Agenda item

(Director of Resources) To consider the attached report (FPM-017-2016/17).

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) presented a report on the fees and charges to be levied by the Council in 2017/18 and what, if any scope there was to increase particular charges.

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) advised that the Medium Term Financial Strategy identified the need to find savings of £500,000 over the four year period with £250,000 falling in 2017/18. The Revenue Support funding which had been included in the strategy was subject to the DCLG accepting the Council’s request for a multi-year settlement and the Council’s application had been submitted before the deadline of 14October but no response had yet been received. The scope for increased income as a result of increasing fees and charges was relatively limited for the General Fund and less so with the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The labour rate inflation latest figure was 2.1% and the figure of 2.0% had been proposed.

Within the Communities Directorate the Limes Centre had proposed a 5% increase to bring it inline with other similar facilities. Furthermore, a proposed review of the charging structure would commence in October 2017 because of the issues to do with people from outside the district booking the facilities under the name of EFDC tenants and taking advantage of the 50% tenant discount on hall hire fees. The Council’s Museum, Heritage and Culture (MHC) service would be implementing a 2% increase across all events and activities in 2017/18, including after school and holiday classes, Education Outreach work, Evening and Daytime Talks and general hire of facilities. The Schedule of proposed Housing-Related Fees and Charges for 2017/18, generally recommended that the majority of fees and charges be increased by 2% - rounded up or down as appropriate.  The only exceptions to this approach were; Sheltered Housing Charges and Area Housing Charges Telecare packages (alarms and up to 4 sensors) and monitoring of alarms for other organisations which Essex County Council provided the support funding for with an inflationary increase; Bed and Breakfast Accommodation which had been fixed for a three-year period; Requirement for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in private rented properties incorporating the Council’s duty to enforce; Inspection of properties for immigration applications, which would be based on officer time; Charges for Housing Act 2004 - Enforcement Notice Fees; and Sewerage charges for individual sewerage systems.

Within the Governance Directorate the Legal Services proposed to increase the fees by 2% with the exception of shop and industrial leases which had been proposed to increase both to £750.00. The Land Charges would require a cost analysis for the new CON 29 search enquiry form and would be undertaken before the 2017/18 charges were set. There were no planned increases for Development Control, although the ‘other cases’ fee had been increased to £80.00 and £120.00 for Listed buildings on pre-application fees, because of the introduction of pre-application fees from County Council and the Environment Agency and Building Control Fees were proposed to be rounded to the nearest £1 due to the complicated fee structure.

Within the Neighbourhoods Directorate the fees and charges included Car Parking Charges, North Weald Airfield rents and charges, MOT’s, various environmental health related charges and Licencing. The MOT income was subject to a maximum charge set by the Vehicle Operating Service Agency (VOSA) currently £54.85 and the Council’s fee were set below this level at £49.00. The Public Hire licences were issued for three years and operators for five years and an increase had not been proposed, as they were in line with the Local Government (miscellaneous provisions) Act 1976 which were based on cost recovery. With regard to other forms of licensing, some fell under the 2003 Licensing Act, which prescribed the level of fee that could be levied. Others could be varied subject to a maximum level or cost recovery basis and were generally below the prescribed level; therefore it was felt that these should be increased where appropriate. Fees relating to the Gambling Act 2005 were now set locally and were proposed to increase by 2%. The general uplift for fees and charges related to the Leisure Centres was specified as being in line with the retail prices index within the leisure contract. Lastly, even though the Council does not provide a trade waste service, the trade waste collection from Biffa currently charged at £14.30 per collection was proposed to be increased to £14.70 and similarly the fee charged to schools etc. to be increased from £9.20 to £9.50.

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) advised that the report sought Members views on the level of fees and charges for 2017/18.

Recommended:

(1)          That the use of Labour inflation rate  of 2.0% as a guide for any proposed increases of the Council’s fees and charges for 2017/18 be agreed;

(2)          That the proposed fees and charges for 2017/18, as set out in the appendices attached to the report, be approved; and

(3)          That the proposed schedule of Housing Revenue Account fees and charges for 2017/18 be approved; and

(4)          That a full review of fees and charges at the Limes Centre be carried out and the results and any recommendations be included in the fees and charges update for 2018/19.

Reasons for Decision

As part of the annual budget process changes to fees and charges need to be agreed.

Other Considered and Rejected:

Where the Council has discretion on the level of fees and charges that it sets there were many possible options open to the Council ranging between no increases, up to applying quite large increases where justifiable.