Regulation 7 Insertion of Part 3: charging of fees by public authorities

Regulation 12A (as inserted by these Regulations) becomes Part 3.

After regulation 12 (fees payable on or after 1stApril 2018) insert—

“PART 3

Charging of fees by public authorities

Fees in relation to the provision of relevant services

12A.

(1)

The public authorities listed in Schedule 2 are prescribed for the purposes of section 54A(1) (power to provide for fees for certain services in relation to nationally significant infrastructure projects).

(2)

Subject to paragraph (4), each public authority listed in Schedule 2 may charge fees to the applicant in relation to the provision of those relevant services.

(3)

Fees may take account of the expenses of anything which is reasonably incidental to the provision of the relevant services by the public authority.

(4)

The public authority may charge fees under paragraph (2) only in accordance with a statement published on its website which—

(a)

describes the relevant services in respect of which fees are charged,

(b)

sets out the fees (or, if applicable, the method by which the fees are to be calculated), and

(c)

refers to any provision in an enactment pursuant to which the relevant services are provided.

(5)

The public authority may notify the applicant in writing of the estimated fees before providing the relevant services.

(6)

The public authority must notify the applicant in writing of the fees.

(7)

The applicant must pay the fees to the public authority within such period as may be specified in the notice in paragraph (6), provided such period is not less than 21 days beginning with the date of that notice.

(8)

If the applicant fails to pay the fees within the period specified in paragraph (7), the public authority may—

(a)

recover from the applicant as a civil debt the unpaid amount of the fees; and

(b)

if applicable, notwithstanding any requirement to provide the relevant services, withhold the relevant services until the fees are paid.

(9)

The fees referred to in paragraph (2) must not exceed the costs reasonably incurred by the public authority in providing the relevant services.

(10)

This regulation is without prejudice to any power to charge fees under section 43(1) of the Environment Act 1995^f1, section 27 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009^f2 and section 33(6) of the National Heritage Act 1983^f3.

(11)

For the purposes of this Part “the estimated fees” means the amount of fees estimated by the public authority as payable by the applicant for relevant services in respect of the application.”.

After Schedule 1 (as inserted by these Regulations), insert—

“SCHEDULE 2

Prescribed Public Authorities

Regulation 12A

• The Environment Agency

• Natural England^f4

• Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England

• National Highways

• The Coal Authority

• The Health and Safety Executive

• Marine Management Organisation^f5

• Natural Resources Wales”.