By Steve Ranger, 14 July 2005 13:32
NEWS A £5.4m national firearms register has been delayed yet again because of technical problems.
The NFLMS (National Firearms Licensing Management System) was expected to start going live this month but the Home Office has told silicon.com that it has been delayed again.
The system was proposed back in 1997 after the Dunblane school shootings but the project has stumbled a number of times since then.
It was first due to in the summer of 2001, then pushed back until August 2004. The system was finally expected to start going live on 11 July this year but now the Home Office has said it will be pushed back again.
"Development is now complete. The second phase of pilot testing has not yet taken place due to a technical issue arising during testing. Pito (Police Information Technology Organisation) is working with its supplier to urgently resolve this issue so that pilot testing can go ahead," the Home Office said.
"As a consequence, pilot testing did not go ahead on 11 July and Pito will inform police firearms licensing units as soon as a new pilot can be arranged with the forces involved," it added.
Load testing for the live piloting is expected to resume in the autumn.
Once it has been implemented, police forces will update the NFLMS locally with firearms and licensing information. That information will then be transferred in real time to the national firearms register held on the Police National Computer.
Once the information on firearms and related certificates is on the PNC register, it will be searchable by all forces in England, Scotland and Wales.
Comments
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1. Malcolm
FOUR YEARS late already and pilot testing isn't even anywhere near complete.... and this is on a mere firearms database???
What does that say about the chances of Biometric identity cards working - even IF the Biometrics were magically about to work?
Let's hope they don't decide Biometric tickets for the Olympics will be a good idea.
2. RJ Campbell
Good idea, so long as you don't bugger it like the idiot Liberal Party of Canada has done in that country; disorganized and far, far over budget!
3. anonymous
Sooooo, law abiding citizens are suppose to trust their personal information to people that are to incompetent to get a data system up and running properly in 8 years?
They can only imagine how the data will be handled when these dorks are allowed to collect and enter the data.
4. Malcolm
FOUR YEARS late already and pilot testing isn't even anywhere near complete.... and this is on a mere firearms database???
What does that say about the chances of Biometric identity cards working - even IF the Biometrics were magically about to work?
Let's hope they don't decide Biometric tickets for the Olympics will be a good idea.
5. Mike
Testing again in the Metropolitan and Lancashire Police forces - "Autmn" has become "December".
There is an unfounded and unsourced rumour that a very senior police offcier has resigned his post with the project - refusing to have anything more to do with it.....