Draft Registers fees order laid before Holyrood

New fees at Registers of Scotland are likely to come into force on 1 April, following the fee review and consultation which closed just before Christmas.

An order has been laid before the Scottish Parliament which, if approved would give effect to the changes, which were supported by a large majority of those who responded.

The increased fees are designed to meet Registers' obligation to operate on a cost recovery basis. However it is also proposed to abolish the fee for rejected applications, which has been a bone of contention with solicitors. In October the Keeper exercised her powers to introduce a £10 temporary increase, but an order is needed for a permanent increase and for the larger rises needed for full cost recovery.

Respondents agreed that fees for voluntary registrations should continue to be lower than for standard registrations. Some also queried why digital submissions do not attract a lower fee; Registers explains that apart from the digital discharge service, which is an end-to-end registration system and attracts a lower fee due to the cost savings involved, digital submission does not have much effect on the overall costs of registration.

In her latest blog, confirming the move to a fees order, the Keeper, Jennifer Henderson, comments: "I am delighted to say that overall, the responses have been supportive of our proposed changes, with several of the proposals receiving strong support, in particular our proposal to remove rejection fees.

"In some cases, respondents used the consultation to raise wider issues or comment on matters that were not related directly to fees. Again, I am extremely grateful that respondents shared with us their views, and we will factor them into our strategic plans and ongoing stakeholder communication strategy. We will be responding directly to respondents to address the issues they raised."

Click here to view the report of the review, including Registers' comments on the responses received.