The report had set out the Council’s Planning and Building Control non-statutory fees and charges. Planning fees were set by central government and building fees continued to be led by market conditions.

It was also proposed to review the planning pre-application charging schedule on a quarterly basis and adjust those fees where appropriate to reflect the quality of service and resources provided. Otherwise, building control fees and other non-statutory fees would be reviewed on an annual basis.

There were no proposed fee increases to either Local Land Charges or to photocopying charges.

Building Control fees and charges were reviewed annually. Brentwood Borough Council building control fees had remained unchanged since 1st April 2015. However, as a result of local benchmarking and a budget challenge review, it was now proposed to be increase the standard charges by 10% as from 1st April 2018.

Cllr Faragher MOVED and Cllr Wiles SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a discussion a vote was taken by a show of hands and it was

RESOLVEDUNANIMOUSLY

1.    That all Planning and Building Control non-statutory fees and charges, and Local Land Charges fees, are reviewed annually; and that Planning pre-application fees are reviewed quarterly; to be revised where appropriate as agreed by the Chief Executive and the Chair of Planning and Licensing Committee.

2.    That Members agree the fees and charges as in Appendix A and B to the report.

Reasons for Recommendation

Ongoing budget constraints facing the public sector continued to be a factor in Council services seeking to generate income wherever possible to contribute to the provision of high quality services to residents and businesses. At this juncture it was not considered that an increase to non-statutory fees and charges was required, but this should continue to be reviewed on a regular basis and adjusted to reflect both the level of demand from the development industry and the Council’s resources to provide a high standard of service. It was therefore proposed that all Planning and Building Control non-statutory fee income continued to be ring-fenced to the Planning and Development service area in order to justify charges and reassure applicants that the service they were paying for will be delivered.

Local Land Charge fees, having regard to the 1975 Act, were considered to be at a level that addresses the level of resource required to provide the demands of the service at cost. The fees had been reviewed in order to ensure that a cost recovery service was maintained and will be reviewed in line with any future legislative changes.