Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Deferred
It has been said that Scotland’s system for processing firearms licence applications is “among the...
Conclusion
It has been said that Scotland’s system for processing firearms licence applications is “among the best in the UK”.43 While police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have experienced delays in granting and renewing firearms licences, this is not the case in Scotland.44 Superintendent Steven Duncan, Head of National Firearms and Explosives Licensing for Police Scotland, told us that this is partly because Police Scotland (which has combined local police forces under one umbrella) can spread cases between different processing centres.45 In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, individual forces of different sizes must carry their own workload, using different approaches.46 This is, in part, because of the automated nature of Scotland’s system. Assistant Chief Constable Alan Spiers, Strategic Firearms Commander for Police Scotland, told us that Police Scotland is “the only force in the UK”47 to introduce an automated system, which reduces the administration time involved in applications and renewals.48 Dr Colin Shedden, Director Scotland for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, told us that: 33 College of Policing, Firearms licensing, accessed 14 December 2022 34 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 14 35 Home Office, Guide on firearms licensing law, December 2021, page 4 36 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 6 37 Q193 38 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 10 39 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 5 40 Home Office, Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police, December 2021, page 12 41 Q65 42 Unlock, Shotgun and firearms licence, accessed 15 September 2022 43 Q155 44 British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Firearms licensing inconsistencies are sym
Government Response Summary
The government is consulting on the recommendations from the Committee, the Senior Coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon, and the IOPC, and will bring forward a further consultation on specific Government proposals on legislation if new legislation is deemed necessary.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The UK Government has looked at the recommendations from the Committee alongside Prevention of Future Deaths reports issued by the Senior Coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon on 8 March 2023, following the inquest into the deaths of those shot and killed by Jake Davison in Keyham, Plymouth, on 12 August 2021 and the report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following its investigation into Devon and Cornwall Police’s decision-making in relation to the possession of a shotgun and shotgun certificate by Jake Davison, published on 20 February 2023. You will have seen today that we started a consultation for eight weeks on the recommendations made to the Government in your report and those made by the Senior Coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon and the IOPC. The consultation is to invite responses to the recommendations that have been made and on which we are consulting. However, if we decide that new legislation is necessary in response to any of the recommendations, we will bring forward a further consultation on the specific Government proposals on legislation, accompanied by assessments of the impact of those changes on all those potentially affected.