Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee supports the policy and schedule of fees and charges to be submitted to  Cabinet which will be recommended to adopt the policy at their  meeting on 16^th July 2019;

(b)       That the Committee notes the further work now required to establish full cost recovery, and/or comparable market rates, where it is possible/permissible to do so;

(c)        That the Committee support an ongoing review of the Income Generation

Policy to ensure consistency of charging and cost recovery; and

(d)       That the Committee notes the additional income projects identified in

Appendix B which are work in progress

The Chief Executive introduced a report to present an updated and complete corporate policy for fees and charges and invite feedback for Cabinet which would be invited to approve the policy later in the month.  He advised that the Income Generation Policy, including fees and charges and the new income streams identified in the report, formed part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  He drew attention to  the outcome of the annual review of fees and charges which was appended to the report.  For each charge the extent to which full cost recovery was being met was shown, however, further work was still required on this.   The report also proposed an approach to the annual indexation of all fees and charges.  The Chief Executive invited the Income and Generation Marketing Manager to present the detail of the report.

The Income and Generation Marketing Manager advised on the main considerations, as detailed in the report.  She explained that the generation of additional income from fees and charges, along with specific projects to explore the feasibility of new income streams, were two of the solutions available to the Council to contribute to meeting the budget shortfall.  The income target for 2018/19 had not been achieved in full and there remained in the region of £170k of additional income to be generated to achieve the 2019/20 target.  She advised that it was important to maintain a focus on income generation and those fees and charges that could be reviewed, or introduced, as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  She explained that of the 605 fees/charges listed in appendix A of the report, 36% were statutory and the Authority had no or limited discretion in setting the charges, and 64% were discretionary where there was more room for local discretion when setting the price.  In addition to income from fees and charges a number of income projects had been identified for further exploration.  An overview of these projects and the indicative commencement date was also appended to the report.

The Income and Generation Marketing Manager said it was proposed that the annual review of fees and charges would be overseen internally, with any changes implemented from 1 October each year, following reporting to Cabinet in July. 

The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) advised that an update  report on fees and charges would be submitted to the Committee on an annual basis for review.

During discussion Officers responded to the questions raised by Members concerning the charges applied for services under Pest Control (citing the difference in charges for bees and wasps as an example), car parking, and the hire of Wepre and Buckley fields.  Members also queried the costs involved in roundabouts and sought clarification on the charges for roundabout sponsorship.  The Chief Officer agreed to provide further details to the Committee on the costs relating to roundabouts and the hiring of Wepre and Buckley fields.

Earlier in the week there had been concerns that the garden waste charge increases had not been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23