Car parking charges, summer and winter playing fees for sports clubs and prices for Pontypridd Lido and Rhondda Heritage Park could be among the council services to have their prices frozen next year in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
As part of its fees and charges proposals for 2022/2023, the council has set out prices it wants to exclude from the standard 2.5% increase.
These include leisure centre and swimming pool memberships, meals on wheels, day centre meals and school meals.
Car parking charges, summer and winter playing fees for sports clubs, 3G pitch hire, licenses for taxis (private hire and Hackney carriages), the price of Pontypridd Lido and Rhondda Heritage Park and pest control service charges are all set to be frozen for next year as well.
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These freezes would see the council’s income reduced by £45,000 in a full year.
Some decisions on fees and charges have already been made and include £100 per week for non-residential adult social care charges in line with the current limit determined by Welsh Government, fines for environmental crimes set at £100 with effect from April 2018, licenses for Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and a 25% reduction to all council bereavement fees incurred by families of deceased war veterans and service men and women resident in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Also, a pilot was approved in November 2019 to apply a reduced cremation fee for funeral directors offering a direct/simplicity cremation service in Rhondda Cynon Taf which is where a funeral director arranges a service with no mourners and there is no religious service or attendees to reduce costs for those on low incomes.
Following consideration of the results of the pilot, it was agreed that the service would continue in 2021/22 at the rate applied for the pilot scheme (£568) and for 2022/23 onwards the fee level would be determined as part of the annual fees and charges process with this amount being £582 for next year.
The report said that in setting its fees and charges, the council takes into account funding levels received through the local government settlement, the implications of decisions already approved, corporate plan priority areas, feedback received as part of the consultation process and the level of inflation with the 12 month Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to December 2021 being 5.4%.
The report said the council’s objective is “to continue to provide a comprehensive range of quality services at affordable prices” and that the council would absorb the implications of not applying a standard uplift in line with the CPI rate of inflation.
A report will go to cabinet for their approval of the fees and charges rates on Monday, February 28 and would then been included in the budget proposals to go before full council for approval in March.
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