Agenda item

Report by the Leader and the Executive Team to Executive on 4th February 2019 (attached) together with minute extract of Executive of 4th February 2019 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report to the Executive on 4th February 2019 by the Leader and Executive Team together with a minute extract (circulated previously) regarding the review of Charges and Fees for services 2019/20.

·         This year the guidance was to increase some fees and charges by 3%, although some fees are set by statute and these will be set nationally.

·         Other variations to the 3% increase were set out in paragraphs 5.3 to 5.8 in the report.

·         Trade Waste charges have been reviewed and simplified to aid the customer’s understanding of the charging structure. Zones 1 and 2 have now been combined with a minimum increase of 5%, with schedule 2 and Recycling charges increasing by 10%. The Head of Operational Services had confirmed that with these price increases the service was still commercially competitive. (Appendix 3)

·         Land Charges fees have been set to recoup the cost of providing the service, without changing the current fees the land charges service was still budgeted to recover all the costs and break even. (Appendix 4)

·         There were minimal changes to the Environment Health fees, as the majority of these were set by statute or set to recover costs. The changes include, amendments to the animal licence fees. With Zoos and Dangerous Wild Animal Licences being under review. (Appendix 5)

·         Single Sports pitch hire increased by 14.2%. The significant increase was due to current charges for grass pitch hire being relatively cheap. Block hire had also been introduced but kept at the 18-19 prices to encourage customers to lock themselves into a block booking of at least 11 games. (Appendix 7)

·         The Pannier Market fees have been recommended to be increased by 3%.  It was proposed that the additional £6,000 received be earmarked to be spent on the Pannier Market.  (Appendix 8)

·         Garden Waste charges have not been increased for 2 years and it was proposed not to increase the fees for the third year running.  This would be reviewed in 2020/21. (Appendix 10).

·         The net changes in the charges were expected to result in £88,400 of additional income which have been included within the draft 2019/20 budget.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Head of Resources confirmed that:

·         The charges for the Crematorium were managed and considered separately by the North Devon Crematorium Joint Committee.

·         The charges for bulky collections were competitive but had been unchanged for some time. He added that if charges were to be increased the Council would still be competitive with the market. The budgets were regularly monitored to ensure that there was no cost to the Council.

·         There was a standard gate fee payable by all operators who disposed of bulky waste and the disposal of waste was charged at an amount per ton.

·         The Head of Operational Services had been requested to remodel the commercial waste rounds to ensure efficiency to grow the business and generate further income to the Council.

·         Flytipping of vehicles added an additional cost to the Council for the collection of the vehicle, a separate legal process would then be followed to prosecute if proof of ownership could be obtained.

RESOLVED that the decisions and recommendations of the Executive be endorsed.