My Lords, I will at least attempt to be concise. The Bill deals with relatively narrow issues around Home Office licensing fees for firearms, but I will also talk about police licence fees for guns. These amendments seek to ensure that the full costs of licensing are recovered. In the previous Parliament we argued for full cost recovery in the light of a current taxpayer subsidy for gun ownership of some £17 million a year. The police have estimated that the cost of licensing a firearm is nearly four times the fee charged. A higher fee was introduced just prior to the last general election following negotiations with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation—rather than following an independent review—but it was still less than half the cost of licensing a firearm based on the police figures. These amendments require the Secretary of State to set the cost of a licence fee for prohibited weapons, pistol clubs and museums at full cost to the taxpayer, but we expect the Government to extend this requirement of full cost recovery to Section 1 firearms and the police.
12.15 pm
When this matter was debated in the Commons, the Government said that once the new police online system, e-commerce, was introduced, fees would recover the full cost of licensing. Can they say when the new online system will be introduced, whether the full costs of licensing will be charged from the day it comes in, and what they consider the fees for police licences will have to be increased to in order to cover the full costs? Can they also say why it is necessary to await the introduction of the new online system? The fees were increased in April last year but still left a significant taxpayer subsidiary; why can they not be increased now to cover the full cost of licensing, and, if necessary, subsequently reduced accordingly if the new online system does reduce the cost of licensing a firearm? Why should scarce police financial resources have to be spent on subsidising gun ownership rather than on fighting crime?
In respect of the Home Office licence fees, the Government said in the Commons that,
“the authorisation and licensing of prohibited weapons, shooting clubs and museums costs the taxpayer an estimated £700,000 a year”.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/4/16; col. 259.]
However, the Government then said that the Bill,
“will create a consistent set of charging powers across all Home Office firearms licences and authorities. The Government’s intention is that licence holders, and not the taxpayer, should pay the full cost”.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/4/16; col. 259.]
When do the Government intend that Home Office licence holders will start to pay the full costs of licensing, and by how much do they estimate fees will have to be increased to cover these costs? Why is there is a need
for any extended delay in raising Home Office licence fees to a level which eliminates any taxpayer subsidiary. I beg to move.