Firearms licensing newsletter - February 2026
Welcome to the February 2026 edition of our newsletter. As we embark on a new year, we remain dedicated to keeping you informed about the latest developments, updates, and initiatives within our organisation. In this issue, you’ll find important news following the recent HMICFRS inspection, staffing updates, and details about upcoming training and national initiatives. We appreciate your continued engagement and look forward to sharing our progress with you throughout the year.
Update following HMICFRS inspection – a message from Chief Superintendent Jon Roche
On 9 January 2026, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services published its report into our collaborated Firearms and Explosives Licensing Department which outlined key areas of improvement.
We are committed to addressing the concerns and are working closely with high performing forces, College of Policing and Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure we deliver on these recommendations.
To provide clarity on our current position, the national service level expectation is that grants and renewals are processed within 120 days.
Currently, Bedfordshire meets this in 24.82% of cases, Cambridgeshire in 24.24%, and Hertfordshire in 27.85% of cases.
We acknowledge that these performance levels are not acceptable, and we are actively working to improve the timeliness and efficiency of our processes across the department. This includes an uplift of staff over the next three months.
We are also making changes to improve the way we communicate with applicants, including triaging emails more regularly, allowing us to prioritise urgent enquiries and respond in a more timely and consistent way going forward.
We understand there is a lot more work to be done and we will continue to share our progress with you over the coming months.
Staffing update
We are pleased to announce the successful completion of our recent recruitment process for Firearms Enquiry Officers (FEOs), resulting in the selection of two outstanding candidates to fill the recently vacated positions.
These new recruits will now undergo thorough vetting prior to commencing their training and engaging with firearms certificate holders.
All existing FEOs, together with our new team members, are currently scheduled to undertake the national FEO course delivered by the College of Policing. This programme is designed to promote a consistent approach among FEOs nationwide and has received excellent feedback from previous participants. We have also arranged for supplementary training to be delivered locally within BCH next month, thanks to support from the College of Policing. This training is tailored specifically for officers who have recently been seconded to the department.
Op Pivot: National firearms amnesty
A firearms amnesty is set to take place across England and Wales between 2-27 February 2026.
During the amnesty members of the public are encouraged to take Bruni manufactured Top-Venting Blank-Firing (TVBF) firearms into police stations and hand them over at the front counter. Other firearms, imitation firearms, air weapons, BB guns or component parts, whether lawfully or unlawfully held, will also be accepted during the amnesty.
The four-week amnesty is a campaign to remove the Bruni manufactured TVBF firearms from falling into the pool of criminally used weapons. Whilst firearms crime remains low, there are still very serious incidents taking place involving guns.
TVBFs are legal to buy in the UK without a licence by people aged over 18 unless, like Bruni manufactured TVBFs, they are readily convertible and therefore illegal to own.
The amnesty has been arranged to allow people who now find themselves committing an offence, under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968, to hand in these unwanted weapons to the police without prosecution for possession offences.
Appointment of the new IAG Chairperson
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ralph Barker as the new Chairperson for the BCH Firearms & Explosives Licensing Independent Advisory Group (IAG).
Ralph brings a wealth of experience and commitment to this important role, and we look forward to his leadership as the group continues its valuable work supporting and advising on matters relating to firearms and explosives licensing within our communities.
Ralph said: “I am extremely pleased and proud to take on the role of Chair of the Firearms Licensing Independent Advisory Group. For those of you who do not know me, here is a brief history of myself.
“I was a Police Officer from 1973 to 2003, retiring as an inspector, and throughout my career I had various roles. From 1994 I was the Inspector in charge of the Tactical Firearms Unit for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, during which time the unit was responsible not only for all firearms related incidents throughout the county, but also for the protection of our then Prime Minister who lived in Huntingdon.
“One year after my retirement I rejoined the constabulary as a civilian employee and was the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Manager for Cambridgeshire until the collaboration with Hertfordshire Constabulary and Bedfordshire Police where I became the Head of Firearms & Explosives Licensing for the collaborated unit. I retired from this role in 2017.
“In my personal life I have been, and remain, a keen shooter; having been a member of, originally WAGBI, now BASC whilst a keen wildfowler and am now a member of CPSA as the majority of my shooting now-a-days is Clay Pigeon and deer stalking.
Thank you all for being valued members of this group and I look forward to meeting you all at the next meeting.”
The next IAG meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday 5 March from 10am to 12pm. Invitations will be distributed in due course, and we encourage all members to attend and contribute to the ongoing dialogue.