Issue - meetings

That:

1)        the schedule of fees and charges, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved to be effective from the dates listed on the schedule;

2)        Wokingham’s discretionary fees and charges for the Public Protection Partnership be approved, and the statutory charges be noted, as set out in the revised Appendix B of the report as tabled, to be effective from 1 April 2019.

The Executive considered a report related to proposed changes to the Council’s fees and charges and the Wokingham element of the Public Protection Partnership Service.

The Executive Member for Environment tabled a revised Appendix B to the report which related to the Public Protection Partnership (PPP) Service’s fees and charges.  This was due to the fact that it was found that, in the version contained in the agenda, some of the current year comparative figures were incorrect and differed from those presented to the Licensing Committee.  It was noted that the revised schedule did not in any way change the figures for 20191/20.  Councillor Norman Jorgensen advised that a charge relating to High Hedges, as shown in Appendix B in the agenda, had been deleted in the tabled version as this charge only applied to the other two authorities in the partnership as Wokingham provided the service itself; which was why it was contained in Appendix A.

Councillor Norman Jorgensen then went through the report and highlighted that most of the charges had been increased by inflation; an average of 3.2% which related to the RPI as at July 2018.  Some of the fees and charges also varied according to the cost of providing the service and most of the revised fees and charges would be brought in from 1 December 2018; with those for sports from 1 January 2019, and cemeteries, housing and youth and community charges from 1 April 2019.   With regard to the PPP fees and charges it was noted that these had been benchmarked against other authorities to ensure that the Council was remaining competitive whilst maximising income from the services.

RESOLVED that:

1)        the schedule of fees and charges, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved to be effective from the dates listed on the schedule;

2)        Wokingham’s discretionary fees and charges for the Public Protection Partnership be approved, and the statutory charges be noted, as set out in the revised Appendix B of the report as tabled, to be effective from 1 April 2019.