Budget cuts affect shooters

BASC has accused a Welsh police force of circumventing Home Office guidelines, after one it admitted passing on the cost of GPs? inquiries to applicants rather than paying for them itself.

The situation came to light after a BASC member, who had taken three weeks off work due to stress, received a letter from Dyfed-Powys Police stating: Dyfed-Powys Police will no longer meet the invoice cost of GPs? letters and therefore any cost of this report will now be a matter between yourself and your GP.

BASC firearms officer Alan Booth told Shooting Times: ?This is quite clearly against Home Office guidelines, which says that the cost should be met by police. It is totally out of line with all the other police forces around the country. When I spoke with the firearms licensing manager Helen Rees (at the force, she immediately told me it was due to cost-cutting.?

The rest of this article appears in the 21st September issue of Shooting Times.

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