Fees and guidance
The PPS may charge a fee in accordance with the Fees Regulations produced by the
Ministry of Justice. The following sections outline the types of fees that can be charged, the process for charging fees and situations were fees should be charged.
The DCA Regulations set out two types of fees that can be charged:
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Prescribed Costs - Refers to the cost of finding, sorting, editing and redacting information. Fees can only be charged in instances where the prescribed costs exceed the appropriate limit of £600; and
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Disbursements - Refers to costs in relation to printing, photocopying or postage. Disbursements can be charged in all cases, irrespective of whether the appropriate limit has been met.
In order to calculate fees, the DCA Fees Regulations state that all public authorities should use the same hourly rate for estimating costs, regardless of the seniority of staff involved. The hourly rate has been set at £25 per hour.
Most of the requests the PPS will receive should be relatively straightforward, and are therefore unlikely to exceed the £600 limit. If a request is more complicated and will likely attract a charge, the cost and time to respond to the request will need to be estimated prior to the issuing of a fees notice.
The PPS will levy the following charges with regards to disbursements: