National Police Chiefs Council

Disputed (AI summary) Dorset Police will provide additional training to further enhance the quality of FEO investigations through the national Professionalising Investigations Programme at level 1 over the next 18 months. A presentation of the key learning from the incident to a CPD event for all Firearms Licensing Managers will be delivered in May 2023. Avon and Somerset Police completed a review and found no cases where approval should not have been granted. They are reviewing their training requirements and will be implementing additional mandatory training for all staff, including PiP Level 1 training. North Wales Police will review cases over the last 5 years where applications have been refused or licenses revoked, but where subsequent applications or appeals resulted in a grant, aiming to complete this by 2nd October 2023. They highlight existing processes for quality control and previous review work undertaken. Merseyside Police firearms enquiry officers have completed the South Yorkshire Police training package and are enrolled on Mowbray Partners online training. They will also review cases within one month where firearms were seized or surrendered but subsequently returned, and applications refused/licenses revoked but later granted, aiming to complete this by 2nd October 2023. South Wales Police is reviewing approximately 1300 records where certificate holders were subject to a suitability review to determine if certificates were seized, surrendered, revoked or refused and subsequently approved. They are also working with Gwent Police to align processes, conduct peer reviews, and arrange an annual peer assessment of firearms licensing approvals. North Yorkshire Police has established a Gold group to oversee their response and commenced a review of records relating to certificates seized, refused, revoked, or surrendered and then subsequently approved over the last 5 years, aiming for completion by October 2nd. They are developing an Action Plan to manage the response and record decisions. Lancashire Constabulary has commenced a review of all certificates refused, revoked, seized or surrendered and then subsequently approved over the past 5 years, against the March 2023 Home Office Statutory Guidance, expected to be completed by the end of October 2023. They have also introduced process and scrutiny changes, including a dedicated Chief Inspector responsible for Firearms Licensing and training for staff. Greater Manchester Police will review between 70-80 cases at Senior Officer Panel, for the five-year period, where certificates have been seized, refused, revoked or surrendered and then subsequently approved and guns returned. The Firearms Licensing Manager and Detective Sergeant will attend a two-day continuous professional development (CPD) event delivered by Chief Constable Tedds at the College of Policing on the 18th and 19th May 2023. The College of Policing is developing significantly revised and updated Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on firearms licensing. This will underpin the development of a national training course for staff involved in firearms licensing. Surrey Police will review firearms and shotgun licensing prioritizing cases where firearms have been seized or surrendered and then returned; it will review most recent decisions first and applications that have been refused or licences revoked but where subsequent applications/appeals resulted in a grant. An additional resource has been seconded into the department to expedite this review and provide a full report by 2nd October 2023. Gloucestershire Constabulary will conduct a review of firearms licensing decisions, as per the letter from the NPCC lead, with a target completion date of 2 October 2023. Norfolk Constabulary will commission external training for Firearms Licensing Unit staff starting in May 2023. They will also conduct a review of certificates seized, refused, revoked, or surrendered and then subsequently approved, prioritizing cases not already subject to renewal, with a dip-sample approach to other cases. Essex Police is reviewing decisions to return firearms licenses over a five-year period, prioritizing cases where firearms were seized or surrendered and then returned. They have implemented local training for firearms licensing staff, including a lesson plan developed collaboratively with Kent Police, and external auditors will review the team's compliance. Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police have instructed a review of firearms seized and returned, certificate holders refused or revoked then successfully reapplied, and holders subject to police intelligence reports over the last five years. New role-specific training is being undertaken by all Firearms Explosives Licencing Unit staff, and an external training package has been purchased. Sussex Police's Firearms and Explosives Licencing Unit believes its process for the return of a certificate is suitably stringent and is catered for within a force policy; the team is working with the national NPCC lead and the College of Policing in developing a national curriculum and learning outcomes for Firearms Enquiry Officers, and will be active participants at the two day CPD event hosted by the College of Policing in May 2023. Kent Police will review 134 firearms licensing cases where certificates were returned after seizure/surrender, or granted after refusal/revocation, assessing them against the current Home Office Statutory Guidance. Local firearms licensing training, including refresher courses and mentoring, is provided, with plans to develop a lesson plan with Essex Police by the end of August 2023. West Mercia Police will review firearms licensing decisions related to returns, refusals, revocations, and surrenders over the past five years, aiming to complete the review by the end of October. A designated team, including a firearms instructor and tactical advisor, will conduct the review. Staffordshire Police and West Midlands Police (collaborated service) provided tables that outline certificates seized and returned, revoked, and refused. They have a series of scheduled quality assurance programmes in relation to internal and external audits over decision making. Devon and Cornwall Police invested £3 million into the force's Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit (FELU). In 2023, training is planned, including integrating firearms licensing into practical scenarios for Personal Safety Training and presenting key learning from the incident at CPD events. The Lord Chief Justice acknowledges the concerns but states that the report does not substantiate the suggestion that judges are not giving appeals the necessary careful and detailed consideration, are applying the incorrect legal test, or are failing to have regard to the statutory guidance. Nottinghamshire Police has identified a dedicated resource to review firearms licensing cases where firearms were seized/surrendered and later returned, or where licenses were refused/revoked and later granted. A sample of cases from a 2021 review will be independently re-reviewed, and all reviews will be completed by 2 October 2023. Durham Constabulary details their history of firearms licensing reform following a 2013 report and states that they are satisfied that their review of decisions to return firearms to licence holders after seizure or surrender was appropriate and subjected to the appropriate level of scrutiny and oversight. Northamptonshire Police will prioritise reviewing cases where firearms have been seized/surrendered and then returned, and cases where applications were refused/licenses revoked but later granted, completing this by 2nd October 2023. They have secured temporary resources and engaged external companies to audit the unit. City of London Police acknowledge the findings and learnings from the Keyham Inquest and will review their SOP to ensure procedures for Application / Annual Renewal / Return meet or exceed common national standards, including robust checks across medical, crime recording and Risk Assessment. Risk assessment training and CPD training for all licensing team will be implemented on an annual cycle. The Metropolitan Police expresses condolences and describes existing processes for reviewing firearms licensing decisions, including reviews conducted in August 2021, and states they are contributing to national discussions on firearms licensing training. They explain the process used to identify cases for review following the Home Secretary's request. Leicestershire Police will review cases from April 2023 for the past 5 years where certificates were seized, refused, revoked or surrendered and then subsequently approved, prioritizing cases where firearms were seized or surrendered. The review will be conducted by individuals independent from the original decision makers and findings will be reported to the strategic lead for Firearms Licensing. Staffordshire Police (and West Midlands Police, as part of a collaborated service) detail existing training for staff, including the National Triage Firearms Classification Course and Police National Decision Model training. They also refer to the review of certificates seized, refused, revoked or surrendered and subsequently approved. The Home Office is allocating £500,000 to the College of Policing to develop accredited training for firearms licensing staff. They will consult on mandating this training and are working to address health information sharing, in consultation with medical bodies. Thames Valley Police will review seized and returned guns over a 5-year period, grants that have been revoked/refused/surrendered, and applications refused/revoked but subsequently granted via appeal. The aim is to complete these stages by 2 October 2023. Devon and Cornwall Police completed a review of 611 license holders identified as meeting the criteria of having certificates seized, refused, revoked or surrendered and then subsequently approved between May 2018 and December 2019. Eleven of these cases identified internal processes that did not meet expected standards, but no ongoing risks were identified. Suffolk Constabulary will review cases relating to certificates issued between April 2019 and August 2020. For other periods, they will dip-sample cases, with a wider review if concerns are identified, and highlight prior review work undertaken in Autumn 2021. Dyfed Powys Police will undertake a further review of decision files where firearms have been seized following any incident and subsequently returned to the holder. They welcome and support the recommendation of the Coroner to formalise a training programme to encompass all Firearms roles and responsibilities. Derbyshire Police has implemented IT system improvements for recording and sharing information, ensuring automatic notifications to the firearms licensing team for incidents involving license holders. They are developing a digital learning package for frontline officers and are exploring an independent scrutiny panel. Warwickshire Police states that they have already responded to the Home Secretary's request in 2021 regarding license applications that were refused or revoked but subsequently granted. The force will direct a review of firearms and shotgun licensing, prioritizing cases where firearms were seized or surrendered but then returned.