Firearms licensing newsletter - March 2026
Welcome to the March 2026 edition of our newsletter.
New cohort of police officers
By early March, we will be joined by an additional cohort of police officers seconded into the department to support the processing of applications. All officers will complete a week of local training covering legislation, systems, and internal processes. This will be followed by several days of enhanced training delivered by subject matter experts from the College of Policing.
With these new additions, our overall staffing level will increase to approximately 88 people, including part-time colleagues.
This uplift strengthens our capacity and enables us to continue progressing through the workload at pace.
Additional administrative support
We now have an additional administrative post created within Firearms Licensing and we will be welcoming the new team member soon. They bring with them valuable experience and a strong working knowledge of police systems, which will support a smooth transition into the team.
Firearms Enquiry Officer (FEO) training
All our FEOs are now booked onto the new College of Policing role‑specific training course. This means that all officers will have completed the programme by the summer.
This course, introduced following recommendations made after the tragic events in Keyham in 2021, is designed to ensure greater national consistency in the FEO role, strengthening decision‑making and safeguarding standards across the country.
Suitability reviews
This refers to the temporary removal of firearms from the certificate holder following the report of an incident to police.
Significant progress has been made over recent months in resolving cases where a licence holder’s suitability has been identified for further investigation. As outlined to the Independent Advisory Group last October, we reviewed our processes and enhanced supervisory oversight to strengthen the management of investigations and ensure more timely decision making.
All legacy cases have now been successfully concluded, enabling the team to focus fully on current casework.
Sound moderators - legislative update
The government has announced its intention to legislate for the removal of sound moderators from current legislative controls as part of the Crime and Policing Bill currently progressing through Parliament.
We will monitor the Bill’s progress closely and will issue a more detailed briefing should these changes come into force.
Thank you for your ongoing collaboration and support. We remain committed to keeping you informed as we continue to progress and develop our service.