Issue - meetings

To recommend approval of the Mobile Homes and Caravan site licencing policy and approve the proposed introduction of a fee-charging structure for eligible administration connected with the policy (report of the Portfolio Holder for HRA and Private Sector Housing and the Deputy Chief Executive-Corporate Development enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Portfolio Holder for HRA and Private Sector Housing and the Deputy Chief Executive-Corporate Development, which recommended approval of the Mobile Homes and Caravan Site Licencing policy and the proposed introduction of a fee-charging structure for eligible administration connected with the policy.

DECISION:

1)    That the feedback provided by the Policy Development Panel be acknowledged; and

2)    That the adoption of the proposed Policy, including the introduction of the fee-charging structure associated with the administration of the Policy, be approved.

(Other options considered:

·         Do nothing.

Reasons for decision:

·         The Council seeks to recover its costs in administering the new regulations, introducing statutory requirements for all residential mobile home site owners or their appointed manager to apply for and be deemed a Fit and Proper person.  The Council is required to maintain a mandatory register held under the Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of site to be a Fit and Proper Person.) (England) Regulations 2020.  Entitlement to charge an administration fee on cost recovery basis is also embedded within this).

To seek feedback on the proposed Mobile Homes and Caravan site licencing and the proposed introduction of a fee-charging structure for eligible administration connected with the policy (report of the Assistant Director Housing enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Housing, which proposed Mobile Homes and Caravan site licencing and the proposed introduction of a fee-charging structure for eligible administration connected with the policy.

Officers gave some context and an overview of the policy, which included:

• clarification that no prevailing policies existed for caravans and mobile homes and that this was the introduction of a new policy.
• that The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 was the primary legislation which related to the issue of site licences, which for the purpose of the new policy, dealt with sites where planning permission had already been approved; the legislation had been amended by the Mobile Homes Act 2013 to increase standards across mobile homes, park sites and caravan sites; recent legislation enabled fees to be charged for ‘relevant protected sites’, and allowed councils to introduce a charging mechanism for the administration of the ‘Fit and Proper Person’ register, which Local Authorities were required to maintain for mobile homes’ site managers.
• 640 licenced caravans existed in the district, located across 50 licenced sites.  ‘Relevant protected sites’ related to residential parks, mobile home parks, and gypsy and traveller sites. It was anticipated that 10 sites in the district would receive this classification. A licence was required for all other sites as stated in the 1960 act. Exceptions were listed in 4.3 of the policy.
• A summary of fees was included in the policy and detailed in the appendix.

Councillors considered the new policy and made the following comments:

·         Confirmation was requested as to whether the fixed fees charged to site owners solely reflected the recovery of actual costs or whether any income could be generated.

o   The officer confirmed that under the Department for Communities and Local Government guidance, fees charged were restricted to the recovery of costs regarding staff time for administering the issue of licences. Fees were benchmarked with other Lincolnshire authorities, but a suggested review period could be incorporated to enable amendments where these adhered to guidelines. Related work was already being actioned by officers without charge so the introduction of this policy would lead to extra income generation.

·         Members requested the inclusion of a caveat to enable the charging of extra fees in order to cover increased costs should an individual application become protracted.

o   The officer confirmed that Members’ comments regarding charges were acknowledged and would feed into the review of the next stage of the policy.

·         Members asked whether consultation had taken place with existing site owners regarding the policy.

o   Officers advised that whilst consultation had not taken place, site owners had been advised of the legislation changes in writing and had been made aware of the new information required by SHDC to achieve the necessary ‘Fit and Proper Person’ status. Most sites in the district were well established and officers had a good relationship with owners.

·         Members asked whether Gypsy and Traveller sites were included in the policy.

o   The officer confirmed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13