§ Lord Geddesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to change the level of firearms fees and extend the period of validity of a firearm or shotgun certificate.
§ Lord AnnalyWe have been reviewing the level of fees under the Firearms Acts and considering whether the life of a firearm or shotgun certificate should be increased. As a result of this, my right honourable friend will be laying an order in both Houses in the autumn increasing the following fees:
Current Fee Proposed New Fee Firearm certificate Issue 46 56 Shotgun certificate Issue 17 43 Renew 11 18 Registered firearm dealer Issue of certificate 94 118 Home Office club approval l33 84 The following fees will remain at their current level:
£ Firearm certificate renewal 46 Firearm certificate variation 26 Firearms certificate replacement 9 Shotgun certificate replacement 8 Registered firearm dealer renewal 50 Register dealer in new area for purposes of game fair, etc. 12 Individual British visitor's permit 12 Group British visitor's permit 60 Museum licence 1200 Grant of coterminous certificate 5 1Maximum. My right honourable friend also intends to lay an order before both Houses in the autumn increasing the life of firearm and shotgun certificates from three to five years, using the power granted to him by the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1992.
My right honourable friend intends that both orders will take effect from 1st January 1995.
The proposed fee levels are designed to reflect the cost to the police service of operating the system, taking into account the best practice guidelines for
48WA
Number of defendants prosecuted for the offence of cycling on footpaths1 by result 1980–1992 England and Wales Type of sentence Year Total prosecutions Total convictions Absolute discharge Conditional discharge Fine Supervision order Otherwise dealt with 1980 1,817 1,765 31 41 1,693 — — 1981 1,859 1,808 26 41 1,741 — — 1982 1,519 1,4889 28 1,441 — — 1983 1.844 1,773 32 53 1,687 — 1 1984 2,079 1,990 36 69 1,885 — — 1985 1,248 1,198 26 21 1,151 — — 1986 1,010 936 14 14 907 1 — 1987 541 502 9 17 476 — — 1988 585 549 8 9 531 1 — 1989 453 402 7 18 376 — 1 1990 483 438 11 6 420 — 1 administering the firearms licensing system which we issued to chief officers in 1991 and a subsequent costing exercise undertaken by the consultants Ernst and Young.
In calculating costs we have assumed that police forces are already well on the way to operating best practice and will continue to make efficiency savings during the five year period over which costs have been calculated. In the case of shotgun fees, the cost of additional checks required since the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 is reflected for the first time. In particular, on first application, the police must make a home visit to make sure that the requirement for safekeeping at all times is satisfied. The increase for issue of a shotgun certificate amounts to only £3 per year over the five year period of certificate life. The fee for renewal of a shotgun certificate remains almost exactly the same per year as it is now.
Those shooters who take advantage of the coterminous certificate arrangements will be better off, as they will still pay £51 for five-year certificates instead of three-year certificates.
Without these increases there would be a shortfall in income of some £8 million over the five years to meet the police costs, a shortfall which would have to be met at the expense of some other police activity.
My right honourable friend has today placed a copy of the Ernst & Young report Firearms Licensing Costs in the Library of both Houses.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will be making a similar separate order in relation to fees in Scotland.