Firearms licensing (FOI Ref: 176A/25)

Request

Please will you provide the following information for your firearms licensing department.

The annual budget for the department for April 2024 to March 2025

The number of full-time equivalent staff present at end of 2024, broken down into: -

Decision makers,

FEOs,

Administration staff.

I appreciate that you may have different names for the functions, but any information on staff breakdown/function would be useful.

Response

West Midlands Police and Staffordshire Police share the Firearms licensing department.

The annual budget for the Staffordshire and West Midlands Collaborated department for April 2024 to March 2025, pay budget (including employer on costs) is £1,055,546 for the financial year 2024/25.

The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff present at the end of 2024, broken down into: - 27 x FTE (police staff):

Decision makers, 4 x FTE (1 x FTE Manager, 1 x FTE Deputy Manager, 1 x FTE Senior FEO, 1 x FTE Office Supervisor)

FEOs, 9 x FTE

Administration staff, 14 x FTE (2 x FTE administrative assistance, 9 x FTE Administrators, 3 x FTE Intelligence Officers)

**FEO = Firearms enquiry officer, they are the people that go out to addresses and check cabinets / weapons and ammunition.