Agenda item

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 6) which set out the draft Revenue Budget for 2019/20 including fees and charges. In introducing the report, Sean Murphy explained that the Inter-Authority Agreement, which established the PPP, had set a percentage contribution required from each local authority. Officers were satisfied that these contribution proportions were still correct. After publication of the agenda, officers had learnt that the correct uplift to pension contributions had not been applied for Wokingham and West Berkshire and a corrected report had been issued.

The report proposed an overall budget reduction of £145k in recognition of the financial pressures facing each of the local authorities.

Sean Murphy clarified that the Committee’s role was to recommend a budget to each of the three local authorities, who would take the final decision.

Councillor Nick Allen enquired what impact the budget reduction would have. Sean Murphy advised that a review of the PPP service was being undertaken and it was likely that a number of efficiencies would be proposed to the December meeting of the JPPC. Sean Murphy also clarified that West Berkshire Council’s contribution would be 40.01% of the total PPP budget in 2019/20.

Councillor McCracken stated that it would be useful for the report recommendations to clarify the overall net budget the Committee were being asked to set.

Councillor McCracken enquired whether the £145k savings would be achievable and whether a similar level of savings might be required in 2020/21. Paul Anstey advised that following the implementation of the operating model and vacancies which had arisen, the opportunity had been taken to commence a review and officers were confident that efficiencies identified in the review would lead to the savings being achieved. Damian James advised that officers would monitor the situation throughout 2019/20 and evaluate the budget where necessary.

Councillor Franks stated that West Berkshire Council had asked whether it would be possible to reduce the budget and was mindful that he did not want to harm the PPP. He was confident that the PPP would not be harmed and would deliver the service in an efficient way.

Councillor Allen stated it was difficult to understand the proposed budget for 2019/20 without the current year budget being included in the report. Sean Murphy advised that Appendix A to the report contained further information.

Sean Murphy outlined that a schedule of fees and charges had been included in the report. The JPPC had agreed to apply a full cost recovery methodology to fees and charges at a previous meeting. Officers had also sought to make fees and charges consistent, focusing on high impact areas such as taxi and private hire fees in the first instance.

Councillor Franks expressed his support for a standard charging regime across the three local authority areas and enquired whether the requirements on taxis were the same across the areas. Sean Murphy advised that some work was required to standardise policies. Councillor Franks suggested that some proactive communications around the proposed fees and charge might help to mitigate any concerns raised by the trade. Sean Murphy advised that the proposed fees and charges would be subject to statutory consultation and require approval by each council’s Licensing Committee.

The Committee noted that where there was a blank column on page 27 of the agenda, the fees would remain the same as the previous year and 2.5% should be added where ‘n/a’ was shown against ice cream sellers.

Councillor Webster stated that she was supportive of the approach and noted that it would be essential to inform their fellow Council Members of the proposals. She noted that there was also an important message which should be shared with the public regarding the protections that consumers could be confident of when using licensed services. Sean Murphy agreed that the taxi industry was not without risks and proper regulation gave consumers confidence.

Councillor Jorgensen suggested that Licensing Committees would find the benchmarking information useful. He also expressed that he would like the budget to be set in alignment with the Councils’ usual budget setting timescales.

In response to a query from Councillor Nick Allen regarding fees for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, Sean Murphy advised that the contractor, Capita, had not yet set their fee but the fee the PPP charged would be the actual cost plus 30 minutes of processing time plus 2.5%.

A discussion was held regarding the differences in the charges applied to taxis between the three local authorities and the influence of the trade associations was noted.

RESOLVED that:

The Committee agree the Joint Management Board’s proposal for a contribution reduction of £145K as set out in paragraph 5.4 of the corrected report.

The Committee recommend to the Councils the contributions set out at Table 2 at 5.8 in the report along with the fees and charges set out in Appendix B, subject to the amendments highlighted in the discussion (above).

The JPPC recommends that the proposed net budget of the Public Protection Partnership for 2019/20 is £3.404m.