The Higher Education (Investigation Fees) (England) Regulations 2022
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2022/1191 |
| Year | 2022 |
2022 No. 1191
Education, England
The Higher Education (Investigation Fees) (England) Regulations 2022
Made 16th November 2022
Laid before Parliament 17th November 2022
Coming into force 8th December 2022
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations with the consent of the Treasury in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 71(1)(a) and (2) and 119(5) of the Higher Education and Research Act 20171.
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Higher Education (Investigation Fees) (England) Regulations 2022.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 8th December 2022.
(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.
Fee payable to the Office for Students for investigation of a registered higher education provider
2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (6) and regulation 7, a fee is payable for the conducting by the OfS of an investigation of the activities of a registered higher education provider where, as a result of the investigation, the OfS—
(a)
(a) finds that there is or has been a breach of any ongoing registration condition of the provider,
(b)
(b) imposes a specific ongoing registration condition on the provider’s registration,
(c)
(c) requires the provider’s governing body to provide information pursuant to an ongoing registration condition of the provider referred to in section 8(1)(b) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, or
(d)
(d) makes a recommendation that, in order to mitigate what the OfS considers to be the increased risk of a breach of an ongoing registration condition of the provider, the provider should take or refrain from taking any action specified by the OfS.
(2) The fee is payable by the governing body of the institution whose activities were the subject of the investigation.
(3) The amount of the fee is a sum which is equal to the total amount of all the costs reasonably incurred by the OfS in conducting the investigation.
(4) That sum is to be determined by the OfS.
(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (3), conducting an investigation includes—
(a)
(a) making and communicating a decision to conduct the investigation,
(b)
(b) settling and communicating the findings of the investigation, and
(c)
(c) making any other decision, and engaging in any other activity, in connection with—
(i) beginning the investigation;
(ii) conducting the investigation;
(iii) settling or communicating the findings of the investigation.
(6) But the fee under paragraph (1) is only payable if the OfS decides not to impose any sanction in relation to the provider as a result of the findings of the investigation (including where that is because it considers there to be no grounds to impose any sanction as a result of those findings).
(7) The references in paragraph (6) to imposing a sanction are references to—
(a)
(a) imposing a monetary penalty under section 15 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017,
(b)
(b) suspending a provider’s registration under section 16 of that Act, or
(c)
(c) removing a provider from the register under section 18 of that Act.
Duty of the OfS to publish statement about approach to determining amount of fees
3. The OfS must publish—
(a) a statement about its approach to making determinations under regulation 2(4), and
(b) revised statements, where it changes the way in which it approaches such determinations.
Waiver and refund of fees
4. The OfS may—
(a) waive all or part of any fee payable under these Regulations;
(b) refund all or part of any fee paid under these Regulations.
Notice of fee payable and when it must be paid
5.—(1) The OfS must notify the governing body of an institution of any fee payable by the governing body under regulation 2.
(2) The notice must—
(a)
(a) state the date on which the notice is issued;
(b)
(b) specify the amount of the fee;
(c)
(c) explain how the OfS has determined the sum referred to in regulation 2(3);
(d)
(d) specify the period within which the...
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