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<p>The Government is committed to ensuring an efficient and effective firearms licensing
system and to achieving full cost recovery for the police and Home Office. Fees for
firearm and shotgun certificates issued by the police were last increased in 2015.
The increase followed a public consultation which included an impact assessment setting
out estimated costs, which can be found on gov.uk. The fee levels were calculated
with a view to enabling police forces to move closer to full cost recovery when a
police-led online licensing system is introduced. The police began trialling an on-line
application portal in selected forces late last year. Delays with introducing online
licensing make it difficult to accurately identify costs at this time but we will
carry out a comprehensive review of the fees in 2020.</p><p>Applications for licences
to possess prohibited firearms, for approved shooting clubs, and museums with firearms
collections, are administered by the Home Office and Scottish Government. The Policing
and Crime Act 2017 created a power to charge new fees for these licences. We sought
views on proposals for the new fees in a public consultation in 2017. The consultation
was accompanied by an impact assessment, which set out the estimated net costs of
the system. We have reviewed the proposed level of fees in discussion with groups
representing licensed firearms holders and we intend to announce the outcome shortly.</p>
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