§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the level of fees for firearms and shotgun certificates is designed only to recover the actual costs of the police for administering the controls as laid down by the Firearms Act 1968; and
Whether the current fee levels are based on timings contained in the Working Party Report into the administration of the Firearms Act 1968, whether they would explain how the working party arrived at the timings contained in their report, and the calculations that were made to fix the current fees.
The Earl of CaithnessAs my noble friend Lord Glenarthur said on 9th July during the debate on the 1249WA Firearms (Variation of Fees) Order 1986, and as reported in the Official Report at columns 361 and 362, the joint Home Office and Association of Chief Police Officers Working Party in 1984 drew up a series of standardised procedures in the form of worksheets. They recommended that these be used to review the level of fees to recover the cost of administering the firearm licensing system. The fee levels now specified in the order have been costed strictly on the basis of those worksheets with the exception of the shotgun issue and renewal fee. In accordance with the working party recommendation, the shotgun issue fee would have been subject to a slight reduction and the renewal fee would have increased slightly, but since the one would have balanced the other in terms of total cost recovery it was decided not to vary them.