Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 18

17 March 2005

Charges for Rights of Way Searches

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Alex Lewis, Ext 6044 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

It is proposed to increase charges made for Rights of Way searches, from the current £26 to £40, in line with charges proposed for similar searches undertaken by Environment Group.

2. Background

2.1 The County's definitive map of public rights of way is available for the public to inspect, without charge. However, it is not always possible, or practicable, for people wishing to know the exact location of a right of way to inspect the map personally. As a service to the public, the Rights of Way Section will provide relevant rights of way information in response to a Rights of Way search. Because of the age and scale of the definitive map, the search service involves a considerable amount of interpretation and this work forms the basis of, and justification for, the charge.

2.2 The current charges are believed to have been in place for at least 10 years, and are £26.00 for the first hour's work and £30.00 per hour thereafter. There is no national standard charge for this information, indeed charges vary greatly. For example we are aware that Wiltshire County Council charge £45 for this information, Dorset CC charge £32.50 and Buckinghamshire CC charge £70. Here in Hampshire charges are not normally made if a landowner seeks clarification about the precise location of a particular path on his land, but charges will be levied if the query is in connection with the sale and purchase of land, or other commercial dealing, or when the provision of information is over and above that which might reasonably be expected to be provided without cost.

2.3 The effect of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 is that, where an individual is given access to the definitive map by way of inspecting it on Council premises, this should be provided free of charge. However, the Regulations give an authority a discretion to make a reasonable charge for providing environmental information in other ways. The charge should not exceed the cost to the authority of producing the information, and a schedule of charges should be published. Guidance issued by DEFRA advises that a charge should not normally be made where the assessed costs of complying with a request for information do not exceed £450, in line with the charging regime that applies to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The general position will remain, therefore, that no charge will be made, except where the person making the request is seeking information in connection with a commercial purpose e.g. the sale or purchase of land, or the assessed costs of producing the information exceed £450. It is within the scope of the discretion granted by the Regulations to make a charge in such circumstances.

2.3 Basic information about the location of rights of way is currently available on the County Council's website and it is intended to provide greatly improved web pages (with interactive maps having a greater degree of clarity and accuracy) during 2005. Nonetheless, it is anticipated that there will still be a demand for the search service in legal transactions and where it is necessary to establish the exact location of a path.

3. Proposed charges

3.1 The Environment Group also provides highway information and handles status and boundary searches similar in nature to rights of way searches: indeed there is frequent dialogue between the two departments, each providing a search reply according to its remit and expertise. The proposed increase in charges has been discussed and agreed with Hampshire Highways, which will be seeking approval to a similar scale of charges, from its Environment Waste and Network Management Board.

3.2 The charges agreed, and for which approval is now sought, is £40.00 for a search taking up to one hour's work and, for complex searches taking over an hour, £40.00 per hour thereafter.

Recommendation

That approval be given to the charge of £40.00 for a search taking up to an hour and £40.00 per hour thereafter, where the person making the request is seeking information in connection with a commercial purpose e.g. the sale or purchase of land, or the assessed costs of producing the information exceed £450 .

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

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