The Home Office has told peers that firearms licensing delays are a matter for individual police forces, and confirmed it holds no central data on how long certificate renewals take. The answers, published on 20 July to written questions from Lord Swire, leave responsibility for processing performance in England and Wales with chief constables and police and crime commissioners. What did the Home Office say about licensing delays? Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint said processing times and the resources allocated to licensing “are matters for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners”. A separate written question on authorised firearms officer numbers, tabled by Sarah Pochin MP on 1 July, remains unanswered.