Issue - meetings

Consideration of recommendations of the Housing and Planning Scrutiny Select Committee in respect of fees and charges for discretionary planning services.

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Housing and Planning Scrutiny Select Committee in respect of the proposed fees and charges for discretionary planning services 2026/27.  The charging proposals reflected a range of factors including the Borough Councils overall financial position, market position, trading patterns, the current rate of inflation and customer feedback.

Due regard was given to the views of the Committee, the financial and value for money considerations, the assessment of risk and the legal implications.

In recognition of the Borough Councils overall financial position, the increasing challenges in achieving further expenditure savings and the importance of maximising income Cllr Boughton proposed, Cllr Taylor seconded and Cabinet

RESOLVED:  That

(1)             the updated Pre-application Charging Fee Schedule 2026/27 for Development Management (Annex 1) be adopted;

(2)             the updated Building Control Fee Schedule  2026/27 (Annex 2) be adopted;

(3)             the updated charging fees for enforcement, as set out in 5.4 of the report, be adopted;

(4)             the updated High Hedge fee, as set out in 5.13 of the report, be adopted;

(5)             the updated charging fees for s106 monitoring and compliance, as set out in 5.18 and 5.20 of the report, be adopted;

(6)             the new fee  for registration of a s106 agreement, as set out in 5.21 of the report, be adopted;

(7)             the updated Planning Performance Agreement charging schedule (Annex 3) be adopted; and

(8)             the proposed fees be implemented from 1 April 2026.

(Decision Notice D260003CAB)

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Housing and Planning Scrutiny Select Committee in respect of the proposed fees and charges for discretionary planning services 2026/27.  The charging proposals reflected a range of factors including the Borough Councils overall financial position, market position, trading patterns, the current rate of inflation and customer feedback.

Due regard was given to the views of the Committee, the financial and value for money considerations, the assessment of risk and the legal implications.

In recognition of the Borough Councils overall financial position, the increasing challenges in achieving further expenditure savings and the importance of maximising income Cllr Boughton proposed, Cllr Taylor seconded and Cabinet

RESOLVED:  That

(1)             the updated Pre-application Charging Fee Schedule 2026/27 for Development Management (Annex 1) be adopted;

(2)             the updated Building Control Fee Schedule  2026/27 (Annex 2) be adopted;

(3)             the updated charging fees for enforcement, as set out in 5.4 of the report, be adopted;

(4)             the updated High Hedge fee, as set out in 5.13 of the report, be adopted;

(5)             the updated charging fees for s106 monitoring and compliance, as set out in 5.18 and 5.20 of the report, be adopted;

(6)             the new fee  for registration of a s106 agreement, as set out in 5.21 of the report, be adopted;

(7)             the updated Planning Performance Agreement charging schedule (Annex 3) be adopted; and

(8)             the proposed fees be implemented from 1 April 2026.

This report updates the discretionary fees across the planning service for 2026/27 which would become effective on 1 April 2026.  Fees have generally been increased by 4% for Development Management and between 4-10% for Building Control.  Some new fee categories have been introduced based on customer feedback and good practise. Further explanation of these increases can be found in the body of the report.

The report of the Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health set out proposed fees and charges for 2026/27 for the provision of services in respect of development management, building control, high hedges, s106 monitoring and the Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) and Charging Schedule with effect from 1 April 2026.  Fees had generally been increased by between 4-10% with a number of new fee categories proposed based on customer experience and good practice.  Consideration had been given to each category and further explanation of these increases were detailed in the report.

In bringing forward the charging proposals for 2026/27 consideration had been given to a range of factors, including the Borough Council’s overall financial and market positions, trading patterns, the current rate of inflation and customer feedback.  A set of guiding principles for the setting of fees and charges had also been taken into account and were summarised in 4.2 of the report.

Particular reference was made to the Borough Council’s significant and challenging financial position and as it was becoming increasingly difficult to achieve further expenditure savings to meet the targets in the Savings and Transformation Strategy and it was essential that opportunities to maximise income were taken, Cllr King proposed, Cllr Davis seconded and it was

*RECOMMENDED:  That

(1)             the updated Pre-application Charging Fee Schedule 2026/27 for Development Management (Annex 1) be adopted;

(2)             the updated Building Control Fee Schedule  2026/27 (Annex 2) be adopted;

(3)             the updated charging fees for enforcement, as set out in 5.4 of the report, be adopted;

(4)             the updated High Hedge fee, as set out in 5.13 of the report, be adopted;

(5)             the updated charging fees for s106 monitoring and compliance, as set out in 5.18 and 5.20 of the report, be adopted;

(6)             the new fee  for registration of a s106 agreement, as set out in 5.21 of the report, be adopted;

(7)             the updated Planning Performance Agreement charging schedule (Annex 3) be adopted; and

(8)             the proposed fees be implemented from 1 April 2026.

*Recommended to Cabinet