Agenda item

To provide the Joint Public Protection Committee with an update to the Fee Policy for Relevant Protected sites, following on from the Private Sector Housing Policy presented to the JPPC September 2020 meeting, and to seek authority from the Committee to go out to consultation with Licensees.

The Committee considered the report (Agenda Item 6). The report provided an update to the Fee Policy for Relevant Protected Sites, following on from the Private Sector Housing Policy presented to Committee in September 2020. Authority was sought to go out to consultation with Licensees.

Rosalynd Gater, Commercial Team Manager, introduced the report. She informed the Committee that if Members were minded to approve the report the caravan site licensees would be consulted and the outcome of that consultation would be brought back to the next meeting for approval prior to changes being implemented from 1 April 2021.

The changes proposed to the fee policy were as follows:

The annual fees for sites were currently £14 per unit. This was based on Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) guidance. This guidance gave two options for setting annual fees. Option one was a set fee per hour (the existing scheme). Option two was a calculation that was based on a national set time to administer the site license and for the inspection of the sites. The fee for this second option was a combination of these two elements, multiplied by the hourly rate of the service which would equate to £59 per hour.

Ms Gater referred to benchmarking data. This found that option was more closely aligned with the charging mechanism used by other local authorities. However, the analysis found that while option two would benefit larger sites, it would result in the fees for smaller sites increasing. The majority of sites within the PPP area were smaller and therefore option one was recommended as this was the fairer option. Option one would also achieve a higher level of income.

The fee for new site licences was £440 for the licence itself and £16 per unit. It was also proposed, based on the benchmarking data and DCLG guidance, that the £16 per unit would be capped for sites with up to 200 units. Only three sites in the PPP were currently in excess of 200 units and therefore, not many sites would be affected by the change.

Ms Gater explained that the previous separate fees for variation of licence and alteration of licence had had been amalgamated and was proposed at £59 per hour (the hourly rate for the officer). This could cover a wide range of different alterations.

Clarity was then provided on the process to be followed for non-payment and non-compliance including enforcement. In cases of non-payment, an application would be made to a first-tier tribunal for an order that required payment. If payment was not met within three months an order would be submitted to the tribunal to revoke the site license. 

Ms Gater concluded by stating that the next step was to send out the fee policy to caravan site licensees for comment subject to the approval of these proposals by the Committee.

Councillor Parry Batth thanked Ms Gater for her very comprehensive presentation.

Councillor Chris Bowring asked why fees were being set for 2021-22 when fees and charges would be ratified by the three councils. Ms Gater stated that there had been extensive work on caravan sites and fees in the past year and this was the earliest point at which these proposals could be presented.

Councillor Bowring queried the approval processes required, i.e. licensing committees, executives and full council meetings. Ms Gater advised that subject to JPPC approval, the fees could be updated via the necessary committees. Sean Murphy, Public Protection Manager, commented that the difficulty was the timing of the March Council meetings and that Wokingham had already set their fees for 2021-22. The Wokingham decision set the direction for the other local authorities to follow in terms of fees but it might be too late for the other two authorities to have in place for April 2021 unless an additional approval process was set up. If not, the changes to the fees and charges would not be introduced in Bracknell Forest or West Berkshire until 2022-23.

The decision on timing would be made at the March JPPC once the consultation had concluded.

Clare Lawrence restated that Wokingham had approved fees and changes for 2021-22 in November 2020. However, a decision would still need to be made by Wokingham along the same lines as Bracknell Forest and West Berkshire.

Councillor John Harrison asked if there was certainty that sufficient funding would be raised from this charging mechanism to cover the necessary hours of work. He pointed out that the majority of sites were well run and only a small minority of sites created issues. He queried whether the increased cost of policing this small number of sites could be passed on to them and therefore to avoid penalising the wider caravan and mobile home community.

Councillor Bowring referred to the table in section 1.2 of the report and queried how the PPP compared with the national average for administration and inspection times. Ms Gater stated that this was not straight forward, due partly to Councillor Harrison’s points, however she would look to make the comparison requested and provide this information to the Committee.

Ms Gater added that site inspections were incorporated within the £14 per unit fee. She also explained that a charge could be levied for enforcement action and it was the intention to introduce this for non-compliant sites in the coming year.

Councillor Hilary Cole asked if these fees and charges applied to gypsy and traveller sites as well. Ms Gater said they only related to licensed sites and relevant protected sites. There was a different set of rules for traveller sites so the licensing regime did not apply.

Paul Anstey, Head of Public Protection and Culture, clarified the options available. He stated that it was agreed previously that the service would look at proposals that improved the level of transparency on the different fees and charges. As already explained this would be taken forward by consulting with the trade and to provide feedback from that to Committee. Further debate and a decision would not be taken until that process had concluded.

The impact on the budget would not be significant, but these proposals aimed to redistribute charges across the sector and ensure greater fairness wherever possible.

RESOLVED that:

·         The amended fee policy for Relevant Protected Sites be noted.

·         The options used for determining the level of fee to be charged be approved.

·         The direction whereby the Policy will be put to consultation with Caravan Site Licensees and any other relevant parties be approved. The results of which would be brought back to the next meeting of the JPPC for discussion, with a view to implementing the fee structure from 1 April 2021.