Updates

The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) Regulations 2021

Jurisdiction: Great Brittain

Commencement:1st April 2021

Summary

These Regulations revoke and replace The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) Regulations 2016. The 2021 Regulations introduce fee increases for fees that were prescribed in the previous Regulations. Other than fee changes, the 2021 Regulations are almost identical to the 2016 Regulations (as amended). The only changes (apart from fee increases) are minor clarifications.

It is policy of the Government, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to charge fees for a range of activities described as ‘permissioning work’ in order to recover their costs. Permissioning activities that are charged for include:

  • assessing and accepting safety cases;
  • issuing licences;
  • issuing certificates;
  • granting approvals;
  • granting exemptions from regulations;
  • accepting notifications;
  • assessing onshore borehole notifications (to align with cost recovery for offshore borehole notifications); and
  • ‘Fee for Intervention’ (see below for more detail).

The charges set out in these Regulations are reviewed annually with the fees charged being amended as appropriate.

These Regulations fix or determine the fees payable by an applicant to, in most cases the HSE, in respect of:

“Fees for Intervention”

This scheme was first implemented in October 2012. The fee for intervention scheme allows an HSE inspector to recover costs, known as Fees for Intervention (FFI), from companies found to be in material breach of health and safety law. If an HSE Inspector visits a business and finds any ‘material breach’ of health and safety regulations, the Executive can recover its costs in investigating the breach from the business, by raising a ‘fee for intervention’ which is calculated at a rate which may be increased from time to time. [As at 1st January 2021 the rate is £157/ hour].

Businesses will not be charged where there is no breach identified or where the breaches are minor (not ‘material’).

There is a right of appeal to the HSE. If the HSE dismisses the appeal, additional charges may be incurred and rendered. There is a further right of appeal to a panel comprising the HSE and an independent panel member.

n.b. Local Authority inspectors do not have the power to raise invoices under this scheme.

Link to full government text

 

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