Firearms: Licensing

(asked on 27th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2018 to Question 134808 on Firearms: Licensing, what steps he has taken since that Answer to ensure that the costs of gun licensing and certification are covered by the fees charged.


Answered by
Nick Hurd Portrait
Nick Hurd
This question was answered on 1st April 2019

The Government is committed to ensuring an efficient and effective firearms licensing system and to achieving full cost recovery for the police and Home Office. Fees for firearm and shotgun certificates issued by the police were last increased in 2015. The increase followed a public consultation which included an impact assessment setting out estimated costs, which can be found on gov.uk. The fee levels were calculated with a view to enabling police forces to move closer to full cost recovery when a police-led online licensing system is introduced. The police began trialling an on-line application portal in selected forces late last year. Delays with introducing online licensing make it difficult to accurately identify costs at this time but we will carry out a comprehensive review of the fees in 2020.

Applications for licences to possess prohibited firearms, for approved shooting clubs, and museums with firearms collections, are administered by the Home Office and Scottish Government. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 created a power to charge new fees for these licences. We sought views on proposals for the new fees in a public consultation in 2017. The consultation was accompanied by an impact assessment, which set out the estimated net costs of the system. We have reviewed the proposed level of fees in discussion with groups representing licensed firearms holders and we intend to announce the outcome shortly.

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