The Registrar of Companies (Fees) (Limited Partnerships and Newspaper Proprietors) Regulations 2009

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for the fees to be payable to the registrar of companies in respect of his functions relating to the registration of documents relating to limited partnerships and the register of the proprietors of newspapers, and the inspection or provision of copies of documents kept by him relating to limited partnerships.

In respect of limited partnerships, the Regulations replace fees set under section 16 of the Limited Partnerships Act 1907 (“the 1907 Act”) and the Limited Partnerships Rules 1907 (S.I. 1907/1020, as amended) made under section 17 of that Act. The powers to set fees under the 1907 Act were repealed on 6th April 2007 by section 1063(7) of the Companies Act 2006. But savings in paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 to the Companies Act 2006 (Commencement No.1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/3428 (C.132)) (“the First Commencement Order”) preserved the fees set under sections 16 and 17 of the 1907 Act. The Limited Partnership Rules 1907 were revoked by the Limited Partnerships (Forms) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/2160), except for rule 3 which sets out the saved fees.

The provisions of the 1907 Act providing for the registration of limited partnerships were amended by the Legislative Reform (Limited Partnerships) Order 2009 (S.I 2009/1940).

In respect of the register of the proprietors of newspapers, the Regulations replace fees set under section 14 of the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 (“the 1881 Act”) in the Board of Trade Minute of 22nd December 1881. A copy of this minute is available from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The replacement fees are subject to the transitional provisions contained in regulations 5 and 6. They revoke the savings for limited partnerships fees in the First Commencement Order.

The scale of the fees in these Regulations has increased from the corresponding fees set under the 1907 Act and the 1881 Act. The fee payable for the registration of a limited partnership has increased from £2 to £20. The fee payable for registering a return in the register of the proprietors of newspapers has increased from 25p to £10. The fee payable to inspect documents relating to limited partnerships has increased from 5p to the fees set in these Regulations. The fee payable for a certificate of registration relating to a limited partnership has increased from 10p to £15. Certain fees set under the 1907 Act or the 1881 Act which are not re-enacted in these Regulations are determined by the registrar under section 1063(5) of the Companies Act 2006 under an instrument made on 1st October 2009. A copy of this instrument is available from the registrar.

Regulation 3 and Schedule 1 provide the fees to be payable in respect of the registration of documents by the registrar relating to limited partnerships and the register of the proprietors of newspapers.

Regulation 4 and Schedule 2 provide the fees to be payable in respect of the inspection or provision of copies of documents kept by the registrar relating to limited partnerships.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument.