Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department's working group on firearms licensing fees last met.

The Fees Working Group last met on 3 May 2023.

The Working Group is chaired by the Home Office and includes representation from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, shooting representative bodies, the Countryside Alliance, Scottish Government, and other Government departments.

The work includes a detailed review of the current cost to the police of administering firearms licensing in order to develop proposals for revised fees, in accordance with HM Treasury guidance.

I am currently considering the proposals for new fees with Ministerial colleagues and I have discussed them with the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Members of Parliament and the NPCC Lead for Firearms Licensing.