Consultation on our regulatory fees and charges for 2025/2026

Results updated 1 Apr 2025

As a Welsh Government (WG) body, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) must comply with requirements set out in ‘Managing Welsh Public Money.’ This requires that wherever possible, we fully recover the costs of the regulatory services we provide from those who use them, rather than having those services funded through general taxation.

Many of NRW’s fees and charges had not been fully reviewed in several years. Starting with the recent Strategic Review of Charging for applications, we continue our long-term programme of work to ensure that charging across NRW is cost reflective.

We recognise the financial impact our charging proposals might have on some businesses, especially as our proposals coincide with wider financial pressures from inflation and the increased cost of living. A failure to manage our charging schemes to ensure they reflect full cost recovery would however restrict our ability to deliver our regulatory duty, prevent pollution and contribute to tackling the climate and nature emergencies. Sustainable funding means we can maintain our specialist competencies, secure compliance with legislation and permits and adapt regulation. It is important that we adapt regulation and funding to deliver the level of regulation needed in Wales to prevent pollution and to ensure natural resources are sustainably maintained, enhanced, and used, now and in the future.

Files:

• 2025_26 Charges Consultation Response FINAL ENGLISH.pdf, 2.1 MB (PDF document)