition which are being surrendered, or to the police force for the area in which he resides. A dealer must surrender his property to the police force which has registered him as a dealer or, if he has a place of business in another area, to the police force which has registered that place of business. The police may designate one or more police stations as being suitable for the purpose of surrender.

Option A - a flat rate payment for individual items;

Option B - a payment for an individual item at the relevant price contained in the lists of values annexed to this Scheme (or, for ancillary equipment, at the relevant price contained in the list of ancillary equipment which already forms part of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 Compensation Scheme for individual items not listed in annex C to this Scheme);

Option C - a payment based on an individual valuation of an item's full market value as at or immediately before 16 October 1996.

11. Individuals and dealers seeking ex gratia payment must choose one of the three options for each item in respect of which an application is made. However, individuals may only seek ex gratia payment under Option C for pistols or equipment which are not listed under Option B (in the case of ancillary equipment, whether listed in this Scheme or in the relevant annex to the Compensation Scheme made under the 1997 Act), or for pistols which are so listed but which have been adapted or customised in such a way as to significantly increase their value.

12. Any application made under Option C must be supported by documentary evidence of value, eg evidence of purchase price and the date the item in question was acquired, a dealer's valuation or a recent insurance valuation for the item (or, for dealers applying under this option, relevant invoices, company accounts or business records, or equivalent documentation showing the cost to the dealer of the item). Other documentary evidence could include published evidence of value, eg a manufacturer's, distributor's or retailer's price list from the period immediately before 16 October 1996. This is the date on which the Government announced its response to the Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996. (On average, market prices for small-calibre pistols and ancillary equipment have either remained static or have fallen between the date of that announcement and the date given in paragraph 8 above.)

13. An application form will be included when the police write to firearm certificate holders and registered firearms dealers with information about the surrender of property for which ex gratia payment may be sought.

14. All applications for ex gratia payment in respect of property which is surrendered must be submitted to the police force to which the property in question is being surrendered. A completed application form must be given to the police at the same time and same police station as the property to which it relates is surrendered. Where items of property are surrendered separately the completed application form must be submitted with any firearms which are surrendered.

15. The police will require each dealer to give them advance notice of surrender and will provide such additional security in transit as they consider necessary to ensure that firearms and any ammunition which a dealer wishes to surrender can be surrendered safely at a designated police station. The police will similarly also wish to be notified in advance where individuals wish to surrender substantial quantities of firearms or ammunition. Other individuals who wish to surrender items but who are likely to experience genuine difficulty in doing so may wish to do likewise.

16. The police will check the details of surrendered pistols and any ammunition listed on the application form against those of the pistols and ammunition surrendered and against those of the pistols and ammunition recorded on the firearm certificate or dealer's register of transactions. The firearm certificate will then be amended accordingly. The police will also check any other ancillary equipment listed on the application form against the items actually surrendered and against the list of items for which ex gratia payment may be sought.

17. Once the application is received, the police will give the applicant a reference number and a receipt for the property surrendered. Any discrepancies in the application will, where possible, be resolved before the application is forwarded to the Firearms Compensation Section of the Home Office (FCS), which will be responsible for administering this Scheme in addition to the Compensation Scheme made under the 1997 Act.

18. Pistols and equipment which are surrendered will be stored securely by the police until such time as a disposal instruction is issued by the FCS. The exception to this will be in respect of ammunition: for safety reasons, once surrendered ammunition has been checked by the police against the details given on the application form it may be disposed of without the need for a specific disposal instruction from the FCS.

19. After an application for ex gratia payment is received by the FCS the application form will be checked to ensure that it has been completed correctly by both the applicant and the police and, where appropriate, to ensure that any documentary evidence required has been supplied. If the application contains errors which prevent it from being processed, the FCS will contact the applicant direct or, if appropriate, return the application form to the originating police force in order to rectify them.

20. The details of the applicant and his application will be entered into the FCS database. The way in which applications will be processed will depend on the application option chosen by the applicant. In all cases the first step will be to check that the items in respect of which an application has been made fall within the scope of the Scheme. An acknowledgement of receipt will then be sent to the applicant and the originating police force.

21. The FCS will operate from the lists annexed to this Scheme which contain average second-hand retail values as at or immediately before 16 October 1996 for a range of common makes and models of small-calibre pistols and the specified ancillary equipment covered by this Scheme. The values are based on published prices for the pistols and equipment in question, reduced to reflect the normal depreciation of about 25% in the value of such items. The lists which will be used are attached as follows:

Annex A Small-calibre pistols and their relevant values;

Annex B The specified types of ancillary equipment, and the relevant flat rates for each type; and

Annex C Individual items of ancillary equipment and their relevant values.

22. The list of types of ancillary equipment (Annex B) will be used to determine whether a particular item falls within the scope of this Scheme. The two value lists (Annexes A and C) will inform applicants of the amounts that will be paid under Option B for particular pistols and items of equipment that they have chosen to surrender. In some cases, applicants may need to refer to the list of individual items of ancillary equipment in annex C to the Compensation Scheme made under the 1997 Act

23. The two value lists annexed to this Scheme, together with the list of individual items of ancillary equipment annexed to the Compensation Scheme made under the 1997 Act, will be used by the FCS to make payments in respect of applications made under Option B and, where appropriate, may be used to assist in the assessment of Option C applications made in respect of listed pistols which have been adapted or customised in such a way as to significantly affect their value.

24. Applications made under Option A (flat rate payment) will be paid automatically at the level of £100 per small-calibre pistol, or at the relevant flat rate for the particular type of ancillary equipment.

25. Applications made under Option B (listed values) will be checked against the lists of values annexed to this Scheme (or, where appropriate, against the list of individual items of ancillary equipment annexed to the Compensation Scheme made under the 1997 Act). Applications will be paid automatically at the listed value for the item in question.

26. An individual applicant (as opposed to a dealer) may only submit an application under Option C for a listed pistol which has been adapted or customised in such a way as to significantly increase its value, or for a pistol or item of equipment which is not listed. Such conditions will not apply to dealers.

27. Any application under Option C must be supported by valid documentary evidence of the full market value of the item in question as at or immediately before 16 October 1996. For individual applicants this evidence should be of the retail price of the item and could be in the form of a receipt for the purchase of the item, a dealer's valuation, a recent insurance valuation or published evidence of value. For dealers this evidence should be of the cost to the dealer of the item in question and should be in the form of relevant invoices, company accounts or business records, or equivalent documentation. If the documentary evidence gives a satisfactory indication of the value of the item, the application will be met on the basis of the formula used to calculate the Option B value lists (ie value less 25%) or, in the case of dealers, on the basis of cost price plus 25%.

28. Where the documentary evidence submitted in support of an Option C application is unsatisfactory (eg it does not fully support the amount sought, appears to be of doubtful provenance or, in the case of a listed pistol, does not appear to justify a significant departure from the listed value), the FCS will request further evidence from the applicant. If the additional documentary evidence is satisfactory, the application will be met. Where no such additional evidence is submitted, or the additional evidence remains unsatisfactory, the application will be paid at the listed value or, if the application does not relate to a listed pistol or item of equipment, the originating police force will be asked to seek a valuation from an independent source (eg a dealer, a specialist auctioneer or a valuer) selected at the discretion of the chief officer. The cost of obtaining such a valuation will be borne by the FCS. Where an independent valuation is obtained this will normally be used to calculate the payment to the applicant.

29. Payment may be made in respect of an application as a whole or any part of it, and will be made direct to the applicant's bank or building society account, or to an account nominated by the applicant.

30. An applicant who has made a valid application either wholly or in part under Option A or B will, at the time the receipt of his application is acknowledged, receive notification that the application (or that element of the application made under Option A or B) has been approved and that a payment of the requested amount will be made shortly. The notification will detail how the total payment is made up. Where the application also contains an Option C element, the acknowledgment will confirm that the payment is being made for the Option A or B elements only, and that a decision on the Option C element will be made once it has been fully considered by the FCS. (An acknowledgment only will be issued at this stage for applications made wholly under Option C.)

31. In the case of a valid application made wholly or in part under Option C, the applicant will receive notification that his application, or that part of his application made under Option C, has been approved, whether in whole or in part, and that a payment of a given amount will be sent to him. The payment notification will contain a declaration (to be completed and returned by the applicant before payment is made) that he agrees with the amount to be paid in settlement of the application, or that part of the application, as the case may be. The payment instruction will be issued as soon as the completed declaration is returned to the FCS. No such declaration will be required in relation to Option A or B applications as the application form will make clear that, in seeking ex gratia payment under these options, the applicant is agreeing in advance to receive the specified flat rate or listed value in settlement of the application, or those elements of the application, as the case may be.

32. Where the application is for more than one item the notification will detail how the total payment is made up. Reasons for the refusal, in whole or in part, of any element of an application will be given. Any original documents submitted with an application will be returned to the applicant.

33. All property subject to an application for ex gratia payment will be retained by the police until such time as they receive a formal instruction from the FCS that the property in question may be disposed of. Once such an instruction has been received the property will be disposed of at the discretion of the Secretary of State. The exception to this general rule will be in respect of ammunition: for safety reasons, once surrendered ammunition has been checked by the police against the details given on the application form it may be disposed of without the need for a specific disposal instruction from the FCS.

34. For applications made under Option A or B the FCS will normally issue disposal instructions to the police as soon as the applications have received an initial examination. However, they will do so only where such applications appear to be fully in order and if there are no reasons to believe that early disposal might be inappropriate. If for any reason early disposal is not considered appropriate, disposal instructions will be sent to the police at the same time as the applicants are notified that payments are to be made.

35. Disposal instructions in Option C cases will not be issued until such time as payment instructions are issued, and such instructions may only be issued upon receipt of completed declarations from the applicants accepting the offered amounts in settlement of their applications under Option C.