Issue - meetings

That Cabinet approve the fees and charges proposed to apply from 1 April 2013, as set out in Appendix A of the report and be submitted to the Transformation and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee for comment.

Cabinet received a report seeking to obtain approval for the proposed scale of fees and charges to apply from 1 April 2013. It was necessary to review the fees and charges which the Council makes in order to keep them in line with the cost of service provision and to establish the amounts to be included in the 2013/14 budget.

The preparation of the 2013/14 budget assumed an overall 2.0% increase in the amount of income raised from fees and charges in 2013/14, in line with assumptions about the rate of inflation over the period that these charges would be in force, reflecting the real increases in costs being incurred by services. The proposals had been drawn up taking account of this requirement. However, it did not mean that each charge had been increased by 2.0%, rather that charges had been amended selectively in order to achieve the desired increase in income. A great number of changes were, in fact, recommended to be frozen at their current levels and all car parking charges were being frozen in order to encourage residents and customers to visit the town centre. The Finance Team were thanked for their work and for the phrasing of the income streams.

RESOLVED:                        That Cabinet approve the fees and charges proposed to apply from 1 April 2013, as set out in Appendix A of the report and be submitted to the Transformation and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee for comment.