Firearms Licensing (361A/22)
Request
Unless stated otherwise, all questions relate to the current position as of 1st March 2022
- How many staff work in the force’s Firearms Licencing Department (Full time equivalent)?
- How many of these are police officers?
- Are any other staff involved in work for the department (e.g. PCSOs doing enquiries or PNC staff doing background checks)? If so, how many and what are their roles?
- What training is provided to Firearms Enquiry Officers and by whom?
- Who holds the delegated authority of the chief officer under section 55 Firearms Act 1968 to grant/renew/refuse/revoke? How many staff have this delegated authority?
- What is the budget for the department?
- Is the budget ‘ringfenced’?
- Is Firearms Licencing Department as stand-alone department, or part of another business area?
- How many certificates have been extended under section 28B in last 12 months?
- How many Section 7 permits have been issued in the last 12 months due to expired certificates?
- Is the force currently accepting grant applications?
- What is the turnaround time for a grant?
- When is an application first recorded on National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS)? As soon as received? Once all enquiries have been completed? At some other stage in the process (please specify)?
- Are certificates ever ‘issued’ on National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS) prior to conducting statutory enquiries?
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see enclosed). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of the request.
Q1: How many staff work in the force’s Firearms Licencing Department (Full time equivalent)?
- full time equivalent
Q2: How many of these are police officers?
- (substantive posts)
Q3: Are any other staff involved in work for the department (e.g. PCSOs doing enquiries or PNC staff doing background checks)? If so, how many and what are their roles?
Yes 3 x Full time equivalent restricted officers undertaking outside enquiries
Q4: What training is provided to Firearms Enquiry Officers and by whom?
In house training – Police IT systems, Safe handling of firearms, ‘on the job’ training with mentors.
External – Explosives Liaison Officer Course (West Yorkshire Police)
Q5: Who holds the delegated authority of the chief officer under section 55 Firearms Act 1968 to grant/renew/refuse/revoke? How many staff have this delegated authority?
Firearms and Explosives Licensing Manager
- members of staff as per question 1
Q6: What is the budget for the department?
£666,269 per year for the collective for West Midlands Police and Staffordshire Police. The two Forces work together in relation to Firearms Licencing and because of this the budget cannot be split per Force area.
This has been the case since 2013.
Q7: Is the budget ‘ringfenced’?
Yes
Q8: Is Firearms Licencing Department as stand-alone department, or part of another business area?
No, it is not stand alone, it’s part of the Operations Department.
Q9: How many certificates have been extended under section 28B in last 12 months?
Each Section 1 renewal would need to be individually assessed in order to retrieve this information. Due to the number of renewals received this would exceed the 18-hour time limit for the FOI Act.
Information exempt Section 12 Cost
Q10: How many Section 7 permits have been issued in the last 12 months due to expired certificates?
Each Section 7 permit would need to be individually assessed in order to retrieve this information. Due to the number of renewals received this would exceed the 18-hour time limit for the FOI Act.
Information exempt Section 12 Cost
Q11: Is the force currently accepting grant applications?
Yes
Q12: What is the turnaround time for a grant?
- weeks approximately
Q13: When is an application first recorded on National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS)? As soon as received? Once all enquiries have been completed? At some other stage in the process (please specify)?
As soon as they are received (if completed correctly)
Q14: Are certificates ever ‘issued’ on National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS) prior to conducting statutory enquiries?
The possession of firearms and ammunition in Great Britain is regulated mainly by the Firearms Act 1968.
The Home Office guide on Firearms Licensing Law and Statutory guidance for Chief Officers of Police are published on the gov.uk website.
I would suggest that you read the hyperlink above in relation to this question for further reading.
To explain that further, s84 of FOIA relates to recorded information held by a public authority and that it does not extend to providing explanations unless the answers are already held in a recorded form.
“Information is defined in section 84 of the Act as ‘information recorded in any form’. The Act therefore only extends to requests for recorded information. It does not require public authorities to answer questions generally; only if they already hold the answers in recorded form. The Act does not extend to requests for information about policies or their implementation, or the merits or demerits of any proposal or action – unless, of course, the answer to any such request is already held in recorded form.” (Day vs ICO & DWP – EA/2006/0069 Final Decision)
Attachments
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