The silence over licensing speaks volumes, says BASC 

More than two-thirds of police forces in England and Wales have failed to give assurances to support a Home Office pledge that money raised by increased firearms fees will be reinvested into licensing. 

BASC wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables earlier this year, following their condemnation of the Government’s decision to hike firearms licensing fees in January without consultation or addressing inefficiencies in the system. At the time of writing, just 13 of the 42 forces have confirmed the extra funds will be reinvested. 

Bill Harriman, director of firearms at BASC, said: “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. 

“This raises serious concerns that the money may not go where it is needed. Without investment, firearms licensing services will remain inefficient. Those who rely on them will pay more without seeing any improvement in service.” 

Twenty-two forces are yet to respond to BASC and seven said they are awaiting direction from a PCC or Chief Constable. BASC has pledged to continue scrutinising police budgets and will monitor whether the promised funding is being used to support firearms licensing departments.