Issue - meetings

Purpose of the report

To set out the fees and charges proposed to be introduced for the financial year 2025/2026.

Decision

That Cabinet recommends to Full Council the following fees and charges for 2025/2026:

·       Green waste bin annual collection charges:

- increase of £2 on the first bin to £53

- increase of £2 on all subsequent bins to £44.

• Bulky Waste – no increase proposed

• Bus Stations departure charges – no increase proposed

• Markets – no increase proposed

• All other discretionary charges to be increased in line with inflation.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Other details of the proposed fees and charges for 2025/2026 are contained within Appendix A and section 2 of the report.

Reasons for the decision

Fees and charges were an integral part of the budget setting process and were reviewed on an annual basis. They had been discussed by Cabinet members, and certain fees and charges had been discussed by Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Budget Joint Overview and Scrutiny meeting held on 14 January 2025 had discussed the entire report.

The following points were highlighted during debate:

·       Fees and charges were a key towards raising approximately £8 million towards the delivery of services. Government grants previously in place had reduced over a number of years.

·       The Fees and Charges Policy was due to be reviewed during 2025.

·       Fees and charges were split between those statutory charges set by government, and discretionary charges which were set by the Council. The majority of discretionary charges were proposed to increase in line with inflation.

·       There was no intention to change the fee for bulky waste. However, there was a proposal to improve the bulky waste collection service by providing an extra collection vehicle in order to reduce waiting times.

·       Green waste charges were proposed to increase by £2 on the first bin to £53, and by £2 on all subsequent bins to £44. This was to recover more of the costs on the service caused by inflation and delivering services.

·       Membership fees for leisure centres would remain static at their current level, as would bus departure charges at Council owned bus stations.

·       From 8am Monday 20 January some car parks in South Kesteven would allow one, and in some cases two hours’ free parking to encourage town centre footfall. These changes to car parking restrictions and fees, along with details of parking apps and other instructions would be displayed signage boards.