Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the cost of a gun licence has been set at £50 since 2001; and what the net cost to the public purse of the gun licensing system was, including the cost of background checks, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone

This Government has been clear that the fact firearms licences did not rise in cost from 2001 is unsustainable. That is why we consulted on a series of price increases to enable the police to recover a greater proportion of the costs, without causing undue financial repercussions for licence owners. The Government ran a consultation on a proposed fee increase for firearms licences between 27 November and 29 December 2014. We are currently considering the responses.

The former Association of Chief Police Officers previously assessed the cost of gun licences. They estimated that the cost to the taxpayer was £17.2 million in the year 2009-10. Under the Government’s proposed fee levels, in conjunction with the introduction of a new e-commerce tool for policing, the aim is that there will be no net cost to the public purse.