Question
Expansion of existing charging framework for police services and what those services might be. ACC McNally advised that legislation is different than England & Wales and would ask ACC Jones to provide a response.
Answer
A significant increase in firearms licensing fees came into effect for Home Office forces in England and Wales on 5 February 2025, under th Firearms (Variation of Fees) Order 2025. This adjustment aims to enable police forces to fully recover the costs associated with administering these licences. These adjustments represent a substantial increase from the previous fees. For example, the grant of a firearms certificate has risen from £88 to £198, and a shotgun certificate from £79.50 to £194.
Prior to this the fees in GB were last changed in 2014. The fees in Northern Ireland were put in place in 2004 under The Firearms (NI) Order 2004 and have remained unchanged since that time.
PSNI Firearms and Explosives Branch has sought legislative change for many years and in June 2025 completed a data collection exercise at the request of DOJ in order that the matter of the fee increase could be progressed. To date there is no update on a likely timescale and the issue remains with DOJ for consideration.
The changes to the online application platform have been part of a major upgrade which now facilitates many aspects of the applicant’s personal details being auto populated, leading to a much faster and efficient experience whilst making an application.
These changes had been sought by the firearms community for many years and we were keen to facilitate this once a secure IT solution was identified and created within PSNI.
Frank McManus