2025 No. 236

FEES AND CHARGES, ENGLAND

WILDLIFE, ENGLAND

The Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2025

Made27th February 2025

Laid before Parliament28th February 2025

Coming into force28th March 2025

The Secretary of State makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 11(3) and (5) and 104 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 20061.

Citation, commencement, extent and application1.

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2025 and comes into force on 28th March 2025.

(2)

This Order extends to England and Wales.

(3)

This Order applies to England only.

Interpretation2.

(1)

In this Order—

“the 1981 Act” means the Wildlife and Countryside Act 19812;

“the 2017 Regulations” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 20173;

“the 2018 Order” means the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 20184;

“application” includes a notification to Natural England5 under a class licence6 of a particular site where an applicant intends to carry out licensed activities, and in this context “applicant” means a person intending to rely on the class licence;

“bats” means all species of—

(a)

horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae);

(b)

typical bats (Vespertilionidae);

“complex application” means an application for a licence which requires Natural England to spend, prior to its issue, 5 hours or more assessing the impact on conservation of the licensable activities;

“protected species or habitat” means—

(a)

species protected under—

(i)
Schedule 1, Part 1 of Schedule 2, Schedule 5, Schedule 6 or Schedule 8 to the 1981 Act7;
(ii)
the Protection of Badgers Act 19928; or
(iii)
Schedule 2, Schedule 4 or Schedule 5 to the 2017 Regulations9;

(b)

species and habitats set out in the biodiversity list published by the Secretary of State in August 2010 under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 200610; and

“simple application” means an application for a licence which requires Natural England to spend, prior to its issue, fewer than 5 hours assessing the impact on conservation of the licensable activities.

(2)

In this Order, the issue of a licence includes—

(a)

renewal or modification of a licence;

(b)

registration under a class licence for the purpose of reliance on that licence;

(c)

authorisation under a licence to carry out licensed activities at a particular site.

Licence charges3.

(1)

Where Natural England issues a licence of a description in column 1 of the Schedule in relation to an application of a kind described (where appropriate) in column 2 of the Schedule, the applicant must pay to Natural England—

(a)

any corresponding fixed charge specified in column 3 of the Schedule;

(b)

any corresponding variable charge specified in column 4 of the Schedule;

(c)

where applicable, both of the charges referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b); and

(d)

an additional charge, where paragraph (2) applies.

(2)

This paragraph applies in respect of any licence for which a fixed charge alone is payable under paragraph (1)(a), where Natural England—

(a)

requires further information from an applicant prior to issuing a licence; or

(b)

issues a licence following review of an application it has rejected.

(3)

A variable charge referred to in paragraph (1)(b) is calculated by multiplying the total number of hours spent by Natural England in assessing the licence application by £121.

(4)

An additional charge referred to in paragraph (1)(d) is calculated by multiplying the additional hours spent by Natural England in connection with paragraph (2)(a) or paragraph (2)(b) by £121.

(5)

For the purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4), the number of hours spent may be rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour, and expressed as a fraction accordingly, where the time spent is—

(a)

less than one hour; or

(b)

not a whole number of hours.

(6)

A charge payable under this Order is payable to Natural England on demand.

(7)

The charges payable may be recoverable, as a civil debt, if not paid by the date on which they are due.

(8)

A civil debt recoverable under paragraph (7) may be recovered summarily in England by way of a complaint pursuant to section 58 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.

Exemptions, reductions and remissions4.

(1)

An applicant is exempt from a charge payable under article 3—

(a)

where the licence is issued—

(i)

for the purposes of preserving public health or public safety;

(ii)

for the purposes of preventing serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber or any other form of property;

(iii)

for the purposes of preventing the spread of disease;

(iv)

under section 16(1)(e) of the 1981 Act, for the purposes of falconry; or

(v)

in connection with development, within the meaning of section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 199011, which is granted planning permission—

(aa)

pursuant to article 3 of, and Part 1 of Schedule 2 (development within the curtilage of a dwelling house) to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 201512; or

(bb)

following the making of a householder application within the meaning of article 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management) (England) Order 201513;

(b)

where the principal purpose or purposes of the project or activity to which the licence relates is or are—

(i)

scientific, research or educational purposes relating to a protected species or habitat;

(ii)

to maintain or improve the conservation of a protected species or habitat; or

(iii)

to maintain or improve the conservation of a historic building; or

(c)

where the applicant maintains or improves the conservation of bats through measures taken to avoid damage or destruction to an existing bat roost or to preserve access to that roost.

(2)

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(iii), “historic building” includes—

(a)

a scheduled monument (within the meaning of section 1(11) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 197914);

(b)

a listed building (within the meaning of section 1 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 199015);

(c)

a place of worship;

(d)

a traditional farm building to which a relevant commitment relates, where a “relevant commitment” is a commitment entered into under Title 3 of Regulation (EU) No.1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development16.

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), a “bat roost” means a maternity, day or hibernation roost, used by three or more bats concurrently, within a building or structure.

(4)

Natural England may, in any case—

(a)

reduce, or

(b)

remit in whole or in part,

any charge payable under article 3, as it sees fit.

Revocation and savings provision5.

(1)

The Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018 (“the 2018 Order”) is revoked.

(2)

The 2018 Order continues to apply as if this Order had not been made in relation to an application which—

(a)

is of a kind described (where appropriate) in column 2 of the Schedule to the 2018 Order; and

(b)

was made before 28th March 2025.

Mary Creagh

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

27th February 2025

ScheduleLicence Charges

Article 3

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
Licence description17	Application	Fixed charges	Variable charge
Class licences issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations18 and/or section 16 of the 1981 Act19
Class licence issued under regulation 55(1) and (2)(e) of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(3)(f) of the 1981 Act in respect of—
- interference with bat roosts; or	Accreditation of consultant	£1960
	Re-accreditation	£410
	Upgrade accreditation	£670
- interference with bat roosts; or	Notification of site of licensed activities - simple application	£135
	Notification of site of licensed activities - complex application	£410
- activities that adversely impact great crested newts Triturus cristatus	Notification of site of licensed activities	£210
Class licence issued under regulation 55(1) and (2) of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16 of the 1981 Act in respect of displacement of water voles Arvicola amphibus	Initial registration	£104
	Renewal of registration	£35
Class licence issued under regulation 55(1) and (2)(a) and (b) of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(3) of the 1981 Act in respect of the survey of—	Initial registration	£104
	Renewal of registration	£35
- great crested newts Triturus cristatus;
- hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius; or
- Atlantic stream crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes
Class licence issued for the purposes of section 16(3)(a) and (b) of the 1981 Act and/or regulation 55(1) and (2)(a) and (b) of the 2017 Regulations in respect of the survey of bats	Initial registration	£104
	Renewal of registration	£35
Class licence issued for the purposes of section 16(1)(a) and (c) of the 1981 Act in respect of the survey of barn owls Tyto alba	Initial registration	£104
	Renewal of registration	£35
Class licence issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(4)(b) of the 1981 Act in respect of the sale or offering for sale of dead specimens and/or derivatives of species specified in Schedule 2 to the 2017 Regulations or in Schedule 5 to the 1981 Act and lawfully taken from the wild before 30th October 1981	Application for registration	£196
Individual licences issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16 of the 1981 Act
Individual licence issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(3) of the 1981 Act in respect of activities that adversely impact—
- great crested newts Triturus cristatus;	Simple application	£690
	Complex application	£219	Variable charge
- bats; or	Simple application	£500
	Complex application	£219	Variable charge
- hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius;	Simple application	£780
	Complex application	£219	Variable charge
- any other species20	Simple application	£780
	Complex application	£219	Variable charge
Individual licence issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(3) of the 1981 Act to kill, take, disturb or possess wild animals for specified purposes	Simple application	£73	Variable charge
	Complex application	£700
Individual licence issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 regulations and/or section 16(3) of the 1981 Act to disturb or take bats		£73	Variable charge
Individual licence issued under section 16(4)(b) of the 1981 Act permitting activity prohibited by section 13(2) of that Act			Variable charge
Individual licence issued under regulation 55(1) and (2)(c) of the 2017 Regulations and/or section 16(3)(c) of the 1981 Act in respect of the taking of wild plants			Variable charge
Individual licence issued under section 16(1)(e) (falconry or aviculture) of the 1981 Act			Variable charge
Individual licence issued under section 16(1)(h) (photography) of the 1981 Act			Variable charge
Any individual or class licence other than any referred to above issued under regulation 55 of the 2017 Regulations			Variable charge
Licences issued under section 10 of the Protection of Badgers Act 199221
Class licence issued under 10(1)(d) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (interference with a badger sett for the purposes of development)	Notification of site of licensed activities	£135
Individual licence issued under section 10(1)(d) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (interference with a badger sett for the purposes of development)	Complex application	£73	Variable charge
Licence modification
Any licence of a type described in the table above	Modification		Variable charge

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Under section 11 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (c. 16), the Secretary of State may require charges to be paid in respect of, and for the purpose of meeting the cost of, licences issued by Natural England.

This Order sets out charges to be paid in relation to licences issued by Natural England under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1012), the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69) and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (c. 51).

Article 3 provides that the charge for issuing a licence is specified in the Schedule. The charge may be a fixed charge, a variable charge calculated by multiplying the number of hours or part hours worked by £121, or a combination of the two. Article 3 also provides for an additional charge, based on an hourly rate of £121, for a fixed charge licence in certain prescribed circumstances.

This Order makes changes to the charges that were payable under the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018 to allow Natural England to recover their licensing service costs. Some charges have increased, some remain the same, and some have reduced. The hourly rate of £121 has increased 20% from £101 in the 2018 Order. Initial registrations for class survey licences will rise from £60 or £80 to £104, whilst annual renewal fees for registrations will remain at £35.

Article 4 contains provision relating to exemption from, and reduction and remission of, charges payable under article 3 of this Order.

Article 5 revokes the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018 which this instrument replaces, subject to saving provisions.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.