Agenda item

Members gave consideration to a report which detailed proposed fees and charges for service areas and functions, within its purview, to take effect from 1 April 2019.

It was also noted that the new proposed planning fees would take effect from 1 January 2020 if approved, and the crematorium fees would apply on opening.

In presenting the report the Fees and Charges policy and process was summarised to Members.

Section 3 of the report summarised the main increases, it was noted that of the 579 fees and charges reviewed 39% were statutory and 61% non-statutory.

Of the 224 statutory fees and charges set by Central Government 80% had experienced no change in the level of fees with 19% seeing an increase. One new statutory fee for larger home extensions had been introduced.

The increases in fees and charges for statutory services sat primarily within Environmental Services and related to charges set by DEFRA.  An announcement regarding any changes to these fees was expected in February 2020 and the schedule would be updated to reflect any amendments once known.

Of the 355 non statutory fees and charges (charges set locally) 41% had experienced no change with 46% having increases proposed and 1% decreases.  

41 new non-statutory fees and charges had been introduced, these were detailed at section 3.4 with the majority relating to the Crematorium.

Debate ensued and a Member enquired why a 4% increase was being proposed in respect of burials.  Officers advised historically this service had been undercharged for and over recent years attempts had been made to resolve this situation, with considerable increases approved in previous years.  With the 4% increase the Authority would still be charging less than neighbouring authorities.

There was considerable discussion regarding the new fee in respect of the planning service.  Some Members were of the view that this level of service should not be something that was charged for but rather something which should be expected.  Councillors also posed a number of scenarios and sought indication as to in which scenarios the fee would apply.  Some also questioned whether the cost of charging for this service (raising of the invoice etc)  would cost more than the monies generated.

In response Officers advised, the fee was not about income generation but about cost recovery.  Officers currently received a huge demand for this type of advice and ultimately this was aimed at saving the customer money in the long run.  Simple enquiries would still be free of charge and a duty planner was available 3 days of the week.  The charge would applied if people requested informal advice in writing. Payment methods were already in place, with payments being taken by the phone / over the website as opposed to invoicing, which did have costs associated to it.

After much debate it was RESOLVED that: -

(a)      having considered the proposed fees and charges, as detailed in Appendix A - N of the report, they be RECOMMENDED to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee for approval;

(b)      The charges for the Crematorium be RECOMMENDED to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee for approval and applied upon opening; and

(c)     Managers keep fees and charges under review throughout the year and report to Corporate Policy and Resources Committee any changes during the year.