Sussex Police respond to 'excessive' waiting times to renew firearms licences

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said her office had received ‘several’ complaints about ‘excessive’ waiting times for renewing firearms and shotgun licences, at the Sussex Police Performance and Accountability meeting on Friday, April 19.

She said an officer from the joint Surrey and Sussex Firearms and Explosives Licencing Unit had emailed someone attempting to renew their licence, ‘I’m sorry for the delay but accept that this is not a good service we are providing’.

She added Thames Valley police were seeing firearms licence renewals in around 40 days, with Hampshire police in roughly 35 days, compared to an average of 76 days in Sussex.

Sussex Assistant Chief Constable Simon Dobinson told the PCC that longer than usual waiting times are largely due to statutory changes following the Plymouth shooting in 2021, resulting in needing more checks and references for current licence holders.

He said switching from paper to electronic systems had also contributed to waiting times, adding the force is ‘under resourced’ compared to the number of applications it gets.

He stated waiting times had reduced from the 76 day average, and that a review was underway into the process.

Mr Dobinson said the unit is ‘not an outlier’ nationally or locally due to there being no mandated time limit for renewals, stating the national guidance showed zero to four months as the best, or a ‘good’ response time.

Mrs Bourne said given the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has 2,500 members in Sussex, she and the Chief Constable Jo Shiner could look into resourcing for the unit.