Decisions

To apply an in-year increase to the Fees & Charges contained within the appended Schedule. This is a continuation of the previous decision submitted in December 2022 and is Tranche 2 of Fees & Charges

The Quarter 2 Corporate Financial Monitoring Report approved by Cabinet on 16 November 2022 sets out the Council’s financial position in light of the current challenging economic climate, and highlights management actions to be progressed, which include a review of all services’ Fees and Charges, in response to that. The prevailing rate of CPI at the time this review was completed in December 2022, was 11.1%

All Services across the council are therefore undertaking an immediate review of their existing Fees & Charges, to establish:

·         those fees and charges which can be increased in-year, due to exceptional inflationary pressures, by 11.1%

·         products or services provided by the council which are non-statutory, and should, if not already, apply increases above 11.1% to move towards becoming fully cost recoverable

·         products or services provided by the council which are non-statutory and already fully cost-recoverable, but where market forces are in operation, and where price benchmarking indicates there is headroom for price increases above 11.1%

Appended to this Decision Notice is a Schedule of Fees and Charges with the Environment and Climate Change and Growth & Regeneration Directorate where one or more of the above criteria apply. In addition, the Schedule also includes some in-year Fees & Charges which are less than 11.1% where other market factors may apply.

The officer decision to implement the increases set out in the attached Schedule is made on this date in accordance with Section 11.1 of the Financial Procedure Rules Scheme of Delegation, so as to facilitate in-year increases, wherever possible with effect from 1 April, at the earliest.

However for some services, the actual implementation date may be later than 1 April, subject to IT update constraints or other administrative actions which are needed to effect a price change, or where engagement with customers/users is required prior to the increase

To apply an in-year increase to the Fees & Charges for those services provided by the Environment & Climate Change Directorate contained within the appended Schedule.

Acceptance of an additional WYCA Grant Funding of £850K for the A62 Smart Corridor project in accordance with Financial Procedural Rule 22.5 Service Directors are authorised to accept a grant offer of any value from the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and any government department.

Approved as a correct record.

Site visit undertaken.

Application approved (delegated).

Application refused.

Application approved (delegated).

Councillor E Firth substituted for Councillor Anwar.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Loonat, Sheard and Stephen.

Application refused.

Site visit undertaken.

No questions were asked.

None received.

It was noted that all agenda items would be considered in public session.

Councillors Dad, Gregg, Lawson, Lowe, Lukic, Pervaiz, A Pinnock and Ramsay indicated that they had been lobbied on Application 2022/90175.

RESOLVED –

1)    That a recruitment process for the post of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service be commenced.

2)    That a Member Recruitment Panel be convened to recruit to the post of Chief Executive.

3)    That an internal recruitment process for the post of Acting Up – Strategic Director for Children and Families be commenced.

4)    That a Member Recruitment Panel be convened to recruit to the post of Acting Up – Strategic Director for Children and Families.

5)    That a recruitment process for the post of Strategic Director for Children and Families be commenced when appropriate.

6)    That a Member Recruitment Panel be convened to recruit to the post of Strategic Director for Children and Families when appropriate.

None received.

It was noted that all agenda items would be considered in public session.

No interests were declared.

Approved as a correct record, subject to the amendment of Minute 7 to reflect that discussion had taken place with regards to the submission of a report to a future meeting regarding recruitment and succession planning in Planning Services.

Councillor S Hall substituted for Councillor Mather.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors P Davies, D Hall and Scott.

RESOLVED – That the objections to the proposed speed limit and conversion of zebra crossings be overruled, and the proposals for the scheme, as advertised, be approved.

RESOLVED – That the objection be overruled and that Traffic Regulation Order (No 18) 2022 be sealed as advertised.

No questions were asked.

The Cabinet Committee received the following deputations;

(i)             Deputation from Mrs Jane Carter in relation to Agenda Item 7 -Traffic Regulation (No 18) Order 2022 – Objection to the proposed one-way working on part of Burn Road, Lindley.

(ii)            Deputation from Mr Stephen Dorril in relation to Agenda Item 8 – Holmfirth Town Centre Access Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Environment (Councillor Mather) responded to the content of deputations at the consideration of the relevant agenda items.

It was noted that all agenda items would be considered in public session.

No interests were declared.

Approved as a correct record.

All Committee Members were present.

RESOLVED:

    (i)        That the report be considered and noted,

  (ii)        That Officer be thanked for arranging the workshops.

RESOLVED:

    (i)        That the report be received and noted,

  (ii)        That information on the size of the population of Brighton & Hove Council be provided at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

    (i)        That the report be considered and noted,

  (ii)        That Kirklees website be updated when members had complied with any sanctions,

 (iii)        That reports to the Committee include an appendix showing decisions taken through the decision-making process,

 (iv)        That a workshop be arranged to understand difficulties Officers and Members faced relating to Planning applications.

No deputations or petitions were received.

It was agreed that all agenda items would be held in public session.

Councillor Munro declared an other interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th October 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies were received from Councillor Sokhal and Councillor Watson.

The Council’s estate of around 130 parking ticket machines is obsolete, lacks basic functionality and is primarily mains powered. In many cases these machines are so old that replacement parts are no longer manufactured – when machines fail they are impossible to repair. This places a significant income stream at risk – an additional income requirement of £100k in 23/24 and additional £1.6 million in 24/25 will not be achieved with our current estate. Those machines which do continue to function will continue to draw mains power (our intention is to replace them with solar-powered models) and most will be incapable of taking contactless payments which is becoming a standard feature. Since the original approval was given in 2021, the costs of replacing our parking machine estate have increased from around £560k to around £910k, therefore re-approval is being sought to proceed with award of contract to the highest scoring bidder.

To proceed with the award of the contract to the highest scoring bidder.

Nationally fair cost of care exercise has been undertaken, this was an opportunity for local authority commissioners and local care providers to work together to arrive at a shared understanding of what it costs to run quality and sustainable care provision in the local area and that is reflective of local circumstances. This year we have engaged local providers to shape and improve the local social care sector and identify improvements in relation to workforce, quality of care delivered, and choice available for people who draw on care.

We have set our rates this year based on engagement with Kirklees Care Association. We have reflected the rates to respond to pressures and feedback from the sector within resources available and the decisions are taken within the delegated powers that I have.

The uplifts will be applied by Client Financial Affairs and are effective from 10 April 2023.

Care Home Rates

In addition to the fees set out above, in respect of Service Users who are assessed as ‘requiring the help of a registered nurse’, a nationally agreed Funded Nursing Care payment is paid by the NHS.

Home Support Rate

Standard        £22.80

Rural              £27.48

Background Information:

Budget papers agreed at Council meeting of 8^th March 2023 which set out the resource envelope available and a delegation to agree the rates.