The Public Bodies (Marine Management Organisation) (Fees) Order 2014

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Public Bodies (Marine Management Organisation) (Fees) Order 2014 and comes into force on the day after the date on which it was made.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“the 2009 Act” means the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009(1);

“licence” means a marine licence granted under section 71(1)(a) or (b) of the 2009 Act or deemed to have been issued under section 149A of the Planning Act 2008(2);

“the MMO” means the Marine Management Organisation(3); and

“monitoring”, in relation to a licence, means monitoring carried out by the MMO in connection with the functions of a licensing authority under Part 4 of the 2009 Act—

(a)

for the purposes of determining the environmental, economic or social consequences of any activity permitted by that licence; or

(b)

for the purposes of determining whether the holder of that licence is complying with any conditions attached to that licence under section 71(1)(b) of the 2009 Act or, in the case of a licence which is deemed to have been issued by provision in a development consent order made by virtue of section 149A of the Planning Act 2008, with any conditions deemed to be attached to that licence under subsection (3) of that section.

Application

3.  This Order applies in relation to any licence in relation to which the Secretary of State is the appropriate licensing authority under section 113 of the 2009 Act(4), other than any such licence relating to an activity falling within the subject matter of—

(a) the Petroleum Act 1998(5); or

(b) Part 1 (gas importation or storage), Part 4 (provisions relating to oil and gas storage) or Part 4A (works detrimental to navigation) of the Energy Act 2008(6).

Fee payable for monitoring

4.—(1) The MMO may charge the holder of a licence a fee for monitoring an activity authorised by that licence.

(2) The fee payable in respect of monitoring of a description specified in the first column of Schedule 1 in relation to licences of a description specified in the second column of that Schedule are set out in the third column of that Schedule.

Fee payable for variation or transfer

5.—(1) The MMO may charge a fee in respect of determining an application for—

(a) the variation of a licence under section 72(3) of the 2009 Act; or

(b) the transfer and variation of a licence under section 72(7) of the 2009 Act.

(2) The fees payable under paragraph (1) in the circumstances specified in the first column of Schedule 2 in relation to licences of a kind specified in the second column of that Schedule are set out in the third column of that Schedule.

(3) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to any application received before the date on which these Regulations come into force.

Calculation and determination of fees

6.—(1) Where a fee is to be calculated at an hourly rate, the total number of hours worked may be expressed as a fraction where—

(a) less than one hour is worked; or

(b) the total amount of time worked is more than one hour but cannot be expressed as a whole number in hours.

(2) Where an activity or a licence falls within more than one description specified in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 (as the case may be), the higher fee is payable in relation to the activity.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the fee payable in respect of monitoring of any description specified in the first column of Schedule 1 may be charged on each occasion on which the monitoring is carried out.

(4) Where monitoring in relation to a licence of a kind mentioned in the first entry in the second column of Schedule 1 is carried out on more than one occasion, the maximum specified in the third column of that Schedule in relation to the fee for such monitoring applies in relation to the aggregate of the various amounts that (but for that limit) would be payable by way of fees in respect of the monitoring carried out on those occasions.

Deposits

7.—(1) The MMO may require the holder of a licence to pay a deposit of such amount as it may determine on account of any fee payable under article 4 or 5 which—

(a) is not subject to a maximum specified in Schedule 1 or 2; or

(b) is subject to a maximum specified in Schedule 1 of—

(i) £750; or

(ii) £15,000.

(2) The amount of the deposit payable under paragraph (1) in a case within sub-paragraph (a) or (b)(ii) of that paragraph may not exceed £10,000.

(3) The amount of the deposit must be calculated on the basis of an estimate of the total amount of the fee.

Payment of fees

8.—(1) Any fee charged under this Order must be paid on demand to the MMO.

(2) Payment of any fee may be made by electronic means.

(3) Payment of a fee is not to be taken to be received until the MMO has received cleared funds for the full amount.

(4) The MMO may require a fee charged under article 4(1) or 5(1) to be payable in advance of the activity to which it relates being carried out.

(5) The amount of any unpaid fee may be recovered by the MMO as a civil debt (in addition to any action taken by the MMO under paragraph (6) or (7).

(6) If the holder of a licence fails without reasonable cause to comply with a requirement to pay a fee charged under article 4(1) or a deposit payable under article 7(1) on account of that fee within 28 days of a demand being made, the MMO may by notice vary, suspend or revoke the licence.

(7) If a holder of a licence who makes an application for the variation of a licence under section 72(3) of the 2009 Act, or an application under section 72(7) of that Act, fails to comply with a requirement to pay a fee charged under article 5(1) or a deposit payable under article 7(1) on account of that fee, the MMO may refuse to proceed with the application until the fee is paid in full.

Repayment, waiver or reduction of fee

9.—(1) The MMO must refund any amount paid in excess of the fee payable, but fees paid are not otherwise refundable.

(2) The MMO may waive or reduce any fee if it sees fit.

Appeals

10.—(1) The holder of a licence may appeal against a notice issued by the MMO under article 8(6) (variation, suspension or revocation of a licence).

(2) The provisions of the Marine Licensing (Notices Appeals) Regulations 2011(7), except regulation 4 of those regulations, apply in relation to a notice under article 8(6) as they apply in relation to a notice under section 72 of the 2009 Act.

George Eustice

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

14th September 2014