Fee for Intervention Effective and Should Stay

A report has found that the Health and Safety Executive’s Fee for Intervention Scheme has proved effective in shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses that break health and safety laws.

The Fee for Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme, implemented through the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, has been operational for two years. Under the scheme, those who break health and safety laws are liable to pay the HSE’s related costs, including inspection, investigation and taking enforcement action at an hourly rate of £124.

The Report, Fee for Intervention (FFI) - The First Eighteen Month’s Experience, was undertaken by the Independent FFI Review Panel and was published in June 2014. The panel included representatives from the GMB trade union, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Report’s findings include:

• FFI has proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses that break health and safety laws;
• It has been introduced and embedded effectively and applied consistently;
• There has been a cost to pay in terms of the relationship between dutyholders and inspectors;
• There is no reason to conclude that the overall level of compliance with health and safety legislation has changed significantly as a result of the introduction of FFI.

The full report can be found on the HSE website.