Information

Request

Will your police force/constabulary be ring-fencing the extra income from the latest firearms licensing fee increase to the firearms licensing functions? 

What improvements will you be asking the Chief constable to make to streamline the system and reduce delays in grant and renewal?

Will you be looking to ensure the chief constable recruits additional staff to reduce backlogs and provide better service, even to those who are under suitability review? 

Response

The Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner does hold the information requested.

Will your police force/constabulary be ring-fencing the extra income from the latest firearms licensing fee increase to the firearms licensing functions?  

There rightly is an expectation from the Home Office that this additional income will be used in some way to support improved service from Police Forces in respect of firearms licensing, but no conditions that it will be 100% ring fenced. It is important to note that even with this additional income it does not represent full cost recovery for the firearm licensing function. However, in Northamptonshire the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable have discussed this and have agreed that the additional income will be used to provide additionality and improvements, whether that be in additional staff, improved processes, or improved technology to support them.

What improvements will you be asking the Chief constable to make to streamline the system and reduce delays in grant and renewal?

The Commissioner and the Chief Constable have agreed and this was prior to this additional funding announcement that based on the research undertaken by the national firearms licensing committee that they will use as is in use elsewhere in the country the metric of seeking to achieve a 16 week turnaround for grants and renewals. Progress has been made towards better achievement of this, but it is accepted that more progress needs to be made here. As such as a part of the commitment I refer to above the Chief Constable has been asked to produce a plan of the requirements that he needs to achieve this utilising the additional funding that we anticipate receiving. As I have outlined above this might be a combination of staff, process changes and technology. It is vitally important to recognise that there is a public safety issue involved in this and both the Chief Constable and Commissioner will not compromise the public safety aspects of shotgun and firearms licensing, so while it is important to provide a timely service this will not be at the expense of public safety and as such while processes will be looked at there will be no streamlining of the processes that might conceivably have an adverse effect on that public safety approach.

Will you be looking to ensure the chief constable recruits additional staff to reduce backlogs and provide better service, even to those who are under suitability review? 

Yes, it is anticipated that this will form a part of the response and plan as a result of this additional funding.