Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support she is providing to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire Police to tackle backlogs in processing shotgun licences.

The issuing of firearm and shotgun certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the processing of licensing applications are matters for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.

On 9 January 2026, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) issued an accelerated cause of concern notice to the Chief Constables of Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary, who are involved in a tripartite firearms licensing arrangement. The three Chief Constables responded to HMICFRS’ request and they set out in an action plan how they intended to address the issues set out in the notice within 28 working days. We expect delivery of this action plan to lead to continued improvements in reducing firearms licensing delays across the three force areas.

The Government has taken action to increase firearms licensing fees to provide full-cost recovery for licensing applications considered by police forces. The increases took effect on 5 February 2025 and this was the first increase in fees for ten years. The Home Office wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the increased fees must be used to support improvements in firearms licensing by police forces The Government has also committed to more regular reviews of licensing fees, and for the first time there will be increases based on the annual Consumer Price Index, and on this basis, the most recent increases in licensing fees came into effect on 6 June 2026.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for firearms licensing now publishes quarterly performance data for all police forces in England and Wales, including performance against an expectation that applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates should be completed within four months. We welcome this greater transparency and efforts to improve performance, while recognising that public safety must remain the priority and all suitability checks must be completed properly.