Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police forces in England are following guidance on the processing of shotgun licence applications.

We keep our controls on firearms under constant review to safeguard against abuse by criminals and terrorists and to minimise the risk to public safety.

The Coroner at the Inquest into the fatal shootings at Keyham issued Prevention of Future Deaths Reports on 8 March with recommendations for the Government to consider in relation to firearms licensing legislation. In addition, we are also considering recommendations from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, in relation to their investigation in respect of the Keyham shootings, and recommendations from the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in respect of their inquiry following the fatal shooting on the Isle of Skye.

On 1 November 2021, we published new Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing. Police forces have a legal duty to have regard to this guidance when carrying out their firearms licensing function. The Statutory Guidance provides guidance to the police on assessing the suitability of applicants to possess firearms, including applications made for shotgun certificates, and is helping to improve the quality of police firearms licensing procedures and achieve greater consistency across police forces.

A refreshed version of the Statutory Guidance was reissued in February this year. This followed a first-year review of the guidance.