These Regulations may be cited as the Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2025 and come into force on 2nd February 2026.
The Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2025
Published: Mon 1st Dec 25
The Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2025 set out the new fees chargeable by the Keeper of Public Records for providing authenticated copies, extracts, and other services related to records held at The National Archives, effective from February 2nd, 2026.
These regulations supersede the 2018 Regulations, increasing many existing fees and introducing specific new charges related to accessing 'key military service personnel documents' transferred from the Ministry of Defence, while also granting the Keeper powers to remit fees in certain circumstances, such as when no relevant records are found.
Arguments For
Establishing updated and appropriate charging mechanisms for services provided by the Keeper of Public Records/The National Archives for record access and copies.
Introducing specific, dedicated fee structures for accessing and copying key military service personnel documents, potentially supporting a focused effort to digitize and release these sensitive records as part of an ongoing transfer project.
Ensuring the remuneration for services reflects current operational costs by increasing most existing fee rates compared to the 2018 Regulations.
Revoking outdated regulations (2018 Regulations) to streamline and modernize the fee structure.
Arguments Against
Increased costs for the public accessing fundamental historical and service records, particularly for non-military documents, as most existing fees have been raised.
The necessity of charging for services related to military service personnel records may limit access for researchers or family members who might otherwise rely on public services being free or low-cost.
The introduction of new, specific fees for Ministry of Defence transfers may imply significant costs are being passed directly to individuals researching veterans' histories.
The impact assessment indicates no significant impact on the private/public sector, which may overlook the cumulative financial burden on individuals or smaller research bodies.
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations with the concurrence of the Treasury in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(5) of the Public Records Act 1958.1
The necessary legal authority for these Regulations originates from the Secretary of State, who acted with the agreement (concurrence) of HM Treasury.
This power is granted under section 2(5) of the Public Records Act 1958.
Citation, commencement and extent1.
(1)
(2)
These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The official title of this legislation is the Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2025, and they become active law on February 2nd, 2026.
The rules apply across the entire United Kingdom, covering England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Interpretation2.
(1)
The services specified in paragraphs 1 and 5(a) of the Schedule are available only in relation to records—
(a)
which concern—
(i)
an individual who served as a member of the regular army, the Regular Reserve or the Army Reserve2, of or below the rank of warrant officer, or
(ii)
an individual who served as members of any of His Majesty’s air forces, and
(b)
which were transferred to The National Archives on or after 1st February 2021 by or on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
(2)
In these Regulations—
“key military service personnel documents” means the following documents within an individual’s military service personnel record—
(a)
any documents created upon that individual’s initial recruitment or their transfer between units, including their postings whilst in military service, and
(b)
any other documents, the principal purpose of which is to record the conduct or promotion of that individual whilst in military service;
“military service personnel records” means any records which—
(a)
concern individuals who served in the regular forces or the reserve forces, and
(b)
were created by or on behalf of any of the regular forces or the reserve forces.
(3)
In this regulation, the following terms have the meaning given by section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 20063—
(a)
in paragraph (1)(a)(i), “the regular army”;
(b)
in the definition of “military service personnel records” in paragraph (2), “the regular forces” and “the reserve forces”.
This section defines the scope for services listed in Schedule paragraphs 1 and 5(a), applying these only to records concerning specific military personnel.
These records must relate to individuals in the regular army, Regular Reserve, Army Reserve (up to Warrant Officer rank), or any of His Majesty’s air forces.
Furthermore, the records must have been transferred to The National Archives by or on behalf of the Ministry of Defence after February 1st, 2021.
This provision also defines two key terms: 'key military service personnel documents' refers to recruitment, transfer, conduct, or promotion documents within an individual's service file. 'Military service personnel records' broadly covers any records concerning individuals who served in the regular or reserve forces and were created by those forces.
Finally, it cross-references definitions for 'regular army,' 'regular forces,' and 'reserve forces' from the Armed Forces Act 2006.
Fees3.
(1)
Subject to paragraph (3), the fees to be charged for authenticated copies or extracts from records under the charge of the Keeper of Public Records and for other services afforded by officers of the Public Record Office are to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.
(2)
In the Schedule—
(a)
where a fee is prescribed by reference to a period of time, the whole fee is payable in respect of a partially completed period;
(b)
where a fee is prescribed for a copy of an image by reference to a specified size, the size is that of the image to be copied and not that of the copy;
(c)
where a fee is prescribed for a copy or photograph of a page of a record, the fee is payable for a copy or photograph of each side of a page which forms a record or part of a record;
(d)
all fees are exclusive of value added tax.
(3)
The Keeper of Public Records may remit all or part of a fee—
(a)
where, in their opinion, the service performed or to be performed is, or is likely to be, exceptionally simple,
(b)
where, in their opinion, the fee was charged in error, or
(c)
where a person paid the fee for one of the following services specified in the Schedule—
(i)
the copying of key military service personnel documents (paragraph 1(a) or (b)), or
(ii)
a page check (paragraph 4),
but no relevant records were found during the related search.
This section establishes that fees for services provided by the Keeper of Public Records (The National Archives) are determined by the Schedule, unless paragraph (3) applies.
Paragraph (2) details specific rules for payments within the Schedule: time-based fees are due even if the time is partially used; copy size fees refer to the source image size, not the resulting copy size; fees for a page cover both sides of the page; and all fees exclude Value Added Tax (VAT).
The Keeper of Public Records has discretion to waive all or part of a fee under three conditions.
Waivers can occur if the work is exceptionally simple, if the fee was charged mistakenly, or if a fee was paid for searching for key military service personnel documents or conducting a page check, but no relevant records were ultimately discovered.
Revocation4.
The Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 20184 are revoked.
These new Regulations repeal and replace the previous legislation governing these fees, specifically The Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2018.
Twycross
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
We concur.
Lilian Greenwood
Christian Wakeford
Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury
This section contains the signing details.
The regulations were signed by Twycross, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, on November 25th, 2025.
Concurrence was provided by Lilian Greenwood and Christian Wakeford, acting as Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, on November 26th, 2025.
SCHEDULEFEES FOR SERVICES PROVIDED
Key military service personnel documents
1.
In relation to key military service personnel documents—
(a)
the fee for undertaking a search for and making a colour digital copy of research quality of the key military service personnel documents for an individual is £42.25 (the combined fee representing £38.95 for the search and £3.30 for the digital copies);
(b)
the fee for undertaking a search for and making a colour paper copy of research quality of the key military service personnel documents for an individual is £47.16 (the combined fee representing £38.95 for the search, and £8.21 for the paper copies (not including postage and packaging)).
Search
2.
For undertaking a search (other than a search for key military service personnel documents as per paragraph 1(a) or (b)) to establish whether information or a relevant record is held, the fee for each 15 minutes expended is £38.95.
Authenticated copies of naturalisation certificates
3.
The fee for making a copy of a naturalisation certificate that is a record and authenticating that copy by certification is £68.84.
Page check
4.
The fee (per record) for carrying out a page check in order to supply an accurate quotation based on the number of pages involved is £9.92.
Other copies of records
5.
Where a person requests any number of copies or photographs—
(a)
in relation to military service personnel records—
(i)
the fee for making a colour digital copy of research quality of a page of the military service personnel record for an individual is £1.04;
(ii)
the fee for making a colour paper copy of research quality of a page of the military service personnel record for an individual is £1.89;
(b)
for making a colour digital copy of research quality of a page of any other record—
(i)
up to and including size A3, the fee is £1.52;
(ii)
larger than size A3, the fee is £11.95;
(c)
for making a colour paper copy of research quality of a page of any other record—
(i)
up to and including size A3, the fee is £7.40;
(ii)
larger than size A3, the fee is £17.71.
Authentication of other copies
6.
The fee for authenticating a paper copy of a record or any part of a record (other than a naturalisation certificate) by certification (excluding the fee for making the copy) is £23.25.
Postage and packaging
7.
The fee for postage and packaging for a copy not collected in person by the requester which cannot be sent by e-mail, or which the requester asks to be sent by post, is equal to the actual cost of postage and packaging.
The Schedule details the specific fees for various services.
For key military service personnel documents, the combined fee for search and a research-quality digital copy is £42.25, and for a paper copy (excluding postage), it is £47.16.
The search fee for records, excluding those in paragraph 1, is £38.95 per 15 minutes.
Authenticating a copy of a naturalisation certificate costs £68.84.
A mandatory page check fee, used for accurate quotation, is £9.92 per record.
For other record copies, fees vary by type and size. A colour digital copy of a page from military service personnel records costs £1.04 (digital) or £1.89 (paper).
For general records, A3 digital copies are £1.52, A3 paper copies are £7.40.
Larger digital copies are £11.95, and larger paper copies are £17.71.
Authenticating a paper copy of any record (excluding naturalisation certificates) costs an additional £23.25 for the certification itself.
Postage and packaging incurred for mailed copies are charged at their actual cost.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations prescribe the fees to be charged for authenticated copies or extracts from records under the charge of the Keeper of Public Records and for other services afforded by officers of the Public Record Office, which exercises its functions as part of The National Archives. The fees prescribed in the Schedule to the Regulations are exclusive of value added tax.
These Regulations revoke and replace the Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1420, “the 2018 Regulations”). Some fees payable under the 2018 Regulations are no longer charged, including fees relating to loans (preparation of records for external exhibitions).
Where a fee prescribed in the Schedule was also prescribed by the 2018 Regulations, the rate for each such fee has been increased, as follows—
The fee for a search (paragraph 2) is increased from £24.35 to £38.95;
The fee for copying and authenticating a naturalisation certificate (paragraph 3) is increased from £27.15 to £68.84;
The fee for a page check (per record) (paragraph 4) is increased from £8.40 to £9.92;
The fee for a colour digital copy of a page of a record (other than a military service personnel record) up to and including size A3 (paragraph 5(b)(i)) is increased from £1.20 to £1.52;
The fee for a colour digital copy of a page of a record (other than a military service personnel record) larger than size A3 (paragraph 5(b)(ii)) is increased from £8.45 to £11.95;
The fee for a colour paper copy of a page of a record (other than a military service personnel record) up to and including size A3 (paragraph 5(c)(i)) is increased from £4.95 to £7.40;
The fee for a colour paper copy of a page of a record (other than a military service personnel record) larger than size A3 (paragraph 5(c)(ii)) is increased from £9.60 to £17.71;
The fee for authenticating a copy of, or part of, a record (other than a naturalisation certificate) (paragraph 6) is increased from £19.80 to £23.25.
The new fees introduced for services provided in respect of certain military service personnel records for the Royal Air Force, and for members of the regular and reserve army of or below the rank of warrant officer, relate to an ongoing project which started in 2021 to transfer around 10 million records from the Ministry of Defence to The National Archives in line with the Public Records Act 1958. These services are designed to satisfy the significant and challenging level of demand for access to such records more quickly. The National Archives provides support to requestors at all stages to determine whether their search falls within the scope of these services.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.
This section provides an explanatory note, clarifying that the regulations set fees for services managed by the Keeper of Public Records (The National Archives) and that all scheduled fees exclude VAT. These Regulations replace the 2018 Regulations, discontinuing some older fees, such as those for loaning records for exhibitions.
The note highlights that most comparable fees from the 2018 Regulations have increased; for instance, the search fee rose from £24.35 to £38.95, and the naturalisation certificate fee rose significantly from £27.15 to £68.84.
Fee increases are listed for searches, certificate authentication, page checks, and various digital/paper copies for non-military records.
The introduction of fees for specific military service personnel records—covering RAF and Army personnel transferred since 2021—is linked to managing high demand for these records flowing from the transfer project under the Public Records Act 1958.
The government states that a full impact assessment was unnecessary as no significant effects on the private, voluntary, or public sectors are anticipated.
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