To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 January 2022 (Minute Nos. to follow) as a correct record.

Updated 26 January 2022:

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 January 2022 (Minute Nos. 541 - 546) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 January 2022 (Minute Nos. 541 - 546) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary Interests (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the meeting while that item is considered.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

Councillor Mike Henderson declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest in respect of the Medium-Term Financial Plan and 2022-23 Budget item, if there was discussion on leisure centres, as he was a trustee of Faversham Swimming Pools.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the report which invited the Scrutiny Committee to note the proposals for the level of fees and charges to be levied for the next financial year 2022/23.  Charges would take effect from April 2022.  He drew Members’ attention to page 79 of the report, which set out headline changes throughout the service areas.  The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance explained that fees and charges were an essential part of the revenue and expenditure budget, and that any recommendations would impact on the overall budget.  He also drew attention to paragraphs 1.4, and 3.2 where Heads of Service had been advised to base any indexation on the Consumer Price Index (June 2.5%) and be rounded-up to the nearest 10 pence.

In response to a question, the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance said that he did not consider it made a material difference that fees and charges were being considered in January, rather than the previous November, and that there was still time to consider valuable amendments.

The Chairman invited Members to give general observations on the fees and charges.

In response to a question, the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance explained that Heads of Service had prepared the fees and charges on the index level of 2.5%, not on an assumption that inflation would rise, and it was not reasonable to re-index the recommendations on the basis of an expectation of a rise in inflation.  A Member asked for the reasoning behind there being a variety of increases, with some at 2.5%, and others at 5% or 8%.  The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance said that this was dependent on the particular fee, and the Director of Resources added that in cases where there was an above 2.5% increase, this was when a particular charge had lagged behind from previous years and had been increased this year to catch-up.

The Chairman thanked the Director of Resources and the Finance Team for producing a clearly presented report.

Members were invited to make comments and ask questions on Appendix I of the report.

Page 9

The Director of Resources agreed to report back on the £150 charge for private disabled works and how long it had been set at that amount.

Page 10

There was some discussion on the level of fees set for pre-application planning advice, and the following points were raised:

·         Pre-application advice was very useful for householders and small organisations;

·         considered the charge for major applications was too high and might put people off asking for advice;

·         suggested there be discretion so the householder could ask informal questions;

·         was advice given remotely or in-person and was it the same cost?;

·         clarification was needed on the increase in charge for the very large majors, including any comparisons with other Local Authorities;

·         a one property increase could trigger a jump in charges;

·         suggested a more level amount throughout the fee structure;

·         the percentage increase for large majors was less than  ...  view the full minutes text for item 555.

Cabinet Members and their Deputies and Heads of Service have been invited to attend the meeting, as have all Members.

This item was considered by the reconvened Scrutiny Committee on 2 February 2022.

The Meeting was adjourned at 8.31 pm to 8.36 pm.

At 10 pm Members agreed to the suspension of Standing Orders in order that the Committee could complete the Fees and Charges 2022-23 item.

The meeting was reconvened until 7pm on Wednesday 2 February 2022 to consider the budget item.