Agenda item

The Committee considered a report on sales, fees and charges.

The report indicated that in May 2010 a review was commissioned to produce an "Income Diagnostic" report for the County Council.  Whilst the Council received income from a variety of sources, the report had a specific focus on income generated from sales, fees and charges.A comparison was made of the level of income generated by Worcestershire County Council against other Counties. The conclusion was that although Worcestershire was performing better than average "it was not amongst the best performing authorities".

Following the external report, approval was given at Cabinet in October 2010 for a review of fees and charges.  A cross Council group was established to review opportunities for further income generation. However, the conclusion was that there was minimum potential for further increases in income, mainly due to the fact that work was already taking place within directorates in this area.

The initial report was a lengthy document, based on data from the 2008/09 Revenue Outturn (RO) returns.   The most recent available information was based on the 2012/13 RO information. The high level analysis confirmed that overall, the Council's percentage income as a proportion of total service expenditure had marginally increased since 2008/09.  The analysis purely from the RO returns should be viewed with some caution. There was the potential for inconsistent completion of returns and it was difficult to view income in isolation. It should be noted that the initial analysis included 34 authorities. However, this 2012/13 analysis was for 27 shire counties, which took into account the local government reorganisation which took place in April 2009.

In the ensuing debate, the following principal points were raised:

·         In response to a query about the effect of demographic changes on the level of sales, fees and charges as a percentage of total service expenditure in Adult Social Care, the Head of Finance and Business Support advised that there were a number of variables that had an impact on this percentage figure, for example: expenditure, collection rates, charging policy, the number of people paying higher charges, and the number of people who go elsewhere for the service

·         Would a reduction in expenditure on adult social care have an impact on the percentage figure? The Head of Finance and Business Support commented that it could do but it would depend on the level of the Council's base-line expenditure 

·         It was agreed that further investigation be carried out on those areas where this Council's income was significantly low in the table of comparators counties, in particular Adult Social Care where income was £7m below what would be achieved if it reached the median level of income as a percentage of total service expenditure

RESOLVED that:

a)    The report be noted; and

b)    Further investigation be carried out on those areas where this Council's income is significantly low in the table of comparators counties, in particular Adult Social Care where income is £7m below what would be achieved if it reached the median level of income as a percentage of total service expenditure.