Government charging policy applies to all services provided by public bodies such as departments, agencies and NDPBs. Charges for statutory services to the public are normally set to recover the full administrative costs of the service (full cost recovery), unless legislation explicitly provides otherwise. The same principle applies where public bodies provide services to one another.
Where public bodies provide discretionary services to the public, often into competitive markets, the policy is that charges should reflect the market price, in the interests of fair competition.
The main exception is charges for information. Government policy is that certain information services should be provided free of charge or at substantially reduced cost.