Forces to recover full cost of firearms licensing through eCommerce

The Home Office has announced plans to increase firearms licensing fees and reduce the cost of administering the licensing service, allowing police forces to recover their costs.

According to police estimates, forces recoup only 27 per cent of the cost of issuing licences, which they argue is unsustainable in the long term.

On March 31, 2014, there were 151,413 firearms certificates and 582,923 shotgun certificates in the UK. The Home Office believes the cost to the taxpayer to support firearms licensing was £17 million in 2012/13 and around £15 million in 2013/14.

A firearm and shotgun certificate is currently £50 and £40 for a renewal. If agreed, the fees will increase to £88 for the grant of a firearm certificate and £79.50 for the grant of a shotgun certificate.

The cost of a renewal will increase to £49 for shotguns and £62 for firearms. The Government says the proposals have been developed to enable police forces to achieve full cost recovery when the eCommerce firearms licensing system is operational.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary will review how eCommerce, which is being developed by the police to standardise and improve licensing renewal turnaround times, works in practice during 2015.

Initial proposals were for a rise in shotgun certificate fees from £50 to £109, but the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), which pushed for a full costing of the new system, rejected this in the early stages of the consultation process.

The Labour Party had also pledged to increase the cost of firearms licenses to help fund more than 1,000 police officer posts. At the party’s conference in September, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said her party would end the taxpayer subsidy for gun licences.

BASC welcomed the increase in fees, the first for 13 years.

BASC chairman Alan Jarrett said: “We welcome the Government’s initiative to involve stakeholders and do the job properly. Those who shoot can have confidence that they are paying a fair price for their certificate which has been decided after a rigorous process founded on solid evidence.”

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Shooting and Conservation, said: “I believe this is a good result for all sections of the shooting community. It provides a fair basis for fee levels in the future. Under these proposals the police are committed to achieving a cost-effective and consistent service.”

Lynne Featherstone, Minister of State for Crime Prevention, said the consultation represents an important step forward in improving the licensing regime as a whole.

“The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and as part of this it is important that the Government keeps the firearms licensing system under review,” she said.

“It is clearly unsustainable for the police to be recouping only 27 per cent of the cost of licensing fees and these proposals will improve the way the system works for both licence holders and police forces.”

Derbyshire police and crime commissioner Alan Charles said forces should be entitled to recover the full costs of administering a firearms licence without exception.

“Police forces simply cannot afford to absorb the costs of processing licensing fees in their budgets at a time when our resources are severely restricted. The Government has made it clear that it wants police forces to make every penny count when it comes to protecting the public so it’s only right that we bring an end to the loss of precious operational policing funds in the name of sport,” he said.

“The current system, which expects the public to subsidise shooting for sport, recreation or work, simply isn’t acceptable, particularly when so many other areas of community safety are being pulled back.”

The consultation will run until December 29 and is available on the Government website. It will also ask for responses on how the subsequent review process for firearms fees should be taken forward.