From 1 April 2020, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) contracted Adventure RMS to provide inspection services only. This marked a significant change from previous arrangements, as Adventure RMS was not contracted to deliver any proactive or public‑facing services.

Following a public and competitive tender process, Adventure RMS was again awarded the contract to provide inspection services from 1 April 2025.

Under this contract, our role is to review licence applications forwarded by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) on behalf of HSE and to provide a report that includes our decision on each application. All other functions—fee handling, administration, complaint management, public information and sector liaison—remain the responsibility of the AALA.

Adventure RMS may, when requested, support the AALA by providing technical expertise and advice in relation to enquiries, complaints and sector questions.

Changes to the licensing scheme from April 2025

In August 2024, HSE announced proposals to update how the AALA licensing scheme would operate from 1 April 2025. Following consultation with licence holders, these changes came into effect on that date.

The changes relate to two areas:

• How licence duration is calculated
• The range of options available to inspectors when reviewing applications for a licence

If you currently hold a licence, no action is required. These changes do not affect existing licences. Any licence — new or renewed — with a start date on or after 1 April 2025 will be issued under HSE’s revised licence duration policy.

Inspectors may now use a broader combination of remote and/or in‑person inspection methods when reviewing applications.

Additional information

HSE/AALA has issued detailed information about these changes directly to all existing licence holders, including responses to frequently asked questions.

The Adventure RMS process for reviewing licence applications has been updated to reflect the revised arrangements.

Further information about how we assess applications – including the sequence of stages and expected timescales – is available on our Application review process page.