Proposed new certificate fees

[Mike2]

The last proposal by the Assocation of Chief Police Officers to increase the fees for certification came to naught, but now a new paper has been put to the Home Office, and may well be considered seriously -

See
http://psa.bizhosting.com/whats_new.html

This one is more worrying as it includes charge for things that have not attracted fees before, and even ties the fee to police pay increases.

[Robin128]

Thanks for the heads up Mike!



£212 for co-terminus renewal! Love to see their costings. Bet the service will still be shoite. These increases at a time of recession will kill off the sport.

£378 for application for both???

[20series]

2/12/11 - Another proposed rise in certificate fees!

A paper hase been put to the Home Office by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Asking for a phased increase in fees for firearm & shotgun certificates.

The FULL cost recovery they want is :
FAC Grant - £189
SGC Grant - £189
FAC renewal - £106
SGC renewal - £106
Variation to FAc - £96


BUT they want the rise phased over five years -in the first year, they want the fees to rise as follows:
FAC Grant - £93.80
SGC grant - 93.80
FAC renewal - £66
SGC renewal - £66

We assume there will be a similar rise every year for five years until the £189 grant figure is attained - BUT then they want the costs to be tied to rises in police pay.
They are also asking for fees for things that currently we don't pay for, like changing your address on your certificate, European Firearms Passes, etc.

Probably the worst charge they want to impose is £19 for a temporary certificate. Now that may not sound at all important, but then you have to look at when these permits (called "section 7 permits") are issued: They are issued to the widow or widower of a certificate holder who has died so that he or she can possess, then sell or transfer the deceased's guns; very nice of the police to demand a fee in these circumstances.

That may be bad enough, but the other time a section 7 permit is issued is when someone has applied for the renewal of their certificate and the police haven't been able to renew it in time. They surely cannot be asking us to pay for their inefficiency? Are they so insensitive that they haven't thought of this?

The paper does admit that the current system has "existing inefficiencies" (don't you love the great British talent for understatement?) and therefore goes on to offer suggestions to improve it.


So what are these improvements?

Online grant or renewal forms
Automatic calculation of fees online
Automatic checking of intelligence data
A form of tracking so that we can "see" how our applications are progressing
The ability to transfer an application from a firearms enquiry office on leave or off sick to another
Certificates sent electronically
electronic communications from firearm enquiry officer to their office
Soon, it may be time to write to your MP.....

[Robin128]

Can you imagine them spec'ing those systems properly and coming in within budget???

OMG!

[ovenpaa]

Crikey, that is not cheap!

[Robin128]

Some may have to sell a gun to pay for the renewal fees ... and forget variations...not good news for Dromia's business.

[dromia]

Does variations also mean 1-for-1s also?

[Robin128]

That's not clear. :x

Watch this be a revenue raiser and a sport killer at the same time.

And I'm just wondering what the political angle will be on this.

:-P

[IainWR]

Ladies and Gentlemen

Just to let you know that I have received a copy of the ACPO FELWG submission via Mike Eveleigh of BASC.

It will receive my careful consideration, and I am sure that there will be interest at higher levels in the NRA.

Iain
Firearms Liaison Officer
NRA

easier to post here than start a new thread in NRA

[Robin128]

And I can't wait to hear what BASC have to say about it.

:)