To be fair - the S7 issues are likely in leu of actual certs.@gixer1 your figures are way off.
figures as of March 2023;
147140 Firearms Certificates
500894 Shotgun Certificates
2822 RFD
1519 Visitor Firearms permits issued in year from April 22-March 23
4673 Visitor Shotgun permits "" "" "" ""
3106 S7 Firearm Certificates "" "" "" ""
8062 S7 Shotgun Certificates. "" "" "" ""
That is way more than the 54 per month per force, more like 54 per week just on Firearm, Shotgun and RFD renewals and grants per week based on a 5 year renewal period, and the other stuff is on top of that figure and then add variations on top of that.
Sorry Len, missed your post pointing this out
How much work is involved in a firearms certificate?
- Thread starter gixer1
- Start date
As much as I agree - to be fair, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of officers to stand around the protesters or turn up to hotels….
Me.
I don’t know how they can do it for £68 or whatever it is now.Me.
We should be demanding that they charge more and just get the job done properly.
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
So insufficient resources are allocated for the task?
Then systemic delays are policy.
Druid
Well-Known Member
The money wouldn’t be ring fenced and would disappear into other parts of police funds and the firearms licensing service would be not one jot better than it is now.
That’s how it works unfortunately.
dropmdead
Well-Known Member
As mentioned on my first post, I would happily pay more, given it's over 5 years, but the service received by my local force has never been in question of excellence.
I normally reserve words like "flabbergasted" , "exemplary" and "in awe" for special occasions, but this is the continued service always provided by the local office.
ColinJ
Well-Known Member
Government policy if you want to label it so.
My local force, Sussex, have been told to make a further £21m in cuts this year.
They can't.
A paper application for a passport costs £94 and lasts for 10 years.
Compare that to the amount of work that goes into issuing a FAC or SGC, medical checks, visits, interviews, security check, chasing of referees, land checks, full NPC checks, signing off be a CC, etc.....
I reckon the true price with salary + on costs, overheads,, light, heat, IT support, mileage etc would be in the region of £160 - £220 for a grant or renewal.
We get a service that reflects the price that we pay and that is heavily subsidised by the tax payer as the license system is supposed to guarantee public safety.
Len the dog
Well-Known Member
Throwing money at the problem rarely works with government departments, the problem we have is that there is still, after over 150 years of firearms licensing, no standardised training course for those employed to implement the system. If they were to suddenly double the licence fees, nothing would change as there is no training available that would get all of the licensing departments on the same page.
Considering it is meant to oversee something as important to public safety as the ownership of firearms by private individuals, the whole system is a total farce.
Considering it is meant to oversee something as important to public safety as the ownership of firearms by private individuals, the whole system is a total farce.
The fee for grants/renewals bears no correlation to the performance of the various firearms departments. Some can do it nice and timely and some take over a year. So any increase in fees in the hope that it would make those who can’t manage to be timely would never be successful.
However, you could argue that it’s not enough for the work that needs done. But also remember that the licensing system for firearms is a method of ensuring (as far as possible) public safety. Which is a core duty of the police, for which governments, central and local finance them anyway.
However, you could argue that it’s not enough for the work that needs done. But also remember that the licensing system for firearms is a method of ensuring (as far as possible) public safety. Which is a core duty of the police, for which governments, central and local finance them anyway.
Loki
Well-Known Member
Interesting thread.
Dont forget the inordinate amount of unnecessary wasted time from conditons that are regularly foisted upon us, totally contrary to Firearms Law and 'guidance' on its application (which the HO have issued for good reason at taxpayers cost) that is totally ignored due to Licenisng Teams 'interpreting' the 'guidance' to suit and is subsequently challenged...........
Dont forget the inordinate amount of unnecessary wasted time from conditons that are regularly foisted upon us, totally contrary to Firearms Law and 'guidance' on its application (which the HO have issued for good reason at taxpayers cost) that is totally ignored due to Licenisng Teams 'interpreting' the 'guidance' to suit and is subsequently challenged...........
ColinJ
Well-Known Member
Can you give us an example please?
Clearing land for a calibre.
Police Scotland seem to do fine without that ridiculous requirement.
ColinJ
Well-Known Member
I have to disagree. Police Scotland don’t have the population and housing density that England does.
So what? All centefire calibres are potentially dangerous to a broadly similar degree and the calibre has very little to do with it. It is a completely useless activity.
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