Agenda item

OSDM.2/16    

The meeting considered a report that set out proposals for fees and charges for all services for 2017/18.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   the findings of the Events Task and Finish Group.  It was confirmed that the Group would be presenting its final recommendations in the upcoming months.  As a principle, a Member proceeded to emphasise his opposition to the Council continuing to offer an exemption for events on its land that were being held for charity events;

(b)   play area inspections.  Officers confirmed that the play area inspections service was subject to open competition, with other providers also able to bid to undertake these works.  However, it was also noted that the proposed increase in charges  (from £100 + VAT to £130 + VAT) was still a very competitive price;

(c)    car parking charges.  A number of Members expressed their disappointment at the lack of related information that had been made available to this meeting.  As a consequence, Members felt that it was difficult to be able to make a recommendation on car parking charges without being in receipt of modelling work in relation to factors such as: comparative analysis figures; the projected impact of different percentage price increases; and the proposed increases shown in monetary value.  In response, Members were reminded of the ‘Community-led tariff’ approach that had been adopted by the Council.  This approach enabled Members to agree an income target for the whole district, with a consultation exercise then being undertaken with local communities around how their allotted proportion of the total income could be best achieved.

Nonetheless, based upon the information provided, some Members were of the view that they could not recommend any increase in car parking charges and the following motion was PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That car parking charges be frozen for 2017/18.’

In discussion, some Members felt that this motion was too restrictive at this time and, such was the budgetary pressures facing the Council, that it was incumbent that consideration was given to increasing car park charges.

When put to the vote, this motion was declared LOST.

A further motion related to car parking charges was then PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That further modelling work be undertaken (and presented to the Executive meeting on 2 February 2017) on car park charges being increased by either 1% or 2%.’

Having been invited to express their views, officers confirmed that they were confident that both the 1% and 2% increase options were achievable.

When put to the vote, this motion was declared CARRIED.

In addition, a Member asked that consideration be given to any increased income that was generated from car park charges being used to upgrade the appearance of the car parks.  Taking this point a step further, officers also gave a commitment to investigate the merits of installing electric charging points and solar energy schemes at Council owned car parks.

Finally on car parking charges, during the community consultation exercise, a Member reiterated the importance of Economic Impact Assessments being undertaken as part of this process;

(d)   the fee structure for the planning pre-application service.  A Member criticised the current service and warned against the service review from recommending any increases in charges.  In contrast, another Member hoped that the review would recognise the importance of the service and conclude that there was a need to increase resources in this regard, with charges then being increased accordingly;

(e)   benchmarking proposed charges.  In response to a Member expressing particular interest in the proposed charges for Dinghy Parking, the Head of Paid Service confirmed that benchmarking information relating to the proposed charges would be circulated to Members following this meeting;

(f)     the commercial waste charges.  It was noted that the proposed delegated authority arrangements to set the Commercial Waste charges was being recommended to ensure that the service had the ability to react to the pricing strategies of market competitors. 

It was then: