The Coal Authority Scale of Charges

Effective from: 1st May 2008

• Licensing Fees

• Permissions Fees
  (permission to enter or disturb Coal Authority mining interests)

• Mining Records

• Searches and Related Services

• Estates Department

• Enquiries

Licensing Fees

Please note: VAT is not levied on licence fees but does apply to legal costs.

1. Applications

a) Underground & Opencast Operating Licences (including Conditional
    Licences):

(i)  With the exception of (ii) below, applications are charged at £50 / 0.1 hectare with a minimum fee of £500 and a maximum fee of £12,000.

(ii) For underground mining in a freeminer’s gale in the Hundred of St Briavels (“Forest of Dean”) there is a flat rate application fee of £50. 

b) Exploration Licences:

Applications are charged at £5 / hectare with a minimum fee of £500 and a maximum fee of £10,000.  Thereafter the fee will be subject to site specific consideration.

c) Coal Methane Access Agreements:

There are two options for the application fee, the decision being made by the applicant :-

Either: Charged at £5 / hectare with a minimum charge of £500 and a maximum charge of £10,000.  Thereafter the fee will be subject to site specific consideration.

A successful application with this method results in an Access Agreement for a single site.

Or: An initial application fee of £5,000 plus a further £1,000 application fee per borehole prior to it being drilled.

A successful application with this method results in an Access Agreement for an overall area and then subsequent supplemental agreements for each borehole.

2. Grants of Licence / Access Agreement

All fees are based on a grant of Licence / Access Agreement in the standard form.

a) Underground & Opencast Operating Licences (including Conditional
    Licences):

(i)  With the exception of (ii) below, charged at £1,000 on the grant of the Licence with the Authority reserving the right to charge legal fees.

(ii) Charged at £50 on the grant of a licence for underground mining in a freeminer’s gale in the Forest of Dean with the Authority reserving the right to charge legal fees.

b) Exploration Licences:

Charged at £500 on the grant of the Exploration Licence with the Authority reserving the right to charge legal fees.

c) Coal Methane Access Agreements:

Charged at £500 on the grant of the Access Agreement with the Authority reserving the right to charge legal fees.  In the case of the overall and supplemental agreement method then there is only a grant charge for the initial overall agreement.

3. Annual Fees

a) Underground & Opencast Operating Licences:

For each Licence (apart from those in the Forest of Dean) a fee is charged based on an estimate of tonnage to be produced in the following 12 months:

For annual tonnages produced above 250,000 tonnes	£5,000 p.a.
For annual tonnages produced between 5,001 and 250,000 tonnes	£1,000 p.a.
For annual tonnages produced up to 5,000 tonnes	£500 p.a.
For each Licence in the Forest of Dean	£50 p.a.

 

 

 

 

(These fees include one change to the Area of Responsibility per year with the Authority reserving the right to charge for any ad hoc work on an hourly basis)

b) Exploration Licences:

For each Licence

£500 p.a.

 

c) Coal Methane Access Agreements:

For each Access Agreement

£500 p.a.

 

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Permissions Fees (permission to enter or disturb Coal Authority mining interests)

Please Note: The minimum fee for any application will be £100.00, all permissions charges quoted below are inclusive of VAT.

Fees are based upon one of the following: the area of the application, the number of boreholes, or the number of mine entries to be investigated and/or treated.

(i) £100 per 0.1 hectare (1000m2) or part thereof (e.g. 0.25 ha = £300) up to a maximum of £2500 (for 2.5 ha or above). Any number of shafts/adits within this area are included within this area fee.

(ii) For initial investigation purposes only. Where a small number of boreholes (max 10) are planned over a large site; £50 per borehole. Should treatment then prove necessary, then a further application would be needed to cover the whole grouting area at £100 per 0.1 hectare, however the initial £50 per borehole fee would be deducted from this.

(iii) Shaft and adit investigation/treatment will be charged at £100 each when not included within (i) above.

(iv) Expedited applications will be charged at double the normally applicable fee (£5000 max)

(v) Retrospective applications will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and on the proviso that all investigation and treatment works have been completed and recorded to accepted published standards including HSE guidance. Retrospective applications will be charged at twice the normal applicable rate.

(vi) Payments are inclusive of VAT and can be made by cheque (payable to The Coal Authority), credit card, or BACS. Payments must be paid in full before the permit can be granted.

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Mining Records & Records Management

Please note: VAT will be added to all the fees quoted below.

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Searches and Related Services

Please note: All charges quoted are subject to VAT

1. Residential Property Search

Available for single unit residential property, either existing or currently being built, e.g. a single plot on a residential development site.  The report will answer questions 1 to 12 of the current Law Society Scheme Search Form (1 to 11 in Scotland) and is fully Home Information Pack (HIP’s) and Home Report (Scotland) compliant.

Mining Report – includes information on coal mining and brine subsidence claims

Ground Stability Report – includes information on coal mining, brine subsidence claims and natural subsidence hazards

2. Non-Residential Property, Commercial or Site Search

Available for multi-residential, non-residential or sites up to a maximum of 25 hectares in extent.  The report will answer questions 1 to 15 of the current Law Society Scheme Search Form (1 to 13 in Scotland) and is fully HIP and Home Report compliant.

Mining Report

Ground Stability Report

3. Search Not Required Certificate

Available on the  Coal Authority On-Line Search Service .

4. Subsidence Claim Search (CON29M & ScotForm enquiry 9 equivalent)

5. Expedited Fee (additional fee for same/next working day fax service)

6. Interpretive Report (subsequent to disclosure of mine entry in any residential report)

7. Claims History Service

8. Copy of S.46 Notice

9. Mine Entry Plans and Data Sheets (produced for customer defined areas; one data sheet per mine entry disclosing a summary of all known metadata)

10. Surface Hazard Report (subsequent to disclosure of surface hazard in any residential or non-residential report)

11. Mine Gas Emission Report (subsequent to disclosure of mine gas emission in any residential or non-residential report)

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Estates Department

The Estates Department Office is sited at the Coal Authority Headquarters in Mansfield and can also be contacted by DX Mail on DX716178 Mansfield 5.

Structural Precautions Covenant:

Structural precautions approval of plans and specifications which is required in accordance with the provisions of covenants in favour of the National Coal Board and British Coal Corporation imposed for the express or implicit purpose of minimising damage caused by subsidence.

The benefit of such covenants has now passed to the Coal Authority by virtue of the Coal Industry Act 1994.

The Authority no longer approves plans or building specifications but will issue a structural precautions letter which deems prior approval to have been granted, provided the building works conform to the requirements of the Building Regulations 2000 or such regulations in force.

This structural precautions letter can be acquired from the Coal Authority without charge by applying to the Head of Estates and Environmental Projects at the Coal Authority’s headquarters.

Please provide a copy of the conveyance containing the provisions and state the nature of the works and the land on which the works will take place.
It is not possible for the Coal Authority to provide copies of approvals previously given by the National Coal Board and British Coal Corporation.  The Authority is however, prepared to give a letter of indemnity in lieu of granting retrospective consent subject to a standard charge of £100 including VAT.  This letter may also be expedited to a two working day turnaround for a charge of £175 including VAT.

It is possible to provide certified copies of prior approval letters previously given by the Coal Authority subject to a standard charge of £50 including VAT.  This copy letter may also be expedited to a two working day turnaround for a charge of £85 including VAT.

Historic Enquiries:

Historic Enquiries relating to the ownership of land that may have been owned by the former National Coal Board/British Coal Corporation can be investigated by the Coal Authority.  The research for such enquiries is undertaken for the initial fee of £100 inclusive of VAT.  When enquiries require in excess of one hour's work, an additional charge of £100 per hour is levied.  In such cases the applicant is notified in advance with an estimate of the additional cost prior to proceeding with the enquiry.

The fee payable is non-refundable even if, following investigation, the Coal Authority are unable to assist with the enquiry or provide only a partial response. All payments are required in advance of the work being undertaken.  In addition to the cost of researching each case there are further charges associated with the copying of any legal documents.

The Coal Authority Scale of Charges is outlined above under Mining Records and Record Management. 

 

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Enquiries

All written enquiries to :

Director of Mining Projects & Property
The Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Berry Hill
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG

Licensing & Indemnities:

Telephone : 01623 637 339
Fax : 01623 620 363

Mining Records:

Telephone : 01623 637 233
Fax : 01623 629 100

Mining Reports:

Telephone : 0845 762 6848
Fax : 01623 637 338    (Expedited Service Only)

Records:

Telephone: 01623 637 217    
Fax: 01623 423 468

Estates & Environments Projects:

Telephone: 01623 637 239
Fax: 01623 621 955

Notes for Guidance

Whilst the Coal Authority will provide a document search and inspection service it will not interpret or analyse information it holds (except for the Interpretive Mining Report).

The Coal Authority disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy of information contained in historic records, and notes, annotations and amendments which appear on documents, including plans, logs and analytical reports.

The Coal Authority will not take responsibility for the provision of correct data when enquiries are based on inaccurate information.

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