Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding was allocated to the firearms licensing department of each police authority area in England and Wales in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on how police funding is allocated to the firearms licensing department of forces in England and Wales, nor the number of officers and staff who are employed in firearms licensing departments. Data are published on the primary function of officers and staff, but these do not allow firearms licensing roles to be separately identified.

The deployment of available resources is an operational decision for Chief Officers, working with their Police and Crime Commissioner.