Agenda item

Purpose:

·         This report sets out the Public Protection Partnership’s Fees and Charges which have been proposed by the Joint Public Protection Committee at its meeting on the 05 October 2022. 

·         Each partner Council is required to review the fees and charges on an annual basis. Appendix A details the fees and charges for 2023/24 proposed for the Public Protection Service. 

·         To consider the proposals for the statutory consultation associated with the fees and charges for private hire operator, and hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence fees.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4), which set out the Public Protection Partnership’s (PPP’s) Fees and Charges, which had been proposed by the Joint Public Protection Committee (JPPC) at its meeting on the 5 October 2022. This was in line with the Council’s requirement to review the fees and charges on an annual basis. The Committee was asked to contemplate the proposals for the statutory consultation associated with the fees and charges for private hire operators, and hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence fees.

Ms Moira Fraser introduced the item by highlighting that all fees were set on a full cost recovery basis and that for the first time in three years, a proposal had been made at the JPPC to increase the hourly rate from £59 to £64, which equated to a below inflation increase of just under 8.5%.

Councillor Graham Bridgman explained that he was unsure how a cost of £11.50 was set at an hourly rate, in regards to the change of address fee, as it could not be divided easily to correlate with an amount of time worked. The Chairman argued that it could not be justified that the time spent on renewal would be 15 minutes and that the future installation of a new electronic system could even make the process more efficient. Ms Fraser pointed out that the time taken for processing applications depended on the quality of the submissions, therefore an average had to be taken.

Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter agreed that the geographical element of the Knowledge Test might be unnecessary once a driver had passed the test and that this could be a way fees could be reduced.

Councillor Adrian Abbs could not see how the hourly rate was set at £64 and thought a more reasonable price could be achieved, especially if the system was to be further automated and Ms Fraser explained that the hourly rate included other costs as well, not just officer salaries. The Chairman highlighted that the fees were reviewed every year and the contribution of the new system would need to be considered next year. Ms Fraser explained that the average time taken for tasks was reviewed annually.  

Councillor Bridgman reminded the Committee that last year’s rate was set at £59 an hour and that the Committee was to only recommend these fees to Council. Councillor Bridgman explained that the calculation of fees were based upon whether they were a statutory requirement or based on cost recovery. As some of the PPP fees were based on cost recovery, it would have to be considered on an hourly rate, which would be a blanket rate for the whole service, as it would be impractical to have it for each individual officer. Then the Council would work out how long a task took, from which the fee would be calculated.

Councillor Jeff Beck explained as there had been no increase in the previous three years to the fee, he felt that the fees should have been increased incrementally, instead of having one large increase. This was because small increases were more likely to be accepted instead of one large increase. Councillor Beck then pointed to paragraph 4.16, in regards to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, and asked whether the fee, which was proposed at £70, could be reduced or whether the previous fee of £79 could be kept due to the uncertain financial times. Ms Fraser drew Members’ attention to the legal implications set out in the report which confirmed that the fees should be set at a level as to not generate a surplus. The Chairman stated that the previous two years might not have seen a rise in fee costs due to the low inflation rates.

Councillor Graham Pask furthered the point about setting reasonable fees at no profit to the Council and he emphasised that the Committee had become stuck on one particular aspect of the report, of which he believed should be kept as recommended.

Councillor Pask proposed that the Committee approve the Officer recommendations within the report and this was seconded by Councillor Bridgman. 

The Committee RESOLVED that:

·         Save for the private hire operator, and hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence fees, the fees set out at Appendix A of the Agenda go forward for consideration as part of the Council fee setting process.

·         The proposed charges for operators and vehicle licence fees be subject to a twenty eight day statutory consultation period from 17 November 2022 to 15 December 2022.

·         A public notice pertaining to the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles and Private Hire Operators fees would be placed in the Newbury Weekly News and Reading Chronicle.

·         A consultation letter would be posted to all Taxi and Private Hire Drivers and Private Hire Operators in the District and that a copy of the consultation would be posted on the Public Protection Partnership website, on the West Berkshire Council Consultation Hub and in the reception area at the Market Street Offices.

If no objections are received, the charges for operators and vehicle licence fees be included in the February 2023 Executive and March Council papers for approval; or if objections are received they be considered by the Licensing Committee at the meeting on 23 January 2023 and any changes be recommended to full Council for approval.