Public Audit (Wales) Act 2013

24 Scheme for charging fees

(1) The WAO must prepare a scheme relating to the charging of fees by the WAO.

(2) The scheme must include the following—

(a) a list of the enactments under which the WAO may charge a fee;

(b) where those enactments make provision for the WAO to prescribe a scale or scales of fees, that scale or those scales;

(c) where those enactments make provision for the WAO to prescribe an amount to be charged, that amount;

(d) where no provision is made for a scale or scales of fees or for an amount to be prescribed, the means by which the WAO is to calculate the fee.

(3) The scheme may, amongst other things—

(a) include different provision for different cases or classes of case, and

(b) provide for times at which and the manner in which payments are to be made.

(4) The WAO—

(a) must review the scheme at least once in every calendar year,

(b) may revise or remake the scheme at any time, and

(c) must lay the scheme (and any revision to it) before the National Assembly.

(5) Where the Welsh Ministers prescribe a scale or scales of fees under—

(a) section 64F of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 (fees for data matching), or

(b) section 27A of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 (Welsh Ministers’ power to prescribe a scale of fees),

to have effect instead of a scale or scales prescribed by the WAO, the WAO must revise the scheme to include the scale or scales prescribed by the Welsh Ministers instead of those prescribed by the WAO.

(6) If a revision made in accordance with subsection (5) is the only revision to a scheme, it does not require the approval of the National Assembly.

(7) The scheme takes effect when approved by the National Assembly or, in the case of a revision made in accordance with subsection (5), once it has been laid before the Assembly.

(8) The WAO must publish the scheme (and any revision to it) as soon as reasonably practicable after it takes effect.