14 March 2024

I am writing to let you know that HFEA licence fees will change from 1 April 2024. The new fees will be:

£100 for each chargeable IVF treatment (an increase of £15 from the current licence fee of £85)
£40 for each Donor Insemination license (an increase of £2.50 from the current licence fee of £37.50)

Details are contained on our Clinic Portal.

The HFEA is funded by a mix of fees levied on the sector we regulate (currently 80% of our funding) and Grant In Aid (GIA) from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) (roughly 20% in 2023/24). As part of the DHSC’s Efficiency and Reform work, the HFEA has been asked to reduce its reliance on GIA from 2024/25 and fund a greater proportion of its costs through fee income.

In addition to this, the cost of regulating the sector is increasing, driven by the continuing high level of inflation. These two things combined mean that we will need to increase fees by significantly more in 2024/25 than we have done over the past few years.

We have a very strong focus on efficiency and effectiveness, and this will be only the second fee increase since 2016. Furthermore, an Independent Review report published in November 2023 provided a number of recommendations relating to efficiency and effectiveness that we will take forward, to ensure we continue to keep the financial burden of regulation on the sector as minimal as possible. This will include a review of how our fees are structured to ensure that the actual cost of regulation is charged as fairly and accurately as possible to licensed clinics. The review will begin in the 2024/25 business year.

Implementation

All embryo transfers or mixings of egg and sperm with the prior intention of transferring embryos, that takes place on or after 1 April 2024 qualify for the new fee and will be charged at £100.

Where donor insemination is being used on or after 1 April 2024 each cycle will incur the new fee of £40.

Please ensure forms for treatments in March are submitted by the end of March. Forms that are unavoidably submitted late will be charged at the treatment fee applicable at the time of treatment.

Please do continue to notify us of any corrections. However, from 1 April 2024, we will not be able to make corrections to treatment fees charged for March or earlier.

If you have any queries about the changes, please contact either your Inspector or the Finance team on 0207 291 8247, 0207 291 8225 or finance@hfea.gov.uk