Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services introduced a report on the proposed fees and charges for Council services, the majority of which would take effect from 1 January 2024.

The Cabinet Member referred to the three main principles of the Council’s Charging Policy for the services that it offered, namely (1) services should raise income wherever there was a power or duty to do so; (2) wherever possible, the income raised should cover the full cost of providing the service, including all overheads; and (3) any departures from the policy must be justified in a transparent manner with reference to the Council’s priorities and policies.  He confirmed that the proposed fees and charges had been reviewed in the context of those principles, although due to the level of financial pressures on the Council and the high rate of inflation there may be some instances where a proposed charge may not reflect full-cost recovery.  In that regard, it was noted that it may be necessary for a further report to Cabinet in the coming months if it was deemed appropriate to raise any charges again from April 2024.

The Cabinet Member further advised that since the publication of the report, it had become apparent that the proposed fee for Green Garden Waste collections for 2024 (line 1200 in Appendix A to the report) should increase from £43 to £50 to achieve full-cost recovery.

Cabinet Members acknowledged that, in order for the Council to continue to provide the wide range of services that it did, it was necessary to increase fees and charges in line with inflation etc. due to the lack of funding from Central Government.  The impact of increased fees and charges on the local community was also acknowledged and it was suggested that the Council should initiate a communications campaign to explain the make-up of certain fees and charges, to give a clearer understanding of the costs the Council incurred in providing such services.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree the proposed fees and charges as set out in Appendix A to the report, to be effective from 1 January 2024 unless otherwise stated, subject to an increase in the fee for Green Garden Waste collections for 2024 from £43 to £50;

(ii)  Note the fees and charges no longer applicable from 1 January 2024, as set out in Appendix B to the report;

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Children and Adults, in consultation with the Strategic Director, Resources and the relevant Cabinet Members, to set fees and charges to be applied from September for schools and academic year-based activities; and

(iv)  Note that it may be necessary to bring a further report to Cabinet before agreement of the final budget for 2024/25 to propose further changes to fees and charges to reflect full cost recovery and apply those revised fees from 1 April 2024.