Consultation outcome

Annex A – MHRA fees review summary

Updated 31 January 2023

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Agency fees review overview

Aim

The aim of the fees review was to make sure all Agency activities are identified, accounted for, linked to specific lines of revenue in the Agency general ledger and that the fees charged are accurate and recover full costs in line with the requirements of HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money.

The review aimed to deliver an evidence base for the Agency which could tell us:

  • The entire list of activities the Agency carries out
  • The number of staff (in FTE) it requires to deliver these activities
  • How much this will cost
  • Whether the fees we are currently charging are accurate
  • How much we will need to adjust our fees to achieve cost recovery, including corporate overhead costs and systems investments

Reason for the review

A review of the Agency’s fee structure was essential for a number of reasons:

  • The Agency Transformation and restructure – our Agency fees must reflect and be able to fund our new structure as a key element of financial sustainability
  • The loss of the Agency Trading Fund status and the inability to build and use reserves means cost recovery is essential
  • To ensure the way the Agency operates (fee charging) is in accordance with HMT guidelines set out in Managing Public Money (on a cost recovery basis)
  • The Agency’s fees have not been reviewed or adjusted since leaving the EU (even in light of changing work volumes)
  • The Agency needs to maintain an up-to-date evidence base of our Agency costs to justify any future fee changes (including fee increases)
  • Recent changes in legislation have required increased scrutiny on multiple areas of the Agency’s work – this has increased resourcing requirements and therefore costs, and this must be reflected in Agency fees if the Agency is to remain financially sustainable and in accordance with Managing Public Money

Project key deliverables

The key deliverables for the project were:

  • The total cost of the regulatory activity associated with each individual fee
  • The associated gross profit or loss per fee
  • The % increase/decrease to achieve cost recovery
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