Appendix 1: Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018 (SI 2018/771)
Additional information from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Q1: Paragraph 7.3 of the EM states that applicants will pay an estimated £1.3 million per year for licences as a result of the changes. It then goes on to say that the money will be reinvested for service improvements which are expected to lead to savings for applicants of £0.5 million per year, largely in the form of a reduction in the number of delayed licences.
Paragraph 10.1 then says that business will be saving £0.4 million per year because of service improvements and while the new charges are mentioned, the expected total cost to applicants of £1.3 million (see paragraph 7.3) is not mentioned here.
Are the expected savings to applicants £0.5 million (paragraph 7.3) or £0.4 million (paragraph 10.1)? If businesses pay charges of £1.3 million while also saving £0.4 million or £0.5 million through better service–this leaves a net cost of £0.9 million or £0.8 million. So the expected financial cost to business is bigger than the expected savings, but only the savings are mentioned. Should the expected net cost not be mentioned here?
A1: The estimated gross saving to applicants as a result of reduced delay cost is £1.8 million per annum. This has then been set against an increase in cost to applicants (as result of fees) of £1.3 million, to give an estimated net saving to applicants of the order of £0.5 million per annum.
The figure quoted in paragraph 10.1 is derived from a more detailed analysis of the impact on business sector applicants specifically (following the same approach) which showed an estimated net saving of £0.4 million per annum. The difference between this and the figure quoted in paragraph 7.3 is partly down to rounding and partly due to the inclusion in the more detailed analysis of a small allowance for increased costs to business applicants in processing payment of a licence fee.
Q2: Para 10.3 states that the savings to taxpayers will be £0.4m per year. How is the £0.4m taxpayer savings figure calculated? How does the figure relate to the £1.3 million in revenue for the taxpayer from the new charges?
A2: Of the total income from charges of £1.3 million, we estimate that we will need to invest an additional £0.9 million in the improved delivery of the service, leaving a net saving in taxpayer funding of £0.4 million.
9 July 2018