How the HSE, AALA and Adventure RMS work together.
If you are an adventure activity provider or a user of activity providers, navigating the licensing and inspection landscape can feel complex.
🔹Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA)
The Adventure Activities Licencing Authority (AALA) was established by the Activity Centres (Young Persons’ Safety) Act 1995, following the Lyme Bay canoeing incident in 1993.
The Act led to the creation of a statutory licensing scheme to ensure minimum safety standards in adventure activities for young people.
The AALA was set up to implement the licensing scheme and apply the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations.
Back to 1996
Initially, Tourism Quality Services (TQS), a not-for-profit company based in Cardiff were designated as the AALA and exercised all the functions required by the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations. This changed, when on 1st April 2007 the HSE were designated as the AALA, but they contracted TQS to operate as the Adventure Activities Licensing Service (AALS), who continued to provide most of the administrative and inspection functions on behalf of the HSE.
From 2020
On 1st April 2020 the HSE took most of the functions of the AALA in-house, and AALS ceased to exist. The HSE appointed a contractor to provide the specialist inspectorate services required to conduct reviews of licence applications. The appointed contractor was, and remains, Adventure RMS.
The AALA’s role is defined by the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004, which give it powers to grant, refuse, vary, or revoke licences for providers offering licensable adventure activities.
It is important to note that AALA’s powers are limited to licensing decisions. It does not enforce broader health and safety law—that responsibility lies with the HSE or your Local Authority, depending on your business type and activities.
🔹 Adventure RMS
Adventure RMS was initially awarded the contract to provide inspection services for the AALA by HSE in 2020 and was re-awarded the contract following a further competitive tender process in 2025.
We do not issue licences or enforce regulations—but we play a significant role in the licensing process.
‘Adventure RMS is committed to supporting providers in delivering safe, well-managed activities. Our role in the context of the AALA licensing scheme is to conduct application reviews which are robust, proportionate and efficient.’
Our responsibilities include:
- Reviewing licence applications passed to us by the AALA
- Carrying out application reviews to assess safety management systems
- Submitting a report and licence decision
- Offering subject matter expertise when needed
What this means for you
If you’re a provider of licensable activities:
- You apply for a licence and pay your fee through the AALA website.
- We will review your application once we receive it from AALA.
- Our application review informs the licensing decision—but we do not issue licences or enforce health and safety law.
Our AALA FAQs page can help answer some other questions you may have.
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