Agenda item

(1)       The report sought approval of revised fees and charges for 2008/09 in respect of a wide range of services provided by Kent Highway Services. The Local Government Act 2003 (Section 93) provided the power for charging for discretionary services but also stipulated that local authorities might only cover their reasonable costs in providing such services. This year the changes had been reviewed in the light of fees and charges made by other counties. The annual report was prepared earlier than last year to allow more notice to be given of planned increases prior to April 2008. The estimated total income for 2007/8 was £2.9m. This was mainly comprised of energy charges, highway searches and development related fees (£1.7m) and RASWA charges (£1.1m).

(2)       The main source of income was from developers who were required to pay S38 or S278 fees relating to supervision of new estate road construction and in some cases commuted sums for future maintenance of new highway infrastructure.

(3)       The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 [RASWA] and subsequent regulations determined charges for sample inspections, defects, licences, etc. The Road Safety team also provided a range of services, including cycle and minibus driver training for which a charge was made either to individuals or other departments and organisations.

(4)       For most other fees and charges, where there was no specific evidence that the cost of processing and monitoring applications had changed significantly, increases of approx 3% were proposed which reflected the expected increase in staff costs and overheads. In most cases these were rounded up to the nearest £1.00 but an attempt had also been made to standardise charges for similar services. The proposed new fees and charges for 2008/09 were set out in the Appendices to the report. However some other charges which were statutory and for which there was no local discretion had not been included.

Highway Definitions, Land Charges, Information and Searches

(5)       Following a review of Highway Definitions, Land Charges, searches and information it was recommended that charges were increased by 3% in line with the anticipated rise in staff and administration costs. Following a review of Freedom of Information Act requirements the charge of 10p per sheet for photocopying would remain unchanged although separate fees would now be applied for larger sized sheets or colour copies. The £10 minimum charge would be removed.

Developer Funded Highway Schemes

(6)       The main source of developer fees was the standard charge of 8% of the estimated works value for the supervision of new estate road construction under S38 of the Highways Act 1980. This charge was in line with that charged by other local authorities and was currently adequate to offset supervision costs. There were also charges for supervision and fixed consultancy fees for advice to developers re alterations to the existing highway under S278 of the Highways Act.

(7)       In addition commuted sums were sought wherever there was an ongoing maintenance cost relating directly to new infrastructure [e.g. for maintaining new traffic signals or inspecting structures]. The DfT in conjunction with leading Local Authorities, the Home Builders Federation and URS (lighting) were currently conducting a review of the approach to commuted sums in England and Wales. This was due to be completed during 2008/9. KCC would be providing input to the process at the working group stage. In the light of the review it was proposed to reconsider KCC’s own commuted sum policy and amend it where appropriate during 2009/10. The current level of commuted sums and S278 charges was to be increased by 3% in line with the anticipated rise in staff and administration costs.

Skips and Scaffolding

(8)       The skip/scaffolding/hoarding/materials licence fees covered the administration costs in the issuing of licences for placing of these items on the highway. The income generated was used to offset divisional costs in overseeing the safe positioning of them on the highway including enforcement action where necessary. The current charge was £15 per week. Skips were placed on the highway for no longer than was absolutely necessary. The permit was recharged via the skip companies. An increase to £16 was proposed for the current year. There were no changes proposed for vehicle crossings as these were determined by RASWA regulations but an increase of £5 on the administration fee was recommended. A separate licence was being considered for scaffolding/hoarding in future, possibly with a higher fee. Consultation with local Kent scaffolding companies would be carried out prior to a recommendation being made to the Board.

Road Safety

(9)       Cyclist training was offered to Year 6 children through their primary school.  Currently the Road Safety team provided cycle training for around 7,000 children per annum; approximately 43% of the total year group across the county. It was proposed to keep the cyclist training fee at £15.

(10)     The National Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS) and Speed Awareness course (SAC) were administered by the Road Safety team as the service provider for Kent Police.  The schemes must be totally self-financing; no excess income could be generated for KCC. A small fee increase was recommended for the NDIS to ensure that the costs of running the scheme could continue to be met without the need for a subsidy. As the partners ‘set-up’ costs for the SAC had now been repaid and the level of the current fee was considered a deterrent for some drivers attending the course it was proposed to reduce the fee from the existing £115 to £95.

(11)     The Road Safety team provided minibus driver courses and reassessment [every 3 years] for KCC drivers. A small increase to the fee was proposed in line with wage cost increases. It was recommended that the fees were increased to £113 and £31 respectively.

(12)     The Road Safety team provided monitoring and training functions for the School Crossing Patrol service managed by Education & Libraries Directorate.  This was arranged through a Service Level Agreement (SLA).  The current level of SLA income covered existing costs and so the charge for this remained unchanged.

(13)     ‘Theatres in Education’ was a valuable activity that delivered key road safety messages to students in an innovative and exciting way.  Annually the Road Safety team organised performances for year 12/13 students with a focus on driving issues including anti-drink drive and anti-drug drive.  The team subsidised this for participating schools which allowed greater coverage within the available budget.  It was recommended that the proportion of the subsidy (50%) should remain at the current level.

(14)     The Board supported the proposal for recommendation to the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste that the proposed Fees and Charges for 2008/09, as set out in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report, be implemented with effect from 1 April 2008.