Gun licensing training will be introduced in 2024 - chief constable

Debbie Tedds said she was confident she had the support of other chief constables in relation to delivering national firearms licensing training in 2024

The chief constable responsible for changes to firearms licensing after the Plymouth shootings said she was determined a national training programme would be introduced in 2024.

Debbie Tedds said previous attempts to introduce national training had failed.

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) firearms licensing lead said she was committed to making sure the training was delivered next year.

Gunman Jake Davison used a legally-held firearm to kill five people in 2021.

'A lot of progress'

"I'm determined to make this happen, I'm speaking regularly with the Home Office, I speak regularly with the College of Policing around that, and we've all got a will that this will take place this time," Ms Tedds said.

She added: "We've already developed the curriculum for training for firearms enquiry officers and decision makers, and we're committed to make sure this training is delivered and implemented in 2024, so that is, a lot of progress has been made in relation to that.

"As I say, we've got the curriculum written, we've got the standards written, and we're just working through now the delivery products - so what will those products look like that we need to make sure that actually we can train our officers."

Ms Tedds took over the portfolio at the NPCC in October 2021 - two months after the Plymouth shootings.

As the chief constable in charge of firearms licensing on the National Police Chief Council she is responsible for co-ordinating the way individual forces approach this critically important area of policing.

She does not have overall responsibility for how gun licensing works and her lawyer told the inquest into the shootings she cannot force chief constables to do anything.

But Ms Tedds said she was confident she had their support.

'Constant reminder'

"As the NPCC lead, I co-ordinate activity on behalf of other chief constables and then report it back, so I'm confident that I've got the support of every chief constable in the country to make sure that we do this work," she said.

Ms Tedds said her condolences "remain with the families and all those people who have been affected by this tragic, devastating incident."

She said the shootings had served as a "constant reminder of what could happen in relation to firearms licensing and the catastrophic impact that can have".

"I thought it was really important... that they - the families, those people that were devastated by this incident in Keyham in 2021 - that they know that there's progress, that they know we're taking this seriously, they know that we are moving things forward," Ms Tedds said.

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