The committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer which provided an update on the current work being undertaken to review all sales, fees and charges as part of the 2024/25 budget process to ensure that charges were correct, that the costs of providing the services were recovered, and to identify opportunities for increasing existing budgets in order to support the overall Council 2024/25 budget.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Providing an overview of sales, fees and charges in the current financial year;
• The review process and proposed price increases for 2024/25 by service;
• £1m of additional income budgets as a result of this exercise would contribute to achieving a balanced budget; and
• Future opportunities and risks.

Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussions included:

• Noting that some charges, particularly in bereavement services, were to be confirmed but should not be increased significantly;
• Charges to residents who sell a property of which the Council was the freeholder;
• Suggesting that the £0.674m shortfall from off street car park charges should not be marked as green in the RAG rating in the budget papers; and
• The waste and pest control fees, which were still to be agreed, and whether these would be increased by 5%.

The Deputy City Treasurer explained that the report aimed to provide greater transparency and visibility of the Council’s sales, fees and charges. He stated that these fees were increased to support service delivery and this was important given the financial pressures facing the authority.

The Head of Finance (Corporate Core, Neighbourhoods, Growth and Development) explained that a review of sales, fees and charges formed part of the overall budget-setting process and highlighted that income generation could be variable and impacted by factors outside of the Council’s control. He stated that the review had assessed the Council’s income budget in addition to existing prices and activity levels and tried to identify future prices against a backdrop of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. He advised that work was ongoing in some services to assess the impact of fee increases and that this would form part of the final budget proposals for consideration in February.

In response to members’ queries, the Head of Finance (Corporate Core, Neighbourhoods, Growth and Development) reiterated that work on fee increases for bereavement services was ongoing and that the service was assessing the implications of activity levels and demand in addition to prices. This would be confirmed in the budget paper in February.

The Head of Finance (Corporate Core, Neighbourhoods, Growth and Development) confirmed that charges for buying a freehold from the Council were included under the wider investment estate. He stated that the Growth and Development directorate had a wider Estates service with a wide-reaching remit over building leases, rentals, assets and freehold payments. The Strategic Lead (Development) explained that these payments related to consent or fees for profession work and no income was derived from the sale of a property.

In response to a comment about the RAG rating for car park underspends, the Deputy City Treasurer acknowledged this and explained that car park usage had increased in recent months despite changes in working habits.

The Head of Finance (Corporate Core, Neighbourhoods, Growth and Development) confirmed that a decision was still to be made on waste and pest control fees but this would be increased up to a maximum of 5%.

The committee was also advised that, going forwards, a detailed report on sales, fees and charges would be provided on annual basis as part of the budget-setting process, which members welcomed.

Decision:

That the report be noted.