Chesterfield council to increase charges for services in fight to balance ‘£4m’ budget deficit

The Labour-led council is having to make difficult decisions after it announced it is facing limited Government funding and serious funding gaps on its budgets which have been made worse by the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis and a period of high inflation rates.

Its most recent forecast revealed an estimated budget shortfall of £4m for the 2024/25 financial year from April 1 and it has been reviewing services and practices to help balance its budget. It has now agreed to increase fees and charges across some public services including cemeteries, environmental health, outdoor leisure, and waste.

Cllr Amanda Serjeant, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management, told a council cabinet meeting that the council is having to operate during a period of ‘extreme financial crisis’ affecting all local authorities as it considered a policy report on proposed fees and charges for 2024/25.

She said: “It is more important that this report looks in detail across all our service areas to make sure the best value is being achieved for the people of Chesterfield with everything this council does while focusing on services for Chesterfield.”

The council’s cabinet agreed that the proposed fees and charges for cemeteries, environmental health, outdoor leisure and waste services be introduced from April 1, 2024, and that that the fees and charges for Open Markets, Car Parking, Venues, Leisure, and Outdoor Grass Football Pitches will be subject to separate reports in January and February.

For Cemeteries including interment, memorials and other charges there will be cost increases for various services ranging from between 5.9per cent to 9.1per cent with no increases for services of burial register charges or for the transfer of exclusive rights of burial. Interment for a child or for a stillborn youngster is to continue with no charges.

Environmental Health fees and charges will generally increase for its various services from between three per cent to 44.4per cent with three exceptional fixed penalty notice increases of 112.1 per cent for fly-tipping, and 114.3per cent for both street littering and littering from a vehicle.

But there will be no increases for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs permitting fees, the town centre Public Spaces Protection Order fixed penalty notices and the Smoke Free fixed penalty notices among the council’s new Environmental Health charges.

For Outdoor Leisure – relating to cricket, tennis, recreation ground hire, community room hire, events and other similar services – increases will generally range between 8.2per cent and 25per cent with an exceptional 100per cent increase for casual tennis court bookings which were previously free but will soon cost £6. In addition, the council has decided not to impose any increases for the miniature railway and for a circus ground bond.

Regarding waste services, fees and charges will generally increase from between 7.1per cent to 20per cent for various services with chargeable households facing increases of 7.7per cent to 8.8per cent depending on the receptacle size of the waste for collection and disposal.

Household one-off collection and disposal of waste will increase by 7.1 per cent during normal times and to 8.8per cent where overtime is necessary and the provision of new wheeled domestic bins will increase by 9.1per cent for one bin, 11.1per cent for two bins, and by 9.5per cent for three bins. Bulky item disposal will see increases between 12.5per cent and 20per cent depending on the receptacle size and the type of the waste.

Charitable shops will still not be charged for a sack of waste or for waste of a certain receptacle size, but they will face increases of between 7.1per cent and 9.7per cent for other receptacle-sized waste for collection and disposal.

A council spokesperson stated: “The Council’s Budget Strategy was approved by Council on July 19, 2023, and set out the need to drive out savings at pace within a framework that was prudent, responsible, sustainable, and optimised to secure savings in the short and medium-term to reduce and remove reliance on reserves, stabilising the council’s financial position and establishing affordability of council services.”

The council considered services that generate fees, the levels of increase, the economic conditions, and the affordability to residents and customers before agreeing to the changes based on increased utility costs, inflation, increasing surplus costs and materials, and meeting the increased pay award for staff.

It stated that it has taken into account the prevailing economic conditions and it has considered ‘key income generating areas’ before reviewing its fees and charges.

A council spokesperson added: “The current economic climate and the prevailing high rates of inflation mean that the costs of delivering services are increasing, making it more important than ever that all services are delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible, embedding commercial operating principles to how budgets are set and managed.”

Cllr Serjeant has stated the council will also have to consider reducing its workforce by looking at voluntary redundancies and voluntary retirement options and this may also mean stopping the delivery of some services and possibly reducing others.

But the council aims to rationalise assets, consider the views of a public consultation, review services, transform how it delivers services, make better efficiency savings and increase its income with new savings proposals in line with its Budget Strategy.

These proposals include addressing: How tourist information services are delivered; How some council community buildings are used; The level of funding for external organisations and subsidies for outdoor sports and leisure activities; How council venues are managed; The use of digital technology; The council’s events programme; And the management and maintenance of parks and open spaces.