The Transport Infrastructure (Fees) Regulations 2026 create a new charging regime for public bodies involved in transport infrastructure consents. The instrument was made on 26 October 2026, laid before Parliament on 30 October 2026 and comes into force on 20 November 2026. The Regulations are made under section 281B of the Highways Act 1980 and section 23A of the Transport and Works Act 1992, powers inserted by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. In practical terms, the legislation gives named authorities a clearer statutory basis to recover the cost of work they carry out on qualifying projects.
The instrument extends to England and Wales, but its two charging regimes serve different parts of the approvals system. Part 2 applies in relation to England and covers services provided to highway authorities in connection with orders and schemes under Parts 2, 6 and 12 of the Highways Act 1980, as well as schemes under sections 16 and 106 of that Act. Schedule 1 names the bodies that may charge under this route. The list includes the Coal Authority, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, local authorities in England, the Marine Management Organisation, Natural England, National Highways and Transport for London.
Part 3 adopts the same basic model for applications made under section 6 of the Transport and Works Act 1992, the procedure used for orders relating to railways, tramways and certain inland waterway projects. Under this part, the charge falls on the applicant rather than on a highway authority. Schedule 2 applies in England and to cross-border orders, meaning schemes that engage authorities on both sides of the England-Wales border. Alongside bodies already familiar from Schedule 1, it also brings in local authorities in Wales, Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Ministers where they are providing relevant services on cross-border cases.
The central safeguard in both Parts 2 and 3 is publication. Regulations 3 and 8 provide that a prescribed authority may charge only in line with a statement published on its website. That statement must describe the services for which fees are payable, set out either the fee itself or the method used to calculate it, and identify the statutory provision under which the service is supplied. The Regulations also draw a clear line around the amount that may be recovered. Charges may include the cost of work that is reasonably incidental to the relevant service, but they must not exceed the costs reasonably incurred, or to be incurred, by the authority. The drafting therefore points to cost recovery rather than open-ended charging.
The legislation sets out a formal process for administering those charges. A prescribed authority may give a written estimate before starting work, require payment in advance, agree payment by instalments, or waive or refund all or part of a fee. Where a waiver or refund is granted, the authority must notify the payer in writing. Once a fee is charged, the authority must issue written notice of the amount due. The payment period in that notice cannot be less than 21 days. If payment is missed, the authority may recover the overdue sum as a civil debt, withhold a service that has not yet started, or stop the unfinished part of a partly delivered service until the amount is paid.
For promoters, sponsoring authorities and highways teams, the effect is mainly procedural but still material. From 20 November 2026, work by prescribed bodies on qualifying cases can be billed under an explicit statutory mechanism, with room for advance payments and staged payments. That is likely to sharpen cost forecasting at the front end of projects and place more emphasis on internal approval routes before requests for technical input are made. The Regulations also preserve other charging powers already available in statute. They state that the new regime is without prejudice to fee powers under the Environment Act 1995, the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the National Heritage Act 1983. The new instrument therefore adds a defined route for highways and transport order work rather than displacing existing powers elsewhere.
The transitional rules are narrow but important. Part 2 does not apply where a relevant Highways Act process had already reached specified publication stages before 20 November 2026. Part 3 likewise does not apply where a section 6 application under the 1992 Act had already been made to the Secretary of State before that date. The new charging powers are therefore prospective, not retrospective. The Explanatory Note says no full impact assessment has been prepared because the instrument concerns a charge and falls outside the Better Regulation Framework. It also says no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. Even so, the drafting has operational weight: it moves fee recovery for a defined set of transport infrastructure services onto a published, standardised statutory footing. The Regulations were signed by Simon Lightwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, on 26 October 2026.