FEES AND CHARGES, ENGLAND Citation, commencement, extent and application 1 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. Interpretation 2 1 In this Order— “ the 1981 Act ” means the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 ; “ the 2017 Regulations ” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 ; “ the 2018 Order ” means the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018 ; “ application ” includes a notification to Natural England under a class licence 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— horseshoe bats ( Rhinolophidae ); 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— species protected under— Schedule 1, Part 1 of Schedule 2, Schedule 5, Schedule 6 or Schedule 8 to the 1981 Act ; the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 ; or Schedule 2, Schedule 4 or Schedule 5 to the 2017 Regulations ; 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 2006 ; 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 charges 3 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 remissions 4 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 1990 , 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 2015 ; 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 2015 ; 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 1979 ); b a listed building (within the meaning of section 1 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ); 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 Development . 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 provision 5 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