Purpose

The Cabinet Member report sets out minor amendments to the Cabinet Member Decision published in August 2023 in relation to the way in which the annual increase to the garden waste subscription charge for Lichfield District residents who sign up to the garden waste service is calculated.

The original decision proposed that each year the annual subscription fee will be adjusted in line with the consumer price index (CPI) in September for the forthcoming year, and no reference was made to rounding up/down to the nearest 50 pence.

The report recommends that due to the need to build systems to support the annual subscription process (including the direct debit process which requires an eight-week lead in to allow banking set-up and testing to take place) that from 2024, the annual price increase for the coming year’s subscriptions will be based on June’s CPI figures, which are released in July annually by the Office for National Statistics. The final subscription price will also be rounded up or down to the nearest 50 pence.

Decision

1. This decision will see the annual price increase for the coming year’s subscriptions based on June’s CPI figures, which are released in July annually by the Office for National Statistics. The final subscription price will also be rounded up or down to the nearest 50 pence.
2. This decision will also see the Cabinet Member responsible for waste services approve the price increase through delegated powers, in consultation with the Director responsible for waste services and the council’s Section 151 officer. Furthermore variations in pricing will be able to be agreed through the same delegation to support promotions (for example to encourage take-up of direct debits), provided these can be funded from within the service, without placing additional pressure on the Medium Term Financial Strategy and any discounting approach is in line with the approved corporate charging policy.