Legal: Are they out to get us?

A (TV) DRAMA… NOT A CRISIS!

Our legal eagle Stuart Farr explores the parallels between the sub-postmasters strugglesand our very own brewing debanking issue and suggests that the lack of action on licensing may be the real scandal we are facing

SCANDALS are now a part of life in the UK. In the days of darkness before internet and social media—and the harsh brutality of modern-day investigative journalism—scandals simply did not reach the public consciousness in quite the same way as they do now.

That is not to say scandals weren’t around or in the news. However, they tended to centre around the nefarious activities of public figures as opposed to, say, a collective history of events or the appalling and wrongful treatment of “normal” people.

Currently we have lots of scandals to feast upon, many of which speak to the sufferings incurred by the average person “in the street”.

SubPostmasters and Horizon; Windrush; Infected Blood; Covid and the NHS; Grenfell to name just a few of the “big” ones. Some of these, as we know, have become the subject of public inquiries which, being “live” streamed in the interest of transparency, allow us all to view and scrutinise the evidence being given by the witnesses. Thus we are tempted into becoming or own private judge and jury. As private citizens, we are then free to circulate our opinions on the supposedly “guilty” to anyone willing to receive them. While, in some cases, this can cause the debate in hand to become very confused, in others the combined force of a unified public opinion becomes garnered, clearly outspoken, and even compelling. And let’s face it, it can take a lot to persuade a government or parliament to act swiftly in any circumstance (except war).

In the case of the SubPostmasters, for example, it was that compelling drama on ITV that tipped the scale and opened the floodgate to a critical public response. What followed was an extremely rapid government reaction. In legal terms the effect was groundbreaking—a public commitment to invoke legislation to ex-punge the criminal convictions of all the SubPostmasters. A legal rarity indeed. It would be wrong to draw other direct comparisons with the plight of the SubPostmasters and I do not seek to do so. I merely use their case as an example of a collective group of ordinary people who were trying to make a modest living and, in doing so, suffered for it. And so, it might be suggested, the vast majority of RFD’s try to do the same, albeit in quite different adverse situations.

Debanked

“Scandals” come in all shapes and sizes and while it may not be appropriate to apply that word directly to the trials and tribulations the gun trade has experienced over decades, there are many of us who recognise that what was once a huge contributing industry in the UK, has been slowly whittled down to a mere fraction of what it was.

Naturally, it becomes harder to earn a living from a trade which is seemingly constantly under scrutiny, change or even attack.

So-called “Debanking” has quickly been identified as a real issue within the gun trade. More significantly, many are (cynically?) viewing ongoing licensing delays as a contrived attempt to slow down the trade too. Or perhaps to put it another way, no-one is telling me that police authorities across the country are throwing their shoulders behind the problem to get it sorted.

If one needed to apply the word “scandal” somewhere, then I think it might be justified in terms of licensing. History repeats. We have been here before, time and again.

To illustrate, I recently came across a report, released only in September 2015 by what was then Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (now known as His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services). The subject was a review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the firearms licensing system. The full report can be found via this link; https://assets-hmicfrs.justiceinspec-torates.gov.uk/uploads/firearms-licensing-targeting-the-risk.pdf

To offer some context, the HM Inspectorate does not undertake investigations or compile reports such as these merely on a whim. They cost time and money, and its work is often directed by the fact there is already a perceived problem. Importantly, the Inspectorate functions “in the public interest” and so, in that sense, it is independent of the police authorities which it investigates. It is not, however, a regulator and therefore its findings are not legally enforceable. Nevertheless, they do carry considerable weight and perhaps this has not been fully recognised in the past.

A trade which is seemingly constantly under scrutiny, change or even attack

To my mind what the HMIC report shows—admittedly now with the benefit of hindsight—is that the adverse impact of the Covid pandemic has, whether innocently or intentionally, masked a serious issue that already existed across the majority of police authorities. If anything, all the pandemic served to do was to exacerbate an already bad situation nad make it even worse.

The HMIC concluded (I paraphrase):

“On too many occasions, the police are not following the Home Office guidance or the Authorised Professional Practice that are in place…”

And

“In many forces, basic scrutiny of the efficiency and effectiveness of their licensing arrangements are not in place…”

And

“The time taken by forces to complete the process of firearms licensing tells its own story of inconsistency and inefficiency…”

And

“Not all forces were the same. We found examples of good practice, but these were the exception…”

Other issues were also identified. A lack of regular monitoring of the licensing regime; a lack of public engagement; inadequate training; inconsistencies in how applications were approached, and the information gathered; inconsistent auditing of outcomes; and so forth.

Not dissimilar findings regarding inefficiency were also reported by the HMIC previously in 1993.

Scandalous?

I doubt these findings will come as any surprise, and I am sure they will resonate. Indeed, organisations such as the Gun Trade Association will say they have been fighting this battle for years. The lessons simply are not being learned.

So maybe this is a “scandal” in the true sense because it suggests the ongoing and apparently cyclical nature of the licensing issues have never been properly addressed despite calls for that to occur from an Inspectorate. The problems have cost the gun trade dearly in terms of lost revenue and arguably even stifled its ability to thrive.

Perhaps, therefore, the trade needs its own equivalent of a tv drama to bring these issues more firmly into the public domain, and to call out the authorities for their consistent failures on the same issues over decades.

I am not sure if Toby Jones is available, and I hope Simon West (GTA and esteemed GTN colleague) won’t mind me suggesting that he would probably have his eye on Mr Brosnan to play his role anyway. If that is what it will take and will get the results the trade desperately needs, then just point me in the direction of the crowdfunding website.

Stuart Farr is a member of the GTA and a partner in Taylors solicitors. He welcomes contact from any trade organisation, especially those with a problem to resolve.