Agenda item

Corporate Fees and Charges Register 2020/2021

To consider the report of the Chief Officer Commercial.

Minutes:

Councillor P. Edwards declared an interest in this item (specifically trade waste and markets fees and charges) as he was Chair of the Ebbw Vale Business Forum but remained in the meeting whilst this item was considered.

 

Members considered the report of the Chief Officer Commercial.

 

At the invitation of the Chair, the Chief Officer Resources spoke to the report which had been submitted to Members to approve the fees and charges to be applied for the 2020/2021 financial year, including the core fees and charges to be operated by the Aneurin Leisure Trust.

 

It was noted that the Bridging the Gap Programme had included a Strategic Business Review on Fees and Charges to ensure that the Council was maximising its income by ensuring the fees and charges were set at a level that covered the costs of delivering the goods and services it provided where appropriate.

 

Fees and charges generate approximately £14m per annum in income and contributed towards funding the cost of delivering Council services, of which £2m related to commercial services.  This helped the financial resilience of the Council and the Fees and Charges Register was reviewed on a regular basis in line with the Council’s agreed income policy and Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

Amendment

 

The following amendment was made to the Fees and Charges relating to School Meals contained on Page 43 of the report.  The charges which had been reduced and should read as follows:

 

Education – School Meals – Adults Per Meal. Fee Effective from September

 

Staff - £3.43           

Student - £3.43

 

 

 

 

 

Education – School Meals – Children

Secondary Age Child (Years 7 to 11) & Primary Age Child (Nursery to Year 6).  Fee Effective from September.  Fee Per Meal.

 

Secondary - £2.60        

Primary – £2.34

 

Trade Waste Charges

 

The Chief Officer Resources advised that further work in the form of a business review needed to be undertaken in respect of charges for Trade Waste in the next few weeks.  Once this work had been completed a report would be submitted to the March meeting of the Council for consideration.

 

Members were advised that the current fees and charges had been reviewed to:

 

ØEnsure all fees and charges included on the register were relevant for 2020/2021.

ØReflect changes in local and national policy and charges.

ØReflect a minimum increase of 2% uplift in line with the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

ØConsider if fees and charges could be increased in line with the principles of the Strategic Business Review, and this included considering an annual uplift of 5.5% where applicable.

 

Impact on Budget

 

Ø The Medium Term Financial Strategy and the 2020/2021 budget assumed an inflationary uplift of 2% per annum for fees and charges and the Strategic Business Review assumed an estimated achievement of £200,000 for 2020/2021 of which £95,000 was estimated to be achieved through increasing discretionary fees by 5.5% where there was scope within the market without having a significant impact on demand.

 

Ø The fees and charges register proposed 2%, 5.5% uplift for a range of fees which were detailed in Paragraph 5.1.3 (a) and (b) of the report together with other proposed fees at Paragraph 5.1.3 (c):

 

Members were then given the opportunity to raise questions and comment in respect of the report.

 

Fees & Charges – Markets/Bulky Waste Collection

 

The Leader of the Council advised that at the same time a review of the Trade Waste charges was to be undertaken, a similar review would also be undertaken in respect of the fees and charges for Markets.  In addition, he clarified that the 5.5% proposed increase for Bulky Waste Collection should be removed (from paragraph 5.1.3 (b)) because the charge for this service would remain at the 2019/2020 prices as outlined in paragraph 5.1.3(c).

 

RESOLVED accordingly.

 

Education – Charges for Out of County Placements within the Special School

 

A Member advised that upon a recent visit to this particular school he was made aware of capacity issues.  He, therefore, requested a guarantee that children from Blaenau Gwent would be prioritised before any vacancies were filled by out of county placements.

 

The Chief Officer Resources confirmed that Blaenau Gwent children were given priority and it was only if vacancies remained within the establishment that these would be filled by out of county placements.

 

Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Fees and Charges

 

Reference was made to paragraph 5.1.4 of the report which advised that the Licensing fees had been out to consultation and this process had concluded on 13th February, 2020.  A Member requested that all Members of the Council be provided with a copy of the consultation report which was due to be presented to the Licensing Committee and advised that he wished to speak at this Committee before Members made a decision in respect of Hackney Carriage/Private Hire fees and charges.

 

This request was noted accordingly.

 

Licensing Fees

 

A Member asked whether a matrix had been used to determine the level of increase in licensing fees because there were considerable increases proposed for a number of areas.

 

The Corporate Director Regeneration & Community Services advised that a cost recovery model had been approved nationally by all Directors of Environmental Health across Wales and this was the standard measure that had been applied across all charges. 

 

In reply to a question regarding the amount of funding lost in previous years by not using the model, the Corporate Director advised that the commercial element of services was being examined further to identify costs and the model was then applied to reflect the cost of service delivery.

 

Grounds and Playing Fields

 

A Member referred to the proposed increase to £120 per match for grounds and playing fields and asked for clarification whether it was this fee or a different fee that would be charged if the ground had undergone a community asset transfer to another organisation.

 

The Leader of the Council advised that the clubs who had undergone a community asset transfer would be able to set their own grounds fees.

 

Another Member said he was of the understanding that playing fields fees applied to grounds that had not undergone a community asset transfer.  He asked whether the fees for playing fields were retained by the Council or Aneurin Leisure Trust.

 

The Leader of the Council said that his understanding was that the fees were set and retained by the Aneurin Leisure Trust particularly for 3G elements and grounds/pitches.

 

The Member pointed out that fees and charges for playing fields were not listed within the Aneurin Leisure Trust proposed fees and charges appended at appendix 2.  He requested clarification in respect of who was responsible for playing fields particularly school playing fields.

 

The Corporate Director of Regeneration & Community Services confirmed that the Aneurin Leisure Trust retained the fees for pitches that they operated.  However, there were some areas of shared responsibility and undertook to pursue the matter and report back to Members including providing clarity around the responsibility for the playing field at Tredegar Comprehensive School.

 

RESOLVED accordingly.

 

Social Services Fees and Charges

 

A Member expressed his concern that the Council as a caring authority was proposing above inflation increases for the fees and charges for social services.  He particularly expressed concern regarding the 7% proposed increase for Private Provider Care Charges and said that this would impact upon the elderly and more vulnerable in the community that needed these types of services.

 

The Corporate Director of Social Services explained that in terms of the cost of Private Provider Care Charges, the services that were commissioned needed to take into account the increase in the National Living Wage of 6% and pension contributions for the forthcoming financial year and the Council was obliged to fund this.  However, he assured Members that before any of the fees were increased, service providers were required to demonstrate how this funding would be utilised.

 

Licensing Fees – Pre-Determination

 

The Leader of the Labour Group referred to the earlier question that had been raised regarding the potential for Members of the Licensing Committee to pre-determine the licensing fees and suggested that Licensing Committee Members abstain from voting on the fees and charges (albeit it would be a recommendation made by Council to the Licensing Committee) in order that they could fully take part and make a decision at the Licensing Committee at a later date on this matter.

 

The Chair of the Licensing Committee advised that the Licensing Committee could only make a recommendation regarding the level of licensing fees and charges, the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Community Services had been provided with delegated powers (as outlined in the Council’s Constitution) to make the final decision in relation to this matter.

 

In reply to another concern raised regarding Members voting for the fees and charges for Trade Waste and Markets, the Leader of the Council pointed out that the fees and charges relating to these areas had been deferred as outlined earlier and would be reported back to the March meeting of the Council for consideration and approval with implementation from 1st April, 2020.  With regard to the Licensing fees and charges although the Licensing Committee was the statutory body to determine these charges he saw no reason why the Council could not make a recommendation to that Committee.

 

The Leader of the Council, thereupon, proposed that the report be endorsed subject to the caveats discussed earlier in the meeting in terms of Trade Waste, Markets and Bulky Waste.

 

This proposal was seconded.

 

The Leader of the Labour Group advised that all Members of the Labour Group would abstain from voting.

 

Upon a vote being taken it was

 

FURTHER RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 1 be endorsed, namely that the Fees and Charges Register for 2020/2021 which included the core price increase for Aneurin Leisure Trust be approved subject to:-

 

ØThe fees and charges in respect of Trade Waste and Markets be deferred pending a further review.  The findings of the review be presented to the Council Meeting scheduled to be held on 26th March, 2020.

 

ØThe Bulky Waste Collection fees and charges to remain at 2019/2020 prices.

 

FURTHER RESOLVED to recommend that the Licensing fees and charges be agreed in principle and recommended to the Licensing Committee for consideration.

 

Supporting documents: