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Pickles urges councils to make more use of trading and charging

There is “nothing inherently wrong” in councils making the most of opportunities to generate cash by offering and charging for services, the Communities Secretary has said.

Eric Pickles highlighted three areas as examples of where local authorities could use their resources to generate income:

  • MOTs: council-run MOT centres which check council vehicles for safety and roadworthiness can offer their testing services to the public. Because they only offer a testing service – and not repairs, the public can feel confident there is no hidden agenda, the minister argued
  • Tree inspections for insurers: insurers often require an annual inspection of trees within a policyholder’s premises, to safeguard owners from trees blowing over or collapsing. One local authority conducts this work and brings in £30,000 a year, or a quarter of the workload for its arboriculture team. The external auditor had raised no objections, Pickles said
  • Highways maintenance and dropped kerbs: under powers contained in the Highways Act 1980, Coventry City Council is providing a service to residents who want to create driveways from the roadway through to the edge of their property.

On providing MOTs, the Communities Secretary said: "Pushing up parking charges is in many ways the lazy approach to raising revenue. MOT schemes show that there are plenty of opportunities for councils to raise extra income without turning motorists into cash cows.

"With a little bit of innovation and creative thinking councils can use the skills and resources already at their disposal to charge and trade in a way that boosts town hall coffers whilst helping rather than hitting the pockets of drivers.

"There is nothing inherently wrong with councils making the most of opportunities to generate extra cash offering and charging for services. In many cases this is happening as an add on to their normal business. When the approach is sensible, local people are likely to support trading and charging particularly where doing it helps to protect other services, keeps council tax bills down or when residents themselves can benefit from the services on offer."