Firearms: Licensing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that future increases in shotgun and firearms license fees will fund improvements in local police force administration.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The issuing of shotgun and firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces in processing licensing applications, are matters for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners. When increased fees came into effect on 5 February 2025 to provide full-cost recovery licensing fees for the police, the Home Office wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the increased fees must be used to support improvements in police force firearms licensing teams, and this will continue to be the expectation when further increases in fees are introduced.
Alongside the increase in fees, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for firearms licensing now publishes quarterly performance data for firearms licensing in all police forces in England and Wales which includes a new performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months of receipt. We welcome this greater transparency and forces making improvements in performance, subject to ensuring public safety remains the priority and suitability checks are carried out properly.
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