Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging (i) shotgun and (ii) rifle licensing systems on (a) Police Firearms forces and (b) the number of officers dealing with applications.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging (i) shotgun and (ii) rifle licensing systems on people undertaking wildlife management.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging (i) shotgun and (ii) rifle licensing systems on clay target shooting businesses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging (i) shotgun and (ii) rifle licensing systems on the backlog for firearms licensing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the licensing regime for shotgun ownership on the rural economy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 104116 on Firearms Licensing, whether the government will set out a timeline for publication of the consultation on firearms licensing; and whether the impact assessment will be published alongside the consultation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will be publishing the public consultation paper on strengthening the controls on shotguns shortly.
The Government will provide the necessary impact assessments in due course, depending on whether we decide to make any changes following the consultation.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of aligning shotgun and firearm licensing systems on (a) the rural economy, (b) legitimate sporting shooting and (c) essential wildlife management and crop protection.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward during the consultation once it is completed, before deciding whether and what changes are necessary in the interests of public safety. We will also provide an impact assessment in relation to any changes that we intend to bring forward after the consultation including, as appropriate, impact on the police, the rural economy, sports, wildlife management and crop protection, in the normal way.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of aligning shotgun and firearm licensing systems on (a) public safety and (b) police licensing resource capacity.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward during the consultation once it is completed, before deciding whether and what changes are necessary in the interests of public safety. We will also provide an impact assessment in relation to any changes that we intend to bring forward after the consultation including, as appropriate, impact on the police, the rural economy, sports, wildlife management and crop protection, in the normal way.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he had had with the PSNI on the time taken to process FAC renewals and applications.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
While I meet regularly with the Chief Constable and his senior team regarding national security, and a range of issues, I have a limited role in relation to certain appeals against the decision of the Chief Constable not to issue firearms licences. The issuing of firearms licences is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing a defined timeframe for GPs to complete the necessary licensing forms for shotguns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Medical checks are an important part of the firearms licensing process to ensure that the police have all relevant medical information before them as part of their assessment of the suitability of an applicant for a firearm or shotgun certificate.
There is no defined timeframe for GPs to complete the medical proforma, which is a matter between the applicant and their GP.
Since the Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing was introduced on 1 November 2021 it has been a requirement that medical information be provided as part of all firearms licensing applications submitted to the police.