More licensing chaos: 18 days or two years?

The most comprehensive investigation ever conducted into police firearms licensing has laid bare the scale of bureaucratic failure across England and Wales.

BASC’s groundbreaking analysis, combining data from more than 5,000 certificate holders, Freedom of Information responses from 41 forces, and official Home Office figures, reveals processing times ranging from just 18 days to over two years, with some shooters paying identical fees for vastly different service levels.

“The Performance of Police Firearms Licensing Departments 2025”

In the report, titled The Performance of Police Firearms Licensing Departments in England and Wales 2025, the gulf between best and worst performers is staggering.

Cleveland Police topped satisfaction ratings with certificates processed efficiently and cheaply, while the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire (BCH) consortium has become a byword for failure.

“The BCH collaboration is the worst performing [firearms licensing department] in England and Wales,” the report states.

More than 1,000 certificate holders are stuck on temporary permits, with similar numbers forced to put their guns in storage.

Delays devastating for working certificate holders

BASC’s survey found only 45% of new grants were completed within six months, with 28% taking longer than a year.

For gamekeepers, pest controllers, and those whose livelihoods depend on firearms, these delays are devastating.

Cost isn’t the problem, process is

What makes this crisis particularly galling is that money isn’t the problem.

The report demolishes any excuse that poor forces are under-resourced, revealing some departments process certificates for under £130, while others burn through more than £300, with no correlation between spending and results.

“The biggest factor in a force’s performance is the internal process for issuing certificates,” the analysis concludes.

Communication failures and inexcusable mismanagement

The communication failures are equally damning. Some forces offer no phone access, others ignore emails entirely.

One former chief constable found himself threatened with armed seizure of his guns after being forced onto a temporary permit due to BCH’s delays, a perfect illustration of the department’s “warped sense of priorities.”

BASC demands reform

Martin Parker, BASC’s head of firearms and author of the report, said:

“The experience of certificate holders shouldn’t depend on which area they happen to live in. Good licensing departments prove that it is possible to deliver a fair, proportionate and efficient service.”

He added that the failures of the worst performers are inexcusable. BASC is now calling for:

• Nationally enforceable standards

• Independent oversight

• Proper ringfencing of licensing fees

A centralised alternative?

The report’s stark conclusion warns that if consistency cannot be achieved,

“An alternative system must be found.”

After decades of police mismanagement, that alternative – a centralised licensing authority like the DVLA – is looking increasingly attractive.

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