Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received from shooting sports organisations on the cost of obtaining shotgun and firearms certificates; and if she will take steps to ensure that the cost of obtaining such certificates does not rise at a rate above inflation.

Representations were received from a range of stakeholders, including a number of shooting organisations, in response to the Government’s consultation on firearms fees in Great Britain, published in November 2014. The majority of respondents (73%) agreed with the proposals.

In the response to the consultation published on 12 March the Government confirmed it would reconvene the Home Office Fees Working Group, which has representation from shooting organisations, to oversee the review of the fees on an annual basis. Government guidance on setting fees is clear that fees should be set to recover the full cost associated with providing the service to ensure that the government neither profits at the expense of consumers nor makes a loss for taxpayers to subsidise.