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ITEM
CA7
CABINET
– 17 JANUARY 2006
REVIEW OF
CHARGES FOR 2006/07
Report by
Head of Finance & Procurement
Introduction
- This report sets
out, by way of context, a summary of the Council’s Charging Policy and
then, for approval by this meeting, the proposed charges for the 2006/07
financial year. The budget proposals considered elsewhere on this agenda
assume an increase in charges of 3%, and this report highlights those
areas of service where the change in charge has been varied from this
general level of increase.
Council’s
Corporate Charging Policy
- The Council adopted
its current corporate charging policy in October 2002, following a review
by the then Best Value Committee. The Policy was designed to ensure
that:
- charges are
levied on a clear and consistent basis across the Council’s services;
- the level of
charges is both consistent and fair, and takes proper account of the
ability of customers to afford the service; and
- charges are
imposed and implemented in line with the law, and with the Council’s
agreed priorities and objectives.
- Under the Council’s
Policy, the Council will:
- make charges
wherever it is lawful to do so;
- set charges
to recover the full cost of the service wherever it has discretion
over the level of charges, except where the service provides a social
benefit, is of a commercial nature (where charges should be set to
maximise income), or where the charge is designed to achieve a particular
income; and
- offer concessions
on a fair and consistent basis for the services providing a social
benefit, or where the charge is set to achieve a particular outcome.
- The Policy also
requires that the level of charges, the concessions and the total income
produced should all be benchmarked against other appropriate organisations
at intervals not exceeding three years.
Proposed
Charges for 2006/07
- As part of the
work of the Efficiency Savings Steering Group, all Heads of Service
were asked to review their charges against the Council’s Charging Policy
during 2005/06. The exercise did benchmark current charging arrangements
where data was available, but for the majority of areas there were no
readily available benchmark data. All Heads of Service will be asked
to undertake further benchmarking work during 2006/07, in line with
the Council’s Charging Policy.
- The review identified
very few areas where current charging arrangements were out of line
with the Charging Policy. Charges were increased in October for Fairer
Charging clients in Adult Social Care to bring them in line with actual
costs of service provision. It was also noted that the Outdoor Residential
Centres were implementing a series of above inflation increases in charges
to reduce the current level of subsidy provided by the Council on the
service.
- In other areas,
the statutory charging framework, or the statutory requirement to limit
charges to the actual cost of providing a service, restricted the scope
for amending the current charging arrangements.
- The work from
earlier this year has been fed into the latest review in developing
the charges for services for 2006/07. The proposed charges are set out
in detail in the Annex (download
as .xls file) to this report. A summary of the expected income
from charges in 2006/07 on the basis of the proposed charges is set
out below, with a comparison to the estimated income collectable this
financial year.
Directorate
|
2005/06
£000
|
2006/07
£000
|
Change
£000
|
|
|
|
|
Children,
Young People and Families
|
4,462
|
4,623
|
161
|
Social and
Community Services
|
18,732
|
19,146
|
414
|
Environment
and Economy
|
4,141
|
4,593
|
452
|
Community
Safety
|
226
|
224
|
-2
|
Resources
|
816
|
880
|
64
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
28,377
|
29,466
|
1,089
|
- The above figures
exclude any increase in respect of the Fairer Charging scheme in Adult
Social Care, and the charges from CFM. The charges in respect the Fairer
Charging scheme are based on the actual cost of the service. The service
has recently undergone a major re-tendering exercise in respect of the
externally sourced home support, and is currently finalising the results
of that exercise. Once the successful tenderers have been determined,
and the new contract prices agreed, the charges to clients will be revised
in line with the new cost of the service. The figures should be available
in advance of the meeting. School meal charges will not be determined
until after the Cabinet has considered the future of catering and cleaning
services.
- The change between
years reflects both the proposed new charge, and changes to the assumed
level of activity against which the charges will be levied.
- The changes in
income can be further analysed as follows:
|
2006/07
Income (£000)
|
|
|
Charges
Held Static
|
4,563
|
Charges
increased in line with inflation (3%)
|
14,794
|
Charges
increased by less than inflation
|
0
|
Charges
increased by more than inflation
|
2,266
|
Charges
to be determined
|
7,843
|
|
|
Total
|
29,466
|
- The single biggest
element of the charges held static relates to the on street parking
account, which accounts for £2.627m of the estimated income and is subject
to particular legal constraints. Of the rest, a number of the fees are
covered by statute, and no increases in charge levels have been notified
(£0.9m). A further £0.5m is in respect of charges within libraries,
where all charges have been reviewed in terms of the need to remain
competitive. Other charges within the library service have been increased
above the cost of inflation to compensate for the budget shortfall where
charges have been held static. A further £0.4m relates to highway maintenance
charges.
- The main components
of the charges increased above inflation are the £1.0m in respect of
outdoor residential centres, £0.5m in respect of marriage fees (designed
to improve the financial position of the Registration Service, whilst
maintaining an affordable charge, and one benchmarked against near neighbours),
and £0.7m from the library service, mainly in respect of DVD and Video
hire (to offset other fees held static).
- No new areas of
charge service were identified during the course of the current review
of charges.
RECOMMENDATION
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED, subject to consideration of any advice from the Corporate
Governance Scrutiny Committee, to note those charges prescribed by legislation,
and to approve those charges where there is local discretion, as set
out in the Annex (download as .xls
file) to the report.
SUE
SCANE
Head of Finance
& Procurement
Background
Papers: None
Contact
Officer: Sean Collins, Assistant Head of Finance, Tel (01865) 815411
January
2006
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