Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced a report on the proposed fees and charges for Council services, the majority of which would come into effect from 1 January 2022.

The Cabinet Member referred to the Council’s Charging Policy which underpinned the review of fees and charges and explained that the default position, which had been applied to the majority of services, was an inflationary increase of 3.2% in line with the August 2021 Retail Price Index.  However, the Council had been mindful of the impact that increases could have on residents, particularly those most affected by the pandemic, and the Cabinet Member referred to some of the services charges which had not been increased by inflation, which included:

-  30 minutes free parking at all street parking locations and one-hour free parking in the Council’s car parks;

-  Following the introduction of controlled parking zones to help achieve the vision of a cleaner, greener Borough, there would be no further changes to residents parking permit charges in 2022; and

-  No increase in the charges made by Revenues Service for summonses issued.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration also advised that a number of planned increases to social care charges from 1 January 2021 had not been fully applied due to the pandemic.  To avoid service users facing a potential double increase in 2022, it was proposed that those charges would remain at the planned 2021 rate for the coming year.

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 2022 unless otherwise stated;

(ii)  Note the fees and charges no longer applicable from 1 January 2022, as set out in Appendix B to the report; and

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