Introduction and Context
Legislation allows the Council to choose to provide certain services to the public in the interest of the Council’s area and its residents. We refer to these services as discretionary services. The Council may choose to charge for these services and also choose to provide a concession or discount on that charge.
Income generation is an important part of the Council’s overall resources. Fees and charges income can support frontline service delivery and future investment, can influence customer behaviour, and can help to ensure the council’s policy objectives are achieved.
The overarching aim of this policy is to provide a consistent approach in setting, monitoring, and reviewing fees and charges across the authority. This will ensure that fees and charges support Council objectives and are set at a level that maximises income generation in accordance with the Commercial Strategy, while retaining the flexibility needed to achieve the Council’s social and legal obligations.
Policy Scope and Exclusions
This Policy applies to the setting and reviewing of all fee and charges for Council services, where the Council has discretion to apply a charge and discretion over the level of charge applied.
This policy excludes:
- Fees and charges that are determined by Central Government and external regulatory bodies.
- Council tax and business rates
- Property rents
- Any charges levied by Trading Companies or other third parties delivering services on behalf of the Council.
Standard Charging Principles
Standard principles will be applied to all fees and charges (within the scope of this Policy) set by the Council.
- All decisions on fees and charges for services and income generating activities will be taken with reference to and in support of Council priorities
- Fees and charges will be set to maximise potential income, to support financial sustainability, unless there is an explicit policy decision to subside a service.
- Benchmarking should be undertaken regularly with other Councils in the local area and with relevant national groupings of authorities, to ensure that charges are at comparable levels and that significant differences are understood and justified
- A major review of each service's charging strategy will take place at least once every three years to ensure consistency with the council's priorities, policy framework, service aims, market sensitivity, customer preferences, and income generation needs, and the justification for any subsidy that the council makes to the service.
- An annual review will be carried out for all services as part of the budget process, there being an expectation that fees will be at least indexed to inflation between major reviews. This will include those services which could be charged for, but which may currently be provided free of charge.
- The relevant Head of Service may propose revisions to charges between annual reviews where this is considered necessary to protect usage and income in response to significant market developments.
- Concessions and discounts will be considered where this is appropriate and in accordance with any relevant government guidance. Further guidance on concessions and discounts is set out in section 5 of this policy.
Charging Models
When introducing or reviewing a fee or charge, the Council will follow one of three models set out in the table below:
| Charging Model | Definition | Application |
|---|---|---|
| Full Cost Recovery | As defined by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The cost of the charge will include direct costs, direct overheads, corporate overheads, building and premises costs, capital and investment costs. |
This is the Council’s standard approach. |
| Direct Cost Plus | As a minimum the Council should recover the direct cost of providing the service, plus wherever possible there should be a contribution towards overheads. |
This allows flexible pricing decisions to take account of external market conditions. This method can be used as a phased implementation to full cost recovery. |
| Subsidised | The direct costs of the service are not fully met by the charge, requiring an additional contribution from the council to meet the direct costs. |
This method should be used as an exception. The level of subsidy will be determined by reference to the nature of the service and the rationale for any subsidy. |
Use of concessions and discounts
The function of the concessionary charge is “To extend to all Bassetlaw district residents opportunities for improved social well-being in terms of health, safety, independence, educational achievement, lifelong learning and personal self-esteem.”
Entitlement to Concessionary Charges is designed to reduce barriers to participation arising from:
- Age
- Level of income
- Family circumstances
- Educational circumstances
Services wishing to adopt a concessionary charging scheme must demonstrate the scheme is practicable in terms of assessment, collection and evidencing for audit purposes.
Concessions will not apply to retail sales from shops or cafes.
Concessionary Charges may also be made available to organisations whose purpose is to assist the Council in meeting specific objectives in its priorities and policy framework, or which contribute to the aims of key local partnerships in which the Council has a leading role.
Concessionary Charges should not normally apply to peak times or in situations that would result in the loss of income from customers paying Standard Charges. Neither would they normally be available to organisations that are based outside of the Council's area other than on a reciprocal basis. Only once concession can be applied to the Standard Charge at any given time.
Concessionary charges can apply to the following categories:
- Children under the age of 16
- Holders of a valid Student Union card under the age of 19
- Adults in receipt of state retirement pension or widows pension
- Persons in receipt of a means tested benefit
For certain services it will be normal practice to set Promotional Discounts, Frequent User Discounts or Group Discounts.
Promotional Discounts are defined as short-term charges that are targeted to increase take-up or awareness of the services that are available.
Discounts can be applied to both the Standard Charge and the Concessionary Charge.
Publication of Fees and Charges
The schedule of fees and charges will be published on an annual basis and be made available on the Council’s website.
Last Updated on Friday, August 14, 2026