Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the average time taken to process firearm licence applications in rural areas.

The issuing of firearms certificates is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and they are held to account by Police and Crime Commissioners.

However, the performance of forces is being actively monitored by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for firearms licensing, Deputy Chief Constable David Gardner, who is developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams.