Simon Clarke

Please see facebook and twitter feeds too - please spread the word, https://www.facebook.com/BASCuk @BASCnews We have written to the League, to local councils and to local MPs.

We have just issued this press release and will be following up as detailed. Simon. BASC calls for resignation of North Yorkshire councillor over suicide comments The UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, (BASC) has called for the immediate resignation of an elected local councillor and animal rights extremist who posted comments on facebook mocking the suicide of a former soldier and game dealer. A further comment called for everyone who lawfully owns a gun and shoots live quarry to “kill themselves.” The comments were made by Thomas Woodward, an elected council member of Ryedale District Council and Pickering Town Council in North Yorkshire. Commenting on facebook on a news report on an inquest into the suicide of Allan Ellis from Bacup, Lancashire, Councillor Woodward said “Best use of a gun I can think of.” A second comment said: “If you choose to own a gun and kill for pleasure, then it’s best you kill yourself.” BASC’s chief executive Richard Ali said: “We are seeking the immediate resignation of this man from any elected office and a full apology to the family of Mr. Ellis for the distress he has caused. Mocking the suicide of anyone is absolutely unacceptable. Going further and stating that lawful gun owners should “kill themselves” is despicable behaviour. This man is not fit to hold a public office.” “In a register of financial and other interests Councillor Woodward has declared himself to be a member of the League Against Cruel Sports and the Hunt Saboteurs Association. BASC is calling for the League Against Cruel Sports to distance itself from these comments from one of its members and to confirm they are a breach of the values of the organisation.” BASC is contacting Ryedale District Council and Pickering Town Council to inform them of the facebook comments and to ask them to also publically distance themselves from Councillor Woodward’s comments and to take disciplinary action. BASC will also be contacting party group leaders on the council. The comments were published on a facebook page run by the Hunt Saboteurs Association and littered with sick comments such as “one scumbag less”, “he deserved it” “he did the right thing” and “a true coward till the end”. Richard Ali said “We know from past actions that animal rights extremists will stop at nothing in their misguided hatred of anyone involved in lawful shooting activities. These facebook comments and attacks show their true colours and will be roundly condemned.” ENDS For more information please call the BASC press office on 01244 573052 Comments can be viewed on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/HuntSaboteursAssociation

Cannon, this is for GB but could be an important marker for NI

Dan - your application should be unaffected. This consultation runs until 29 December and we hope the changes can be introduced in this parliament.

like for like FAC variations will remain FOC. One-for-one will go down from £26 to £20 BASC believes this is a fair deal and should be supported in the online consultation. Police costs and procedures have been examined by BASC, BSSC, ACPO and the Home Office as part of a Home Office Fees Working Group. The initial police bid was for far higher fees. No-one can foresee what the next government will look like, or what they might do. This is the deal on the table. Fees have not been reviewed or changed since 2001. This will put in place a process of review to avoid long delays then calls for huge hikes in price. There is a short section in the consultation asking: The fees and costs for firearms licences administered by the police have to be reviewed annually. Do you have any comments on how the review process should be taken forward? BASC recommends: An annual inflation-linked review with a five year full review of police costs, procedures and service delivery.

Variation fee proposal has now been corrected from £21 to £20 in the short consultation.

Home Office now looking to correct the discrepancy : straight from Pigeon Watch to the Government.

Variation fee is shown as £21 not £20 so still cheaper Appears to be a discrepancy in the HO figures - £20 mentioned in the full consultation. Well spotted - I will bring it to the attention of the HO Thanks, Simon.

BASC's advice to members and a link to firearm security advice can be seen here

Listen to BASC's Ian Danby on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning with John Humphrys - talking about conservation and invasive species. (Item starts at 49:19 on the slider bar) http://bbc.in/TELlL7

Airgun licensing in Scotland a costly and bureaucratic mistake To see this press release on the BASC website, please click here. A system to license the estimated half-a-million airguns in Scotland will be a costly and bureaucratic mistake, brought in as airgun crime has fallen by 75%, according to Scotland’s largest shooting organisation, BASC Scotland. BASC Scotland says airgun licensing is unnecessary, costly and impractical, despite the Scottish Government’s publication of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill. It flies in the face of evidence, the results of the public consultation and fails on every principle of good regulation. BASC says a licensing system will place unnecessary burdens on police time and budgets, will only be taken up by already law-abiding airgun users, and will have little effect on criminal misuse. Dr Colin Shedden, director of BASC Scotland, said: “Offences involving air weapons in Scotland have fallen by 75% in recent years. In 2006-07 there was a ten-year-peak of 683 air weapon offences. In 2012-13, after six years of steady decline, there were 171 offences. In addition, all firearms offences are now at the lowest level since records began. Airguns are already extensively regulated by law, with more than thirty offences on the statute books. Bringing in this legislation will not deter those who are already determined to break the law.” “The drop in crimes has been achieved by the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and shooting organisations such as BASC working together to improve education and enforcement of existing legislation. Further work in this direction would reap greater benefits than a disproportionate, expensive and bureaucratic licensing system that would have to accommodate the estimated 500,000 air weapons in Scotland. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill recently announced that this “education and enforcement” approach has also proved successful in reducing knife crime in the west of Scotland. If this is good enough for knife crime why would anyone think that licensing of all air weapons in Scotland, and all those brought in by visitors, is proportional, practical or affordable?” “Currently, 60,000 people in Scotland already hold firearms licences. Increasing the licensing requirement to cover hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland plus visitors will place existing Police Scotland licensing staff under a massive administrative burden when offences have fallen significantly and the police are subject to pressure on both budgets and staffing.” ENDS

Do you have gamekeeping expertise? BASC is looking for a game and gamekeeping officer with personal experience in gamekeeping and great organisational skills to join our team. More details: http://bit.ly/1uYEYBe

Do you know your deer? BASC is recruiting a deer officer to join our team. We are looking for someone with experience in deer management and with great communication skills. More details: http://bit.ly/1l8ep5W

Do you have gamekeeping expertise? BASC is looking for a game and gamekeeping officer with personal experience in gamekeeping and great organisational skills to join our team. More details: http://bit.ly/1uYEYBe

And one from last June: Certificate fees: a fair price for a fair service Posted on Jun 11, 2013 Firearm and shotgun certificate holders and applicants should pay a fair price for a fair service, according to the UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has submitted a proposal to the Government to increase certificate fees from £50 to £94. The last revision of fees took place in 2001. BASC recognises that some costs will have increased but believes there are still efficiency savings and service improvements which can be made by the police, some with no cost attached. BASC also recognises that Chief Constable Andy Marsh, the ACPO lead on firearms licensing is committing time, effort and resources to make improvements. However, the licensing system is currently patchy at best, with significant differences in delivery across different police forces and long delays in some areas. Bill Harriman, BASC director of firearms said: “BASC’s specialist firearms team handles more than 500 calls every month from people who are trying to negotiate their way through the system. This puts us in a unique position to be able to assess how firearms licensing is operating across the UK. Service delivery is inconsistent. Some police forces produce long and unacceptable delays in the process. We are seeing improvements in some areas, but not in all. The police have official Home Office guidance which should be setting consistent standards, but our experience shows that in practice, this is far from the case. Certificate holders should pay a fair price for a fair service and BASC wishes to see that fair service put in place. Neither certificate holders nor the taxpayer should have to pay for inefficiency. BASC is talking to the police and to the Government and discussions are on-going.”

Here's a press release from late last year on this issue: Home Office convenes fees working group The Home Office has begun a co-operative process with the shooting community to assess the correct proportion payable by shooters for licensing services provided by police under the Firearms Act. BASC’s Bill Harriman, Director of Firearms, and Christopher Graffius, Director of Communications, attended the first meeting with civil servants and other members of the shooting community at the Home Office yesterday. Civil servants confirmed that the current position was that there would be no change in licensing fees in the short term with the expectation that the group would make recommendations to inform any changes. The group is expected to meet throughout next year – when a full inspection of firearms licensing may be conducted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary – and into 2015. The group will deconstruct and examine the processes involved in issuing and renewing licenses and attribute costs to each step. These can then be allocated to the shooting community or the public purse according to Treasury guidelines. The group will also discuss improvements in the efficiency and delivery of the licensing system. Bill Harriman said: “BASC welcomes the approach outlined by the Home Office. This promises to be the most thorough examination of the system which should produce a fair and just outcome on fees. We gave the Home Office an assurance that we will put the work in to achieve this and will engage constructively in the process.”

Here's a press release on the issue from September last year: A decision by the Home Office to postpone an increase in firearms certificate fees to allow further work on costs and the role of medical advice in the licensing process has been welcomed by the UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). The cost of a shotgun or firearms certificate, currently £50 for a five-year certificate, has not risen since 2001. Police forces have been lobbying for a significant fees increase. A working group will be set up to examine police costs for administering the service and to investigate how GPs can be more involved in the licensing process without adding unduly to their responsibilities or penalising applicants. BASC chief executive Richard Ali said: “We welcome the constructive approach which the Home Office and Government have taken towards this complex issue. They have listened to the concerns of law-abiding gun owners and set out a realistic way forward. The real costs of police administration can now be examined, inefficiencies tackled and improvements made. “BASC recognises that an increase in firearms licensing fees is due, but we believe any rise should be linked to better police efficiency and effectiveness in delivering the licensing service. Firearms licensing must do two things: protect public safety and ensure the continued lawful ownership and use of firearms. Shooting helps to protect crops and our food supply and brings acknowledged benefits to conservation and biodiversity. BASC believes lawful gun owners should pay a fair price for a fair service, but we know that the standard of service varies dramatically across different police forces.”

The Police and Crime Commissioner in Warwickshire has no power to change fees. He seems to be talking from an out-of-date briefing. The police suggested a rise of something like this magnitude over a year ago. That was stopped before it went through and we now have a working group examining the issue, working through the home office and bringing in BASC and others plus the Association of Chief Police Officers. The bottom line is that fees have not gone up since 2001 and some sort of increase is due, if only to account for inflation. The various arguments that the police need £200 to cover costs and taxpayers are "subsidising" the process have been rejected. BASC has insisted that any increase should be a fair price for a fair service - with the police making improvements in service delivery and efficiency. We have also insisted that the police should be clear and transparent about their real costs. BBC Midlands is covering the story today based only on the PCC's comments. Mike Eveleigh from the BASC firearms team was on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire this morning. You can listen to it here, the item starts at 01:06:54 from the start of the programme. Victoria from the Shotgun and Chelsea Bun Club (women's shooting and networking club, with cake) was live on BBC Midlands TV at lunchtime and should be on Midlands today (West Mids) tonight if the story still runs.

http://basc.org.uk/trade/listings/category/discounts-for-members/

Your BASC membership card will already get you discounts at more than 80 BASC trade members and we are working constantly to expand this. The retail discount scheme offers the opportunity to save - if you're already spending at Sainsburys, Morrison or Asda for example, this will save you money. Have a look and make your own mind up - it's not compulsory but it's there if you want to take advantage. To set up the mechanisms to use the same process for the BASC membership card in major retailers would, to be frank, require a greater weight of numbers. We are looking at it - sign up your friends and we'll see what we can do. http://basc.org.uk/join-basc/

There are some fairly well gold-plated big names on there -you can pick and choose those who you think most likely to remain in business if you wish. Do have a look at the scheme on the website.

BASC boosts member benefits with big store discounts. A new discount card scheme for BASC members offering up to 15 per cent savings at more than 70 major retailers has been added to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation’s (BASC’s) range of exclusive membership offers and benefits. The discount cards can be used both in shops and online and could save BASC members hundreds of pounds a year, repaying the cost of BASC membership many times over. It will deliver savings on groceries, goods and entertainment at a range of leading stores including Sainsbury's, Asda, M & S, Morrisons, Debenhams, Currys/PC World, WH Smiths, Boots, Costa and many more. Members select a discount card from the retailer of their choice on the BASC website and decide how much they wish to put on a prepaid card. For example, using a Debenhams card with a 7% discount means it will cost £93 to obtain a spendable balance of £100. The cards can be topped up easily and securely online or by phone. BASC’s Nick Glazebrook said: “BASC is constantly negotiating benefits and discounts for our members on a wide range of products and services. The discount card scheme will allow BASC members and their families to enjoy savings on everyday purchases. The discount cards add to our member benefits which also include significant savings on new four-wheel-drive vehicles from six leading manufacturers.” To take advantage of the discount scheme, BASC members can log in to the members’ area of the BASC website www.basc.org.uk and follow the instructions to sign up for the discounts and cards of their choice.

Agreed it is an obligatory process, but there should be an awareness of, and room for, good customer service from the police in their administration of the system.

No - a rise to cover inflation at least is due. Last rise was circa 2001. However, we have worked to knock back police demands for vastly inflated fees. Fees will now be looked at by a working group set up by the Home Office. The key is that police costs must be transparent, reviewed and different performance across different forces must be addressed. A fair price for a fair service. It is a proposal to Government at this stage.