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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.