Purpose

The report details a proposal to continue a service to collect real Christmas trees from residents of the borough after Christmas, and seeks approval to increase the current charge from January 2026.

Decision

To approve the revised Fees and Charges for 2025/26 from £7 to £10

To agree for the price revisions to be introduced from 1 January 2026

To review the Service in 6 months’ time. [Mar 2026], having monitored its performance with a view to revising the same for January 2027.

Reasons for the decision

To contribute towards full cost recovery of chargeable services in 2025/26 and to enable effective and efficient service delivery for residents.

Alternative options considered

Cease the Service - This would remove a popular service that residents of the borough can access, although there are some charity and commercial providers of a similar service. It could also potentially mean that some of these Christmas trees are then fly tipped within the borough.

Maintain the 2025 fee of £7 - This would mean that the service would no longer cover its costs due to the increase in fuel and labour prices.