LONDON, May 28 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news:

Every year weare required toreview the statutory fees set forbothindividual licensing andthevoluntary Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS).

The Home Office laid a Statutory Instrument (SI) in Parliamenton27 Aprilproposing changes tothe ACS annual registration fees. The changesare due tocome into effecton1 June 2026.

The other change,whichwillalsocome into effecton 1 June 2026,istotheterms of thediscountforthose applying foradditionalindividual SIAlicences.

ACS annual registration fees

The annual ACS registration feepayabledepends on how many SIA licence holders the company employs, meaning smaller and medium sized companies pay less than larger ones.

The amountto be paid per licensable individual deployed will rise from £15 to £25.

This is the first rise in the annual registration fee in the history of the ACS. The new statutory fee per licensable individual will still be lower, after accounting for inflation, than it was when the scheme was first introduced in2006.

Discount on applications foradditionallicences

The50% discount on applications foradditionallicencesremains, butonlyappliesif the second application is made on the same dayonthe sameapplicationform. In the past,a discountwas possibleforadditionallicencesmadeat any time.However,in practice,thechecksand other processeswe carry out(includingcriminal records checks)have tobe repeated in full.As we need toset licensing fees at a leveltorecover the full costsincurred, this is afairer andmoreaccuratecharge.

Feelevels

Wemust charge and set feesforservicesatthelevelwhichrecoversthe full costs of the ACSand the associated services we provide, in a way that ensures government neither profits at the expense of consumers nor makes a loss for taxpayers tosubsidise, and we calculate them on that basis.We must also do the sameforthefeesconnected with individual licence applications, whichare separate from ACS fees.

Thesefeechangesarenotas a result ofournewrole and workon Martyn's Law; there are separategrantfunding arrangements in place for the Home Office to fund our preparatory and future Martyn's Law work.

Find out more

Read Changes to SIA fees: your questions answered - GOV.UKto find out more about these fee changes and whythey arehappening.

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