Licence fee increase could result in improved service

The cost of a firearm licence could rise to as much as £400 in what is said to be an effort to fund the police. The so-called “gun tax” could mean the cost of certificates could rise fourfold — as forces will be allowed to set their own increases. 

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “Firearms licensing fees are now significantly less than the cost of the service provided by police forces. This deficit is impacting the effectiveness of police firearms licensing controls and the crucial role they play in safeguarding the public. 

“We therefore intend to lay a statutory instrument to increase firearms licensing fees to provide full-cost recovery for police forces. The additional revenue raised will be retained by forces to support the important improvements needed in firearms licensing.” 

This decision comes hot on the heels of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s raid on rural life by levying 20% inheritance tax on family farms worth more than £1million. It is further evidence that the Government is no friend of the countryside. 

Christopher Graffius, executive director of communications and public affairs at BASC, told Shooting Times: “BASC has put in an urgent request into the Home Office to meet the Policing Minister to discuss fees. It would be quite outrageous for fees to be increased while firearms licensing remains a postcode lottery across large parts of the country. 

“Inefficient licensing departments do not protect public safety. The Minister would be well advised to deal with inefficiency before increasing fees or risk the Government alienating yet another constituency,” he added. 

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “On the one hand it could be an opportunity to restructure the licensing system to deliver an efficient and consistent service for the public and licence holders. 

“On the other hand, Ministers could simply dump the cost of the current, patently inefficient, system on gun owners while doing nothing to address the completely outdated model of 43 separate licensing authorities based on police force areas, some of which are not even delivering a basic service. It would be entirely unacceptable to increase fees by hundreds of pounds, while not addressing the obvious need for reform,” he said. 

Figures suggest there are 500,000 firearms licences in England and Wales, which have to be renewed every five years and the raise could bring in £20m. The Government will make a decision on the proposals later this year.