The Home Office has published its new fee structure for firearms licensing, with increases varying between 111% and 157% on current fees.
The new fee structure, announced by the government without prior warning, will come into effect on 5 February 2025.
A firearms certificate grant will surge from £88 to £198, constituting a 125% increase, while a shotgun renewal certificate will jump from £49 to £126, or 157%.
The Home Office had outlined its intention to introduce fee rises of up to £20 million to achieve full-cost recovery for police forces.
The Countryside Alliance said the price increases came 'without adequate stakeholder or public consultation or engagement'.
The group said: "The increases vary between 111% and 157% increases on the current fee structure – far beyond compound inflation since 2014, when the fee structure was last updated.
"This order comes without mention of service level improvement, without disclosure of costing calculation, without acknowledgement of skyrocketing mandated medical proforma costs for licensees."
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) called the fee increases 'outrageous' and that the government would 'alienate yet another rural constituency'.
Its chief executive, Ian Bell said: “There has been a complete absence of any proper consultation with stakeholders or the public, despite the fact that this has been done in the past with fee increases.
“The public and lawful firearms owners deserve a licensing process that protects public safety, and is fair, efficient, and transparent."
With the new fee structure coming into effect from 5 February, for any licence application received by the police and paid for on or before 4 February, the original fee paid will be honoured.
The Home Office advised that usual timescales for licence renewals should be followed and that 'extra early' renewal applications should be avoided and may be returned by police who will ask for the new fee to be paid.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council advise that most forces accept renewals up to four months before the expiry date.
