Purpose

Establishing a formal framework for how BCP
Council will manage, process and charge for written highway search
enquiries.

Content

RESOLVED that
Cabinet approved and noted the recommendations described in Section
1, specifically:

(a)          
The Highway Searches Charging Policy and schedule of
fees (Appendix 1);

(b)         
The introduction of a full cost?recovery model for
the provision of written highway search enquiries, in
accordance with the Local Authorities (England) (Charges for
Property Searches) Regulations 2008;  

(c)          
Delegate authority to the Director of Planning and
Transport, in consultation with the Director of Finance and the
Portfolio Holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy (Cllr
Andy Hadley);  

(d)         
Agree that the Charging Policy be reviewed
annually; 

(e)          
Authorise publication of the Policy, fee schedule,
guidance materials and updated web content, and instruct
officers to implement the required communications and operational
changes to enable the charging framework to go live; and

(f)           
Note that the Policy will be delivered within
existing staffing resources, with no requirement
for additional posts and that the income generated will
support service sustainability and statutory data
maintenance. 
Voting: Unanimous
Portfolio Holder: Climate Response,
Environment and Energy
Reason
This policy aligns
BCP with neighbouring authorities and most local authorities in
England, who charge for this service.