Decision details

Consideration was given to recommendation FRP 24/22 of the Finance, Regeneration and Property Scrutiny Select committee of 19 November 2024 in respect of fees and charges for the provision of legal costs, photocopying charges, street name and numbering, land charges, Tonbridge Castle, events on open spaces, billboards and banners and Council Tax and Business Rates court costs with effect from 1 April 2025.

Cabinet had due regard to the views of the Scrutiny Select Committee, the financial and value for money considerations and legal implications and recognised that in bringing forward the charging proposals for 2025/26 consideration had been given to a range of factors including the Borough Council’s overall financial position, market position, trading patterns and the current rate of inflation and customer feedback.

RESOLVED: That

(1)             the proposed charges for legal costs, as set out in 5 of the report, be approved with effect from 1 April 2025;

(2)             the current photocopying charges of £0.10 (inclusive of VAT) for each page of the same document or additional copies of the same page plus postage as appropriate, as set out in 5.2 of the report, be retained;

(3)             the Fee Schedule for Street Naming and Numbering, as set out in 5.3 of the report, be rounded up to nearest £10 and adopted with effect from 1 April 2025;

(4)             the proposed scale of fees for local land charges searches and enquiries, as set out in 5.4 of the report, be adopted with effect from 1 April 2025;

(5)             the proposed fees and charges for 2025/26 related to Tonbridge Castle, as set out in 5.5 of the report, be approved with effect from 1 April 2025;

(6)             the proposed fees and charges for 2025/26 related to Open Spaces, as set out in 5.6 of the report, be approved;

(7)             authority be delegated to the Director of Central Services and Depuy Chief Executive to negotiate fees for individual commercial events on Council-owned land;

(8)             the proposed fees and charges for 2025/26 related to Billboards and Banners, as set out in 5.9 of the report, be approved; and

(9)             the amount of costs charged in 2025/26 to recover unpaid council tax and business rates debts remain at the 2024/25 levels, as set out in 5.10 of the report.