Environment Transport & Sustainability Committee

Agenda Item 66


       

Subject:                    Fees and Charges 2023-24

 

Date of meeting:    17th January 2023

 

Report of:                 Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture; Executive Director for Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities; Executive Director, Health & Adult Social Care

 

Contact Officer:      Name: Various

                                    Tel: Various

                                    Email: Various

                                   

Ward(s) affected:   All

 

For general release

 

Note: The special circumstances for non-compliance with Council Procedure Rule 7, Access to Information Rule 5 and Section 100B (4) of the Local Government Act as amended (items not considered unless the agenda is open to inspection at least five days in advance of the meeting) were that late changes in several projections  required further revision and finalisation

 

1.            Purpose of the report and policy context

 

1.1         The purpose of this report is to set out the proposed 2023/24 fees and charges for the service areas covered by the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, in accordance with corporate regulations and policy.

 

1.2         Given the financial situation the council is under, this report also sets out where proposed fees and charges for 2023/24 can be brought forward for implementation in the current financial year.

 

2.            Recommendations

 

2.1         That Committee agrees the proposed fees and charges for 2023/24 as set out within the report.

 

2.2         That Committee agrees the proposed fees and charges in paragraph 3.6 relating to Monitored Contractor Scaffold Licence, Brown Tourist Signs and Development Directional Signs, to be implemented with immediate effect in the current financial year 2022/23 allowing for lead in time to update systems, charging methods and notice periods.

 

2.3         That Committee agrees the proposed fees and charges in paragraph 3.19 relating to Traders permit and Business permit fees, to be implemented with immediate effect in the current financial year 2022/23 allowing for lead in time to update systems, charging methods and notice periods.

 

2.4         That Committee agrees the proposed fees and charges in paragraphs 3.35 – 3.36 relating to Garden Waste Collection Service fees, to be implemented with immediate effect in the current financial year 2022/23 allowing for lead in time to update systems, charging methods and notice periods.

 

2.5         That Committee delegates authority to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment & Culture (in relation to paragraphs 3.5 - 3.39), the Executive Director of Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities (in relation to paragraphs 3.40 - 3.41) and to the Executive Director of Health & Adult Social Care (in relation to paragraphs 3.42 – 3.46) to change fees and charges as notified and set by central Government during the year.

 

3.            Context and background information

 

3.1         As part of the budget setting process Executive Directors are required to agree changes to fees and charges through relevant Committee Meetings. The management of fees and charges is fundamental both to the financial performance of the City Council and the achievement of the Council’s corporate priorities. The council’s Corporate Fees & Charges Policy requires that all fees and charges are reviewed at least annually and should normally be increased in line with the cost of providing the service to maintain income in proportion to the net cost of service. The Corporate Fees & Charges Policy also stipulates that increases above or below a ‘corporate rate of inflation’ should be approved by committee. However, it should be noted that the corporate rate of inflation (3%) is not a default rate of increase and is a planning assumption only, set early in the financial year, and should not therefore determine actual increases which should normally reflect current inflation rates and cost increases to ensure that income is maintained in proportion to expenditure.

 

3.2         Fees and Charges increases to cover our increased costs are one of a number of measures that are being taken by Directors to help bridge the revenue budget gap in the current year. Set out below is a range of measures being taken:

 

·         Moratorium on recruitment in the current financial year (unless there are exceptional circumstances, which can arise for delivery of frontline and/or income generating services )

 

·         Rigorous review of all fees and charges applied by services within the directorate, pushing fee increases as far as is considered feasible and bringing forward the increase into the current year where possible. One suggestion at P&R Cttee was to bring forward reductions in Concessionary fare payments to bus operators that will need further work to determine the requisite contractual notice periods and recognition that operators will also require to issue 70 day Statutory Notices if services are impacted and need to be withdrawn. These issues will determine if in-year reductions are feasible and any quantum.

 

·         Participation in meetings with lead Members to challenge fee and charge proposals

 

·         Cessation of all non-essential expenditure

 

·         Starting the review of capital expenditure to identify where reprofiling of expenditure, appraisal of essential budgets, changes in scope are possible to reduce the impact on the revenue budget

 

·         Briefings to all staff to ensure consistency of message about required measures across all services

 

·         Regular discussions of the above items and of TBM reports at DMT meetings and Extended DMT meetings

 

 

3.3         The committee are advised that if the proposed fees & charges recommended in this report are not agreed, or if the committee wishes to amend the recommendations, then the item will normally need to be referred to the Policy & Resources Committee meeting on 9 February 2023 to be considered as part of the overall 2023/24 budget proposals. This is because the 2023/24 draft and final budget proposals are developed on the assumption that fees and charges are agreed as recommended and any failure to agree, or a proposal to agree different fees and charges, may have an impact on the overall budget proposals, which means it would need to be dealt with by Policy & Resources Committee as per the requirements of the constitution. However, this does not fetter the committee’s ability to make alternative recommendations to Policy & Resources Committee.

 

3.4         It is not always possible when amending fees and charges to increase by the exact inflation figure due to rounding. As a result, some fees and charges are rounded for ease of payment and administration.

 

City Transport - Highways (Appendix 1)

 

Highways

 

3.5         It is proposed to increase most of the non-statutory fees and charges by 10% to ensure all costs are recovered. Highways Licences, Traffic Regulation Orders and Hoarding fees will uplift by 3%. Where percentage increases are under or over +10% or +3%, this is to ensure that increases can be made in whole pounds.

 

3.6         It is also proposed that fees and charges uplifts for Monitored Contractor Scaffold Licence, Brown Tourist Signs and Development Directional Signs as outlined in Appendix 1 are brought forward with immediate effect allowing for lead in time to update systems, charging methods and notice periods.

 

3.7         The proposed fees and charges are set out in Appendix 1.

 

City Transport – Parking (Appendix 2)

 

3.8         Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) was introduced in July 2001 with the aim of reducing congestion and improving traffic management.  Any surplus arising from on street parking is spent on qualifying expenditure as governed by section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended by section 95 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

 

3.9         All the surplus generated from parking charges after direct costs is invested locally into bus subsidies, concessionary bus fares, Local Transport Plan costs and local environmental improvements as permitted under the Act.  More information is available in the Parking Annual Report 2021/22. The updated 2021/22 Parking Annual Report is also being discussed within this ETS Committee meeting.

 

3.10      Improving air quality is a key objective for Brighton & Hove City Council.   As part of a range of measures to improve air quality such as the Low Emission Zone, parking charges can also help to encourage less polluting travel options and reduce emissions.  In addition, congestion across the city can affect the reliability of journey times and long-term parking can reduce accessibility and the turnover of spaces.  Better accessibility through a high turnover of vehicles being parked helps to support local businesses.  Parking charges can help to encourage alternative transport choices and higher turnover of spaces.  Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are set by central government and cannot be changed independently.

 

3.11      Over the last three years since 2019/ 2021 the budget expectation for Parking Services has increased from £34.7m to £43m.

 

3.12      The proposed 2023/24 fees follow a review of parking demand in the city and the objectives set out in the council’s Local Transport Plan, therefore changes focus on some high demand areas and new initiatives to achieve the overall inflationary increase combined with further budget saving proposals for 2023/24. This aims to stabilise parking income and manage the impact of surcharges for resident permits.

 

3.13      A schedule of fees and charges for on-street parking is included in Appendix 2 with more detailed prices for resident permits in Appendix 3

 

3.14      When taking forward proposals for increases the focus has been on high demand areas of impact alongside changes across the board. The latter approach in isolation can actually lead to financial losses as has happened in the current financial year. Demand loss has been far higher than anticipated for permits and on-street paid parking income and the Parking Services budget is tracking substantially below the income target. The most noteworthy proposals are as follows:

 

Resident Permits (within Controlled Parking Zones)

 

3.15      Resident permit parking income in Brighton & Hove is forecast at TBM07 to be a loss of income of £1.741m (-14.02% of budget) in 22/23 compared to a budget of £12.4m. The total number of permits themselves (36,000 resident permits, 15,000 other permits and 360,000 visitor permits per year) are not declining overall due to all the new parking schemes introduced. However, resident permits are declining in certain Controlled Parking Zones. It is becoming increasingly difficult to attain income targets from increased prices over the last few years and the city is losing parking spaces as a result of active travel measures.   

 

3.16      The underachievement of resident permits and reduced forecasts within on-street parking (see below) is likely to be partly as a result of the significant estimated loss of £0.858m following the reduction of permit and paid parking spaces due to active travel measures (e.g. Madeira Drive, Old Town, A259 – eastern section) introduced over the last 2 years. There will be further  reductions in parking spaces following the introduction of schemes on the A259 Seafront Cycle Lane (western section), A23 Cycle Lane, Liveable Neighbourhood, communal bins, School Streets, Valley Gardens Phase 3, Madeira Terraces and the Cycle Hangar Programme. Officers are working across the EEC directorate to mitigate these parking losses where possible.

 

3.17      The rest of the underachievement is due to the reduced demand in residents and visitor permits across all zones during and since the pandemic.   Price increases are reducing demand for permits. This included in 22/23:

 

·         A 6 to 9% increase overall.

·         High Demand resident parking zones introduced with increased prices in Central Brighton / Brunswick & Adelaide

·         An increase from 50% to 75% for the high emission charge

·         30/40/80% (£100+) increases to the surcharges for second and third+ vehicles per household which is yet to be introduced.

 

3.18      There are budget proposals for 23/24 and future years to change resident parking schemes from light touch to full schemes with further surcharges due to come in the next financial year. The upcoming surcharges have already increased once in the 2022/23 budget before implementation has been undertaken and resulting income/loss of revenue analysed.

 

3.19      A new rules-based permit price and duration model will be implemented for Business and Trader Permits (in January 2023) and Resident Permits at some point in the first quarter of 2023. This will require a new model so the online system can cope with surcharges, low income discounts and exemptions, and the associated refunds when people move or change position in their households.  None of these can be delivered without this new price & duration model so this software development work is an essential first stage. This means the proposed price increase for resident permits has been made as near as possible to the proposed £10 and £15 increases to the base prices.

 

3.20      The new price-duration model is designed to protect parking income and is also designed to give officers maximum flexibility, within a set of rules, to make adjustments to meet future requirements that the service may be asked to deliver. The model has been designed to minimise changes to the actual prices and are mainly caused by rounding certain fees, as indicated in Appendix 2.  Permit durations will change slightly as they will retain the names ‘Annual’, ‘6 month’, ‘3 month’, ‘Monthly’, but will carry subheadings to show that these are calculated as 365 days, 180 days, 90 days, and 30 days. Once implemented, this model means that any future changes to prices will need to follow percentage based rules rather than arbitrary amounts.  It will still allow a high degree of flexibility in setting prices to meet current and future policy decisions.

 

3.21      However, to ensure the overall corporate inflationary increase is delivered alongside additional budget savings it is necessary to take the following proposals forward. It is important to highlight that resident permit holders would get an additional hour of parking on-street following the increase of parking schemes to 8am-8pm. A full schedule of resident permit fees and charges (and other permit fees below) are included at Appendix 2 & 3.

 

·           Increase Light Touch resident parking scheme resident permits by 9.5% on average.

 

·           Increase Full resident parking scheme resident permits (including High Demand schemes) by 9.2% on average.

 

·           Reduce the discount of low emission vehicles to 25% from the current 50%.

 

·           A programme of converting light touch schemes into full schemes and combining zones over a 4 year programme. The consultation for this would be directly through the Traffic Regulation Order process with comments being presented to this Committee throughout the 4 year process. This would also mean that for all further consultations no option of light touch schemes will be offered when consulting residents which would be a change to current policy.

 

Other permits / proposals

 

·           Remove the annual transferable guest permit for residents in Zones B & D (Moulsecoomb and Coldean event day parking schemes). Residents will still be able to continue to use visitor permits.

 

·           Remove the 3 month option for school permits as no schools were applying for a 3 month permit as they all want an annual permit.

 

·           Reduce the discount of low emission vehicles to 25% from the current 50%.

 

·           Increasing parking suspension fees by on average 20%

 

On-Street Parking

 

3.22      On-Street paid parking income in Brighton & Hoveis forecast at TBM07 to be a loss of £1.5m (-10.78% of budget) in 22/23 compared to a £13.9m budget.

 

3.23      The underachievement of resident permits and reduced forecasts within on-street parking is also likely to be partly as a result of the loss of permit and paid parking spaces due to active travel measures as described above. The rest of the underachievement is due to the reduced amount of paid parking demand within the city since the pandemic.

 

3.24      In 22/23 there was an increase on-street and off-street parking charges across the city by 15% and high tariffs (Central Brighton & the seafront) by an average 19%.

 

3.25      However, to ensure the overall corporate inflationary increase is delivered alongside additional budget savings it is necessary to take the following proposals forward. A full schedule of on-street paid parking fees and charges are included at Appendix 2

 

·                10% on average increase for on-street paid parking across the city.

 

·                Make all on-street and off-street barrier and surface car parks 8am - 8pm to ensure consistency across zones. This would include removing the winter tariff on the seafront. This would effectively mean an additional one hour parking cost for users from 8am-9am in most cases. This would also apply to permit holders who would get an additional hour of parking on-street.

 

·                Change seafront zone, zones N (Central Hove), J (Goldsmid), C (Queens Park) and H (RSCH area) from low to High tariffs. Also to change the seafront zone, the Brunswick & Adelaide area (Zone M) from medium tariff to high tariff. The main risks are high demand loss which has been factored in. This would include incorporating Kings Road seafront section into relevant zone (Z or M) and making the seafront area all high tariff with no winter tariff.

 

Off-Street Parking

 

3.26      Off-Street parking income in Brighton & Hove is forecast at TBM07 to be a loss of £0.041m (-0.47% of budget) in 22/23 compared to a £8.7m budget.

 

3.27      As with on-street parking charges, the proposed changes are considered to be at a level which reflects the administration’s traffic management objectives, particularly to reduce congestion and promote alternative forms of transport by moderating demands in certain bands. 

 

3.28      In 22/23 there was an increase to the off-street parking charges across the city by 15% in addition to increases in previous years. It is also important to note that prices to some paid parking are getting very close to the costs of a discounted Penalty Charge Notice (£25 to £35 depending on offence) which are set at a national level.

3.29      The Lanes Car park and the Regency Square car park are performing more favourably than other barrier car parks.  However,  it is important for pricing to remain comparable with private car parks, in particular the Russell Road car park serving Churchill Square run by NCP (who are also likely be increasing prices for 23/24). Their 22/23 prices are as follows:

 

 

Russell Road Car Park (NCP – Churchill Square)

       

Pay on the day (not using app in advance)

       

1 hour                                            £4.95

1 to 2 hours                                  £9.90

2 to 3 hours                                  £14.85

3 to 4 hours                                  £19.80

4 to 5 hours                                  £24.75

5 to 6 hours                                  £29.70

6 to 24 hours                                £32.95

Early bird entry by 0900             £9.95

Night rate 1700-0300                  £7.95

Season Tickets                            £4.25 per day.

 

3.30      A full schedule of proposed car park fees and charges are included in Appendix 2 The most noteworthy proposal is:

 

·         10% on average increase of off-street paid parking across the city.

 

City Environmental Management (Appendix 4)

 

City Parks - Allotments, Parks and Sports Bookings

 

3.31      It is proposed to uplift charges for allotments in line with standard inflation at 3%, and to also introduce a £25 annual administration charge for all plot holders, except those with a concession. This additional fee contributes to the overall cost of providing the service. It is also proposed to increase parks and sports bookings by 10%. A schedule of fees and charges is included at Appendix 4.

 

3.32      The principle of charging for dedicated trees and benches is to recover the costs to the council of running the service.  Sports bookings have historically been set at a rate to reflect the council’s health and wellbeing objectives and it is recognised that most sports bookings do not recover the cost of provision. There is an ongoing review of the sports booking service provision to investigate options to increase the proportion of costs met by the service user.

 

Car Parking Charges in Parks

 

3.33      Car parking charges at the car parks located at Preston Park, East Brighton Park and Stanmer Park were first introduced in 2011, 2014 and 2021 respectively to manage the level of parking activity with any net surplus generated ring fenced to invest in park improvements.  The proposal is to align the parking charges of Preston Park and Stanmer Park Patchway car parks with equivalent on-street tariffs for 2023/24 with the remaining areas (Chalk Hill, Church Car Park, Lower Lodges and Upper Lodges at Stanmer Park and East Brighton Park) to increase by 10%.

 

City Clean - Flyering Licenses

 

3.34      Flyering licences fees are set at a rate that is considered reasonable to allow appropriate regulation and minimisation of flyering activity and to partly recover the cost of work required to clear the litter generated from flyering activity. It is proposed that flyering licences are uplifted by 10%.  All licences will be valid for 24 hours.  Details of the new fees are set out in Appendix 4.

 

Garden Waste Collection Service

 

3.35      The existing garden waste collection service charge is currently £70 per household per year.  The proposal is to increase the garden waste charges by £15 to £85 per household pe year which is comparable with neighbouring authorities.

 

3.36      It is also proposed to bring forward the increased fees for the garden waste collection service. This increase for the remainder of the year ensures the proportion of income to expenditure for this service remains intact following the rising inflation on expenditure. If agreed prices will increase following up to a 42 day lead in time and will only be applied to new and renewing customers. Customers with agreements in place will not have their fee increased until their next renewal.

 

Bulky Waste Collection Service

 

3.37      The current Bulky Waste fee is £50 for three items, with each extra item charged at £10 each. The proposal is to increase to £60 for three items (excluding white goods), with each extra item £12 each. Each white good will cost £45 each. It is also proposed that the current 50% discount is removed. It should be noted that no other neighbouring local authorities offers a discount for this service other than Eastbourne who offer a 25% discount. The table below shows analysis of nearby Local Authorities:

 

Local Authority

Minimum Price

Discounts

Lewes District

£55.00

No

Wealden District

£55.00

No

Eastbourne Borough

£50.00

25%

Adur & Worthing

£45.00

No

Rother District

£40.00

No

Hastings Borough

£35.00

No

 

3.38      The changes will ensure the service does not operate in financial deficit and therefore add to the pressures of CEM. The proposed model supports the delivery of the statutory responsibility, whilst protecting the service against a financial loss.

 

3.39      All City Parks and City Clean charges are set out in Appendix 4.

 

Safer Communities (Appendix 5)

 

Trading Standards

 

3.40      It is proposed to increase the non-statutory fees and charges in line with the September CPI rate of inflation at 10.1%.

 

Environmental Health

 

3.41      It is proposed to increase the majority of the non-statutory fees and charges in line with the September CPI rate of inflation at 10.1%.

 

Bereavement Services (Appendix 7)

 

3.42      This year’s fees and charges review for Bereavement Services has considered the continuing competitive market and other options available to bereaved families when making funeral arrangements. The majority of our funeral business comes from Local Independent funeral directors who have the difficulty of trying to compete with the larger companies (e.g. Dignity/ Co-op / CPJ Field). These companies currently have major national advertising campaigns offering low cost funerals – cremation only, no funeral service etc. We are proposing an average increase of 8% on our main fees to continue to ensure our costs are covered. Despite this increase it is hoped we can minimise the impact on the Local Independent funeral directors at a time when, we acknowledge, they will be impacted by rising costs due to the current financial crisis. We hope to continue to be their crematorium of choice in the local area. It should be noted there is a direct competitor immediately adjacent to our Woodvale Cemetery and Crematorium grounds, which is privately owned by Dignity Funeral Services, the largest owner of private crematoria in the country.

 

3.43      Benchmarking has been carried out with local neighbours where comparable fees and charges are available. This provides valuable information because they are alternative service providers who customers are most likely to opt for as an alternative to Brighton & Hove City Council’s services.

 

3.44      As with previous reviews, there are no proposals to change charging policies in relation to children. The proposals are formulated to be consistent with the general principle of cost recovery as already stated, including maintaining the facilities we have at Woodvale where our Crematorium chapels and grounds are grade 2 listed.

 

3.45      The proposals to increase cremation, burial and memorialisation fees from 1 April 2023 will generate an estimated additional £0.100m assuming business levels remain consistent with the pre-Covid 2019/20 year. These proposals are based on the service continuing to follow best practice in line with guidance from the Institute of Cemeteries and Crematorium Management (ICCM), a national organisation providing policy and best practice guidance to Burial and Cremation authorities.

 

3.46      Please see Appendix 7 proposed Bereavement Services fees and charges and Appendix 8 Bereavement Services benchmarking.

 

4.            Analysis and consideration of alternative options

 

4.1         The proposed fees and charges in this report have been prepared in accordance with the council’s fees and charges policy and form part of the proposed budget strategy. They take account of the requirement to increase by the corporate inflation rate of +3.0% (unless otherwise stated) and consideration has been given to other factors such as statutory requirement, cost recovery and prices charged by competitor / comparator organisations.

 

5.            Community engagement and consultation

 

5.1         Where Traffic Regulation Orders are required for proposed transport fee changes, objections received will be reported to this committee at a future date.

 

6.            Conclusion

 

6.1         Fees and charges are considered to be an important source of income in enabling services to be sustained and provided.  A wide range of services are funded or part funded by fees and charges including those detailed in this report. The overall budget strategy aims to ensure that fees and charges are maintained or increased as a proportion of gross expenditure through identifying income generating opportunities, ensuring that charges for discretionary services and trading accounts cover costs, and ensuring that fees and charges keep pace with price inflation and/or competitor and comparator rates.

 

6.2         Fees and charges budgets for 2023/24 are assumed to increase by a standard inflation rate of +3.0% with the exception of those listed within this report. The council’s Corporate Fees and Charges Policy requires that all fees and charges are reviewed at least annually and should normally be increased by either; the standard rate of inflation, statutory increase or increases in the costs of providing services.

 

7.            Financial implications

 

7.1      The fees and charges recommended in this report have been reviewed in line with the Corporate Fees & Charges Policy and all relevant regulations and legislation. The anticipated recurring financial impacts of fee changes will be reflected within service revenue budgets. Increases to meet the corporate rate of inflation of 3.0% are normally applied to all council income budgets (exceptions include statutory Penalty Charge Notices) as a minimum but fees & charges should normally be set to recover costs and/or maintain income in proportion to expenditure. Increases above or below the corporate rate of inflation require approval by the relevant service committee or Policy & Resources Committee and can result in additional contributions toward the cost of services and/or corporate and service overheads. This can also result in the achievement of a net budget saving to the council. Where this is the case, this will be reflected in Budget proposals for the relevant service and will be incorporated within the revenue budget report to Policy & Resources Committee and Budget Council in February 2023. Income from fees and charges is monitored as part of the Targeted Budget Monitoring (TBM) process.

 

7.2      In the case of on-street parking permits, tariffs and penalty charges, the use of any surplus income from civil parking enforcement, after taking into account costs, is governed by section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended. This requires the defined Parking Surplus to be used for transport and highways related projects and expenditure such as supported bus services, concessionary fares, Local Transport Plan projects and environmental improvements.  Where the council also funds transport and highways related budgets from it’s General Fund budget, increases to the Parking Surplus can be lawfully applied to this expenditure, which can thereby release equivalent General Fund resources.  The council may use the released resources for any purpose within its duties and powers, including releasing resources for savings.

 

7.3      There may be costs associated with advertising Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) for changes to charges within the Transport service which will be met from existing revenue budgets.

 

7.4      Recommendations to bring forward fees & charges increases into the current financial year allowing for lead in time to update systems, charging methods and notice periods will allow those higher fees & charges to be collected for the remainder of the 2022/23 financial year. Increased income received for the remainder of the year will help support the council’s current financial position and any significant variation to budget will be reported as part of the council’s monthly budget monitoring process.

 

Name of finance officer consulted: John Lack    Date consulted: 19/12/2022

 

8.            Legal implications

 

8.1         The council needs to establish for each of the charges imposed both the power to levy charges of that type, and, where applicable, the power to set the charge at a particular level.  In some cases the amount of the charges is set by    Government. In other cases where a figure is not prescribed, for example the general power to charge for discretionary services under the Local Government Act 2003, the amount that can be charged is restricted to cost recovery.  In some prescribed cases, such as charging for trade waste collection, legislation enables the Council to set charges at a commercial rate. Special provisions apply in the case of parking charges which are set out below.  In all cases the council must act reasonably and ensure that any statutory formalities which govern the particular charge are complied with.

 

8.2         The Council is entitled to set parking charges at levels that will enable it to meet its traffic management objectives for example, by managing supply and demand for parking. Under section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended by the Traffic Management Act 2004, the Council must keep an account of all parking income and expenditure in designated (i.e. on-street) parking spaces which are in a Civil Enforcement Area, and of their income and expenditure related to their functions as an enforcement authority. The use of any surplus income from civil parking enforcement is governed by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended. This allows any surplus to be used for transport and highways related projects and expenditure such as supported bus services, concessionary fares and Local Transport Plan projects.

 

Name of lawyer consulted: Katie Kam           Date consulted 20/12/2022

 

9.            Equalities implications

 

9.1         Management of fees and charges is fundamental to the achievement of council priorities. The council’s fees and charges policy aims to increase the proportion of costs met by the service user. Charges, where not set externally, are raised by corporate inflation rates unless there are legitimate anti-poverty considerations.

 

10.         Sustainability implications

 

10.1      There are no direct sustainability implications arising from the recommendations in this report.

 

11.         Other Implications

 

11.1      There are no other significant implications arising from the recommendations in this report.

 

Supporting Documentation

 

1.            Appendices

1.            Proposed City Transport (Highways) Fees and Charges 2023/24

2.            Proposed City Transport (Parking) Fees and Charges 2023/24

3.            Proposed City Transport (Parking) Resident Permits 2023/24

4.            Proposed City Environmental Management Fees and Charges 2023/24

5.            Proposed Safer Communities Fees and Charges 2023/24

6.            Proposed Bereavement Services Fees and Charges 2023/24

7.            Bereavement Services Benchmarking 2023/24

 

2.            Background documents

1.         None