Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 114904 on Firearms: Licensing, by what date he will be required to (a) make changes to improve the situation and (b) report back to HMICFRS.

The Chief Constables of the three forces involved in the tripartite firearms licensing arrangement involving Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary received an accelerated cause of concern notice from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) on 9 January 2026 relating to the management of firearms licensing.

HMICFRS requested that the Chief Constables of the three police forces set out in an action plan how they intended to address the issues in the accelerated cause of concern within 28 working days. The response to HMICFRS has since been sent within the deadline set out in the notice.