The Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) has announced that its cost
recovery scheme, Fee for
Intervention, is going ahead but will
now not start in April 2012.

The scheme sets out to recover
costs from those who break
health and safety laws – for
the time and effort HSE
spends on helping to put
matters right, investigating
and taking enforcement action. Lawabiding
businesses will be free from
costs and will not pay a penny.

Gordon MacDonald, HSE’s
programme director, said:
“The Government has agreed that
it is right that those who break the
law should pay their fair share of the
costs to put things right – and not
the public purse.

“The Government intends to
proceed with the FFI scheme as
recommended to ministers by HSE’s
Board in December in response to
the formal consultation that
took place last Summer.

“Discussions are still taking
place on the technical details of
the scheme, which we expect
to conclude soon. Therefore, FFI will
not be introduced in April but at the
next available opportunity, which is
likely to be October 2012.”
Guidance will be available on
HSE’s website before implementation.