Tabled paper - replacement bin charges published 8 February 2022.

Tabled paper - Scrutiny Committee recommendations published 9 February 2022.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the report which set-out the Council’s Revenue and Capital budget proposals for 2022/23, the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and the Capital Strategy.  The report had been submitted to Cabinet on 8 December 2021 and since then there had been some updates.  The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance explained that the Local Government Finance Settlement 2022/23 had been issued in December 2021 and this included an additional £984,000 in grants and he advised that this was for one year only, rather than a multi-year settlement.  The funding needed to be balanced against increased costs.  Following the Government Settlement, the gap of £2.3 million had now reduced to £1.6 million of funding required from the budget reserve fund.  The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance said the Council was in a similar position to other Local Authorities.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance drew Members’ attention to the tabled paper which set-out the two recommendations, in relation to Fees and Charges, submitted by the Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 26 January 2022.

(1)      That the appropriate committee, post May 2022, consider the creation of an intermediate fee between minor and major applications for pre-application advice; reviewed the whole pre-application advice charging structure; and charges for individual households also be considered. 

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance said that consideration needed to be given on the impact of the recommendation on the Council’s budget, and that it would not be sound to make changes when the budget had already been set.  The Director of Resources said that fees and charges could be changed in-year, but this would need to be looked at overall to address any loss in income to be compensated by budget savings.

A Member reminded Members that the planning fees had been discussed at previous meetings, with comparisons made with other Local Authorities, and she considered there was no need for the matter to be debated each year, but looked at every couple of years going forward.  There was some discussion on the planning fees being considered by the relevant committee, post May 2022, and that it was not up to Cabinet to make the decision to change the fees, but the relevant committee.  A Member highlighted that the category of ‘intermediate’ was not included within planning guidance and other authorities did not include that category in their planning fees.

Councillor Richard Palmer moved the following motion:  That Cabinet do not progress the recommendation from the Scrutiny Committee.  This was seconded by Councillor Angela Harrison.  On being put to the vote the motion was agreed.

(2)      That the fee for replacement bins be removed.

At this point, the Cabinet Member for Environment introduced his tabled report on replacement recycling and residual bin costs following concerns raised by members of the Scrutiny Committee.  He acknowledged that measures needed to be put in place to mitigate any problems with the addition of the new charge.  The Cabinet Member outlined the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 583