FOI 217/25 Firearms licensing

Enquiry Reference: 217 - 25                                                                         

I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request. Below is your request and our response.

• Will your police force/constabulary be ring-fencing the extra income from the latest firearms licensing fee increase to the firearms licensing functions?

Answer

Having made enquiries within the Force, we do not currently directly align the amount of funding received from firearms licensing to deliver firearm licensing functions. The amount of income we receive in Cleveland is on an annual basis and not sufficient to fund 1 FTE. The delivery of the function will need to be addressed independently of the income and resourced in line with an assessment of Threat, Risk, Harm and Demand by the Chief Constable and resourced appropriately on this basis and not as a direct link to this income.

• What improvements will you be making to streamline the system and reduce delays in grant and renewal?
• Will you be looking to recruit additional staff and if so how many and in what function?

Answer

The above are not valid questions under Section 8 of the Freedom of information act. The act only extents to request for recorded information and not opinions or explanations.

The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Decision Maker