POLICE FORCES REMAIN SILENT ON FIREARMS LICENSING FEE FUNDING
More than two-thirds of police forces in England and Wales have yet to provide assurances to support a Home Office pledge that money raised by increasing firearms licensing fees will be reinvested into firearms licensing departments, according to BASC.
BASC wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables in England and Wales seeking confirmation that the additional funds generated by fee increases would be used to support police firearms licensing teams. The move followed BASC’s strong criticism of the government’s January decision to impose an average 133 per cent increase in firearms licensing fees – implemented without consultation and without first addressing widespread inefficiencies in the licensing system.
Bill Harriman, BASC’s Director of Firearms, said: “The Minister and the Home Office have repeatedly said that the money raised from the increased fees is going back into firearms licensing. We have written to PCCs and Chief Constables, who oversee police budgets, seeking assurance to that effect, and over two-thirds have failed to give it.
“The government has no power to tell individual constabularies how to spend their income. If there is no certainty that these additional fees will be used to enhance the system, the justification for such a significant rise is deeply flawed. Despite allowing more than adequate time for them to give us the reassurances we were seeking on behalf of our members, we have been met with silence from a significant number of forces. Some have also indicated that no firm decision has been made.
“This lack of transparency raises serious concerns that the additional money may not go where it is needed most. Without proper investment, firearms licensing services will remain inefficient. Those who rely on them will pay more without seeing any improvement in service delivery. A failing licensing system is not just an administrative issue. Inefficient licensing puts guns in the hands of the wrong people – it puts public safety at risk.”
Since the fees took effect on 2 February, BASC says it has received confirmation from only 13 of the 42 forces contacted that the extra funds will be reinvested into firearms licensing. Many forces are yet to respond and some are awaiting direction from a Chief Constable or PCC.
The police forces which have provided assurances on the resourcing of firearms licensing departments are:
• Cheshire
• Derbyshire
• Dorset
• Dyfed Powys
• Gloucestershire
• Kent
• Norfolk
• Northumbria
• North Yorkshire
• Staffordshire
• Suffolk
• Surrey
• West Mercia
The police forces which have not provided assurances, or have not responded to BASC, are:
• Avon & Somerset
• Bedfordshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Cleveland
• Cumbria
• Devon & Cornwall
• Durham
• Essex
• Greater Manchester Police
• Gwent
• Hampshire
• Hertfordshire
• Humberside
• Lancashire
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Merseyside
• Metropolitan Police Service
• Northamptonshire
• North Wales
• Nottinghamshire
• South Wales
• South Yorkshire
• Sussex
• Thames Valley Police
• Warwickshire
• West Midlands Police
• West Yorkshire
• Wiltshire