Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to reduce the renewal cost for SIA license holders that have been affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

There are no current plans to reduce the fee for SIA licence applications. The application fee is set on the basis of full recovery of the costs incurred by the SIA for processing and issuing the licence, and for associated costs such as inspections and enforcement activity.

The fee is reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that cost recovery is achieved over the three year licence cycle, without generating an overall surplus at the end of cycle. Reviews are undertaken in line with the principles of the HM Treasury guidance, Managing Public Money, with a business case submitted to Treasury to approve any prospective fee change. The last fee reduction took effect from 1st April 2020 and reduced the fee from £210 to £190.