Firearms

Firearms licensing league table

Force Staff Budget FA certs SG certs Certs processed 21/22 Turn- around time (renewal) Turn- around time (grant) Average turn- around time Cost per cert Cert per staff Staff costs
A&S 18 464,400 6,400 21,173 5,323 (19.3%) 60 Days 144 Days 102 Days £87.24 295.7 £25,800
Bedfordshire 1,550 6,008 1,724 (22.8%) 37 Days 40 Days 38.5 Days
Cambridgeshire 2,961 11,522 3,202 (22.1%) 40 Days 45 Days 42.5 Days
Hertfordshire 2,310 9,655 2,849 (23.8%) 39 Days 40 Days 39.5 Days
BCH Combined 27 923,000 6,821 27,185 7,775 (22.8%) 39 Days 42 Days 40.5 Days £118.71 287.9 £34,185
Cheshire 2,737 10,658 2,626 (19.6%) 53 Days 86 Days 70 Days
Cleveland 3.1 107,700 1,188 2,868 883 (21.8%) 35 Days 48 Days 41.5 Days £121.97 284.8 £34,741
Cumbria 3,375 8,962 1,076 (8.7%) 179 Days 177 Days 178 Days
Derbyshire 5.6 3,442 11,945 3,265 (21.2%) 69 Days 91 Days 80 Days 583
Devon & Cornwall 11,063 29,319 5,006 (12.4%) 115 Days 89 Days 102 Days
Dorset 3,426 10,202 963 (7.1%) 128 Days 110 Days 119 Days
Durham 14 557,480 2,389 5,249 1,068 (14%) 88 Days 141 Days 115 Days £521.99 76.3 £39,820
Dyfed-Powys 22.2 4,475 14,140 3,584 (19.2%) 88 Days 97 Days 93 Days 159.8
Essex 23.96 831,851 4,993 20,235 6,338 (25.1%) 58 Days 66 Days 62 Days £131.24 264.5 £34,718
Gloucestershire 2,785 11,114 2,922 (21%) 49 Days 51 Days 50 Days
GMP 2,002 6,773 1,217 (13.9%) 93 Days 131 Days 112 Days
Gwent 14 N/A 1,562 5,478 1,633 (23.2%) 51 Days 70 Days 61 Days 116.6
Hampshire N/A 601,800 5,399 21,721 4,285 (15.8%) 83 Days 85 Days 84 Days £140.44
Humberside 9.81 £111,510 3,202 9,743 2,642 (20.4%) 87 Days 88 Days 88 Days £42.21 269.3 £11,367
Kent 31 £821,361 5,778 21,037 4,215 (15.7%) 60 Days 59 Days 60 Days £194.87 136 £26,495
Lancashire 14.52 £260,918 3,089 11,607 3,182 (21.7%) 60 Days 114 Days 87 Days £82 219.2 £17,970
Leicestershire 12 2,421 11,203 2,924 (21.5%) 50 Days 93 Days 71.5 Days 243.7
Lincolnshire 24 £380,000 4,042 13,251 3,786 (22%) 61 Days 61 Days 61 Days £100.37 157.8 £15,833
Merseyside 8 £232,724 981 3,222 775 (18.4%) 60 Days 74 Days 67 Days £300.30 96.9 £29,091
MPS 4,353 24,822 4,619 ( (15.8%) 96 Days 96 Days 96 Days
Norfolk 5,249 20,772 4,637 (17.8%) 95 Days 86 Days 91 Days
Suffolk 4,673 16,622 3,753 (17.6%) 83 Days 120 Days 102 Days
Norfolk & Suffolk 34 9,922 37,394 8,392 (17.7%) 89 Days 103 Days 97 Days 246.8
Northamptonshire 9.16 £260,564 2,504 9,600 2,541 (21%) 50 Days 103 Days 77 Days £102.54 277.4 £28,446
Northumbria 3,642 8,718 1,262 (10.2%) 158 Days 148 Days 153 Days
North Wales 14 £468,000 2,940 10,654 2,733 (20.1%) 66 Days 85 Days 76 Days £171.24 195.2 £33,428
North Yorkshire 6,863 18,267 5,548 (22.1%) 59 Days 128 Days 94 Days
Nottinghamshire 1,961 7,977 1,816 (18.3%) 85 Days 96 Days 91 Days
South Wales 16.5 N/A 2,267 6,540 1,794 (20.4%) 59 Days 119 Days 89 Days 108.7
South Yorkshire 12.36 £130,816 2,310 8,373 1,983 (18.6%) 80 Days 116 Days 98 Days £65.97 160.4 £10,583
Staffordshire 3,165 13,163 2,458 (15.1%) 136 Days 101 Days 119 Days
WMP 1,853 7,820 1,495 (17.2%) 149 Days 114 Days 131 Days
Staffs & WMP comb 17 £666,269 5,018 20,983 3,953 (15.2%) 142 Days 108 Days 125 Days £168.55 232.5 £39,192
Surrey 3,083 12,153 2,909 (19.1%) 63 Days 93 Days 78 Days
Sussex 6,679 12,153 5,209 (27.7%) 63 Days 88 Days 76 Days
Thames Valley 26.35 £887,076 6,161 25,604 6,427 (20%) 57 Days 61 Days 59 Days £138.02 243.9 £33,665
Warwickshire 10 £208,725 2,451 9,033 2,266 (19.7%) 62 Days 69 Days 66 Days £92.11 226.6 £20,873
West Mercia 28 £812,000 7,582 27,584 4,899 (13.9%) 74 Days 123 Days 99 Days £165.75 175 £29,000
West Yorkshire 12 £355,328 3,149 10,544 2,689 (19.6%) 75 Days 85 Days 80 Days £132.14 224.1 £29,611
Wiltshire 11 £167,847 3,573 13,190 2,980 (17.8%) 62 Days 149 Days 106 Days £56.32 270.9 £15,259

The table below shows the average number of days a police force takes to process different application types. The figures are colour coded to indicate relative performance (green top 10, red bottom 10, yellow average).

Force nameFAC GrantSGC GrantCoterminous GrantFAC RenewalSGC RenewalCoterminous RenewalVariation
Avon & Somerset16113915058556161
Bedfordshire3218221819197
Cambridgeshire2019161820166
Cheshire6274494533433
City of London4918n/an/a6849n/a
Cleveland5555512826152
Cumbria81686164586224
Derbyshire75736342404217
Devon & Cornwall7696656665677
Dorset7288806964698
Durham981465622620422315
Dyfed Powys81816962426415
Essex2831332934285
Gloucestershire106592322222419
Greater Manchester Police111164821181081165
Gwent10812111151495524
Hampshire55593936333725
Hertfordshire2319222322238
Humberside1119410969637022
Kent67646256495523
Lancashire7482754035384
Leicestershire76103853112302
Lincolnshire4139422321232
Merseyside7870763230334
Metropolitan Police1001129262526118
Norfolk66724187578635
North Wales71566549445124
North Yorkshire100109782621284
Northamptonshire811745765596436
Northumbria98129897874762
Nottinghamshire86938173607220
South Wales*598458N/AN/AN/AN/A
South Yorkshire1199311590808815
Staffordshire10311196101839613
Suffolk88906372207311
Surrey6275644023364
Sussex4863413221313
Thames Valley Police39493920102010
Warwickshire3232312527256
West Mercia4141413736379
West Midlands Police1271391281088710513
West Yorkshire79608471637015
Wiltshire86111484649479

* South Wales, unlike all other police forces in England and Wales, are not updating the firearms licensing database NFLMS until the renewal has been fully processed. Therefore, they are unable to officially state how long the processing of a renewal is taking and the answer is not applicable.

Figures supplied by Simon Dicketts, Central Administrator, National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS), Home Office.

The table below shows the average number of days a police force takes to process different application types. The figures are colour coded to indicate relative performance (green top 10, red bottom 10, yellow average).

Force name

FAC Grant

SGC Grant

Coterminous
Grant

FAC Renewal

SGC Renewal

Coterminous
Renewal

Variation

Avon & Somerset

112

117

92

56

52

63

50

Bedfordshire

52

39

50

46

41

46

19

Cambridgeshire

48

40

44

45

40

46

20

Cheshire

59

59

49

20

27

20

4

City of London

n/a

81

n/a

n/a

12

n/a

n/a

Cleveland

44

32

42

11

6

2

1

Cumbria

49

39

34

34

28

34

12

Derbyshire

61

57

56

39

39

38

19

Devon & Cornwall

53

54

53

45

38

43

3

Dorset

70

73

67

62

57

62

5

Durham

76

81

69

73

68

73

2

Dyfed Powys

66

74

64

54

34

53

18

Essex

39

38

39

10

13

11

4

Gloucestershire

76

52

73

23

21

28

13

Greater Manchester Police

89

78

80

117

116

116

5

Gwent

76

62

73

62

63

57

17

Hampshire

47

50

38

25

18

27

18

Hertfordshire

44

38

39

43

40

42

14

Humberside

87

87

84

61

50

62

19

Kent

61

63

57

61

55

60

22

Lancashire

56

59

56

39

36

38

6

Leicestershire

42

40

39

33

3

31

4

Lincolnshire

26

27

26

26

26

25

3

Merseyside

54

49

51

41

44

41

1

Metropolitan Police

63

62

59

44

41

45

10

Norfolk

50

52

40

55

43

54

16

North Wales

66

63

68

49

38

52

21

North Yorkshire

77

89

63

37

32

38

6

Northamptonshire

73

85

64

12

10

19

24

Northumbria

39

41

31

51

48

49

2

Nottinghamshire

67

57

55

58

37

56

22

South Wales

101

90

99

45

37

45

17

South Yorkshire

67

62

67

81

79

76

4

Staffordshire

66

55

78

107

96

94

13

Suffolk

48

50

40

48

16

46

8

Surrey

62

69

52

47

46

40

3

Sussex

48

45

37

42

44

39

4

Thames Valley Police

77

67

77

72

44

68

17

Warwickshire

34

38

33

36

43

35

6

West Mercia

39

45

38

41

42

41

9

West Midlands Police

95

81

94

123

112

119

18

West Yorkshire

49

41

54

55

47

52

11

Wiltshire

66

76

55

53

50

50

3

Figures supplied by Simon Dicketts, Central Administrator, National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS), Home Office.

The table below shows the average number of days a police force takes to process different application types. The figures are colour coded to indicate relative performance (green top 10, red bottom 10, yellow average).

Force name

FAC
Grant

SGC
Grant

Coterminous
Grant

FAC
Renewal

SGC
Renewal

Coterminous
Renewal

Variation

Avon & Somerset

96

102

92

49

45

53

27

Bedfordshire

53

53

48

41

38

41

22

Cambridgeshire

51

51

43

28

25

31

20

Cheshire

54

60

50

36

40

37

7

City of London

0

96

0

0

1

0

0

Cleveland

43

30

37

13

7

1

1

Cumbria

61

41

57

50

34

48

14

Derbyshire

47

46

41

34

34

34

15

Devon & Cornwall

56

55

52

39

37

37

4

Dorset

146

159

133

97

89

98

24

Durham

46

55

45

44

41

43

3

Dyfed Powys

56

60

53

48

29

45

19

Essex

65

63

62

10

9

13

10

Gloucestershire

97

61

79

33

26

37

16

Greater Manchester
Police

95

95

90

83

74

78

5

Gwent

61

53

68

58

53

57

21

Hampshire

63

54

49

25

18

30

16

Hertfordshire

67

42

39

37

36

35

18

Humberside

78

79

89

45

41

49

18

Kent

54

50

48

59

55

58

14

Lancashire

38

42

33

24

26

25

2

Leicestershire

41

38

46

31

6

28

6

Lincolnshire

49

48

40

49

52

45

7

Merseyside

69

69

75

43

39

40

7

Metropolitan Police

62

58

54

44

41

43

10

Norfolk

37

36

32

33

28

31

15

North Wales

69

64

72

47

44

51

28

North Yorkshire

81

85

77

35

25

35

2

Northamptonshire

62

64

65

16

12

21

21

Northumbria

43

43

37

43

42

41

3

Nottinghamshire

57

46

55

48

27

44

19

South Wales

155

143

133

151

62

141

29

South Yorkshire

78

76

77

74

73

72

2

Staffordshire

61

59

65

82

64

73

14

Suffolk

49

51

43

45

20

44

9

Surrey

75

60

63

54

46

49

3

Sussex

42

39

37

36

33

33

4

Thames Valley Police

91

67

90

76

43

73

16

Warwickshire

271

24

25

34

40

30

11

West Mercia

36

36

35

38

41

36

13

West Midlands Police

82

72

83

102

75

95

20

West Yorkshire

57

45

51

64

56

60

11

Wiltshire

59

62

52

46

45

44

4

Figures supplied by Simon Dicketts, Central Administrator, National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS), Home Office.

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