Hi,
I have just received a call from my local GP's surgery asking for £40 in order to reply to a medical info request by Northumbria Police Firearms Licensing.
Wasn't happy paying this without looking into it and after a bit of GOOGLING found that the request made to GP's by Police only needs to be replied to IF the GP has concerns over the patients mental health. If there are no such concerns the GP does not need to reply, and the Police continue to process the renewal after giving the GP 21 days to raise any concerns. This ties in with a comment made by my FLO when they said that they would give the surgery 3 weeks to reply.
I have now informed my surgery of this and of my intention NOT to pay their fee.
Just wanted to raise the issue so that noone just goes ahead to pay this medical report fee to their GP if they have never had any mental health issues.
LINK
The BASC say Cheshire Constabulary, Gwent Police, Kent Police, Lincolnshire Police, Merseyside Police and Nottinghamshire Police are making it mandatory for anyone applying for the grant or renewal of a shotgun or firearm certificate to have their medical declaration information verified by their GP - which would suggest that if you live in these area you may well be liable for this extra fee
Have since had a conversation with my FLO who was fully aware of the situation regarding these medical fees and confirmed that it was up to me whether I wished to pay it or not, but if they received no reply from my surgery after 21 days they would make their decision based on the info they already held...... (and my licence would be in the post shortly after that)