Gloucestershire Police Freeze FAC/SGC applications

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Progress is being made thanks to forum members and others contacting the Gloucestershire PCC and Gloucestershire MPs.

The PCC is replying to people that contacted him explaining that he has had a great number of communications about this issue, that the Assistant Chief Constable and the Constabulary are working very hard to resolve this issue promptly, that interim personnel are being brought in urgently to help with backlogs, and that the temporary suspension will not be for 24 months but more likely a few weeks. The announcement on the force website has been amended.


Labour MP Matt Bishop has raised the issue in the House of Commons and written to the Home Secretary, Policing Minister, and the Interim Gloucestershire Chief Constable.

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commo.../24A092DC-5CE1-49A3-B886-815E3431C8CA/details

PCC Chris Nelson update in full:

Thank you for contacting my office. I have had a great number of communications about this firearms licencing issue, and have taken immediate steps to look into what has led to this position and why the Constabulary has taken this decision.

I understand and sympathise with your frustration, but would like to assure you that the situation is not as you may have seen reported, in part due to some miscommunication and an error on the Constabulary website.

To be clear, the processing of licence renewals will continue, but there is a temporary pause on accepting new applications at this time. After taking your concerns, and those of others to the Constabulary, I have been assured by the Assistant Chief Constable that the Constabulary is working very hard to resolve this issue promptly. The notice of suspension of new licence grants was issued following sudden personnel shortages, which are mainly due to medical reasons. However this suspension will not be for two years, as you may have seen, but is likely to be a matter of just a few weeks. They are also working hard to clear the backlog of applications, but this may take some time to eventually resolve.

I understand that interim personnel are being brought in urgently, and while the Constabulary, rightly, will be prioritising licence renewals first, I have been assured that exceptions are being made for new applications where the licence is needed for employment or elite sport purposes.

In the meantime, I will continue to hold the Constabulary to account to ensure normal service is resumed as soon as possible. I have already informed shooting organisations and our Members of Parliament about this plan, and will do the same again when this situation has been resolved.

I hope this helps address your concerns,

Yours sincerely,

Chris Nelson
Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire

Matt Bishop MP update in full:

I hope you are well. Thank you for contacting me about Gloucestershire Constabulary’s sudden suspension of firearms license applications and the delay of at least 24 months if you have already submitted your application. I am fully aware of the detrimental impact this can have on your livelihoods, both personally and professionally, and due to this I asked a question in the House of Commons Chamber to the Leader of the House Lucy Powell, asking how the government can support business owners during this disruption.

I have also sent a letter to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, the Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson and the Interim Gloucestershire Chief Constable Maggie Blyth to express my dismay at this issue and urging them to take suitable, immediate action. It is deeply frustrating that law-abiding firearms owners and businesses are being subjected to these unreasonable delays, which not only cause financial strain but also undermine confidence in the efficiency of the licensing process. I have made it clear in my communications that these delays are unacceptable, and that urgent action is needed to restore order and efficiency to the system.

Please rest assured that I will continue to push for answers and work to ensure that the government takes immediate and meaningful steps to resolve this situation. In the meantime, I encourage you to keep me informed of any further developments or specific issues you are encountering, as this will help me in my ongoing efforts to highlight the impact of these delays on your business and others like it.

Thank you once again for bringing this matter to my attention. I remain committed to supporting you and your industry in any way I can, and I shall inform you of any progress in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Bishop MP
Member of Parliament for the Forest of Dean
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
 
Liveonce said:
No. Surly one letter from BASC representing 55,000? members will sort the problem.

but if not where do BASC, or other shooting organisation draw the line, how long has Gloucestershire got to stop issuing new certificates for, one month, two months, six months, one year before its decide that raising the issue with the policing minster is not having a result?

What if the legal advice the police receive concludes it’s not illegal to temporarily for two years to stop issuing new licences, what then?
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From reviewing the latest Home Office stats I understand there were 10,070 shotgun certificates and 2,567 firearm certificates on issue as of 31 March 2024. Happy to be corrected if I read the data incorrectly (you have to use drop down menus and tick boxes by force area in each relevant Table):

https://assets.publishing.service.g...rtificates-england-wales-2023-2024-tables.ods

As mentioned in comments above the PCC and MPs have been receiving emails/letters from constituents and that is having a positive influence in leading to the issues being resolved.
 
Happy to be corrected I thought the failure of a person in a public office to discharge a statutory public duty is an offence as all statutory duties carry no qualification .
Secondly if it is actually “an unlawful act” why has this not been investigated, surely the chief Constable would have taken legal advice before taking such actions?
 
Liveonce said:
Have you ever met your MP face to face on firearms related matters? if not arrange a meeting it will be an experience.

Having done so several times on firearms related matters including Michael Howard the then Home Secretary who was banning Pistols at the time, lots of members at the Club did likewise.
We are insignificant to them. When did your MP last write in the local newspaper or social media one word on anything positive to do with firearms? I would bet never, but plenty of words and pictures on all sorts of other local matters.
They distance themselves from us as far and as quickly as they can.
The only satisfaction I ever got out of the meetings with Michael Howard was when at the next election he knocked on my door asking for my vote of support and I politely told him like the support you gave me when we discussed the pistol ban and shut the door on him.

Have you ever made a formal complaint against your Chief Constable via your PCC to do with firearms licensing and had an inspector handle the complaint? I have.

Only a few months a ago an FEO told me BASC like to think they are able to influence policy but they don’t.

Would Wild Justice be using the JR process if they thought getting all of the many that donate money to them writing to MPs would have the same result? I guess the difference is they don’t care if they upset the establishment.
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This shows the benefit of voting for a local MP who actually talks about the constituency they represent rather than just voting for whoever the local blue/red/reform candidate is and are concerned about national topics.
 
nun_hunter said:
This shows the benefit of voting for a local MP who actually talks about the constituency they represent rather than just voting for whoever the local blue/red/reform candidate is and are concerned about national topics.
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Nigel Farage goes shooting and fishing actually bumped into him several years back on Sandgate beech fishing he took time to stop and talk, he was a MEP at the time.
 
Triggermortis said:
Happy to be corrected I thought the failure of a person in a public office to discharge a statutory public duty is an offence as all statutory duties carry no qualification .
Secondly if it is actually “an unlawful act” why has this not been investigated, surely the chief Constable would have taken legal advice before taking such actions?
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Misconduct in Public Office.

Misconduct in Public Office | The Crown Prosecution Service

www.cps.gov.uk www.cps.gov.uk
 
Twodogs said:
Misconduct in Public Office.
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Always confusing...

Nonfeasance is defined as the intentional failure to perform a required duty or obligation.

Misfeasance is when someone performs an action incorrectly or a legal act performed in an illegal manner.

Malfeasance is when a party causes injury to another party on purpose.
 
Liveonce said:
Nigel Farage goes shooting and fishing actually bumped into him several years back on Sandgate beech fishing he took time to stop and talk, he was a MEP at the time.
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And voting for him directly if they live in Clacton may have been a good idea depending what you want from your local MP.

I think too many voters choose a candidate based on a political party rather than who the individual is and what they want to try and achieve locally.

The Labour, Reform and Tory candidates in my area only talked about their party and what it could do for the country but failed to mention the local area. It was only the Green Party and the independents who actually spoke about the local area and how they wanted to help and make a change.
 
nun_hunter said:
And voting for him directly if they live in Clacton may have been a good idea depending what you want from your local MP.

I think too many voters choose a candidate based on a political party rather than who the individual is and what they want to try and achieve locally.

The Labour, Reform and Tory candidates in my area only talked about their party and what it could do for the country but failed to mention the local area. It was only the Green Party and the independents who actually spoke about the local area and how they wanted to help and make a change.
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I know. I thought I was going mad when I actually started considering voting green a couple of years ago.

Nobody reads local MP literature, they just read the party manifesto (if that) and vote.

I bet labour and conservatives could swap manifestos and publish them, and still receive mostly the same votes from the same voters
 
Jh1986 said:
I know. I thought I was going mad when I actually started considering voting green a couple of years ago.

Nobody reads local MP literature, they just read the party manifesto (if that) and vote.

I bet labour and conservatives could swap manifestos and publish them, and still receive mostly the same votes from the same voters
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Likewise. The Tory candidate just talked about immigration and the economy while the Labour one simply said "well I'm not a Tory and you've seen the mess they made so vote for me" whilst Reform was a combination of the two. They had no interest in their constituency, only that they wanted to be elected and sit in Westminster.

I am in no doubt that the Green party would not be good as a majority government, but the candidate in my area seemed to have some good policies and areas to improve.
 
Update from office of Cameron Thomas. MP for Tewkesbury:

Thank you for your email. Firstly let me apologise for the delay in replying. I have been waiting to get confirmation from various bodies on meetings with Cameron regarding this matter.

Cameron is aware of the many issues that Gloucestershire Constabulary are facing at the moment and has been liaising with other local MPs and the Police and Crime Commissioner. He has also spoken to members of the police and crime panel (for Gloucestershire) and we are pushing for a meeting with the interim Chief Constable.
 
The problem will be that even if they succumb to pressure and nominally “lift” the freeze without fixing the licensing department it’ll be completely pointless

A two year wait for an FAC is a ban in all but name
 
So, in the time honoured tradition it needs.......letters to The Times, letters to MP's, and even to the PM (if he had time to read them between his foreign junkets, and thinking of new ways to screw us!!)
 
If in the event of a major incident a police force can request assistance from surrounding forces, why not on this occasion, had BASC thought of asking that question of the Gloustershire PCC @conner ?
 
You would like to think ALL areas have contingency plans in place for ALL events that they can control such as staffing shortages as in this case
 
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