§ Mr. Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has yet made a decision about the proposals to increase fees for firearms certificates; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitelawI have considered this matter very carefully in the light of the many representations I have received, including those which the British Shooting Sports Council made to me at my meeting with it on 11 October. Much of the criticism that there has been of proposed increases has centred on the differences in the costings supplied by the sample of police forces involved, and the variation this suggests there is in the way forces administer the licensing system. This is something which the forthcoming joint working party of the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers—the establishment of which I announced on 28 July—will be looking into. In the circumstances, the Government have decided not to increase fee levels for the time being. They will consider the matter again in the light of the report of the working party and on the basis of the principle that fees should recover the full costs of operating the licensing system.