Agenda Item No______16______
Street Naming and Numbering Fees
Summary:
This report considers the level of fees to be introduced
into the Street Naming and Numbering Service.
Conclusions:
The provision and maintenance of accurate address
data is central to many Council and external services.
The Council has invested in IT and has established
efficient practices to ensure that it meets it’s obligations
under the Mapping Services Agreement. The fees
outlined in this report will contribute towards recovering
part of the costs of providing the service.
Recommendations:
1. That the charges outlined in Table A are adopted
on the 1st of January 2013 and reviewed
thereafter on an annual basis.
2. That the charges outlined are implemented on 1
April 2013
Cabinet Member(s)
Ward(s) affected
All
Contact Officer, telephone number and email: Rachel Parkin, Property Information
Team Leader. 01263 516013. Rachel.parkin@north-norfolk.gov.uk
1.
Introduction
1.1
The Street Naming and Numbering Service maintain the Local Land and
Property Gazetteer which is the only definitive source of property address
data in England. Under an Act dating back as far as 1847 Councils have a
duty to name streets, number properties and display street name signs. Under
national agreements all addresses are created and maintained by Local
Authorities in accordance with agreed standards (BS7666) and are uploaded
on a regular basis to a national hub. Information is shared with a wide range
of internal and external service providers and data sets are continually
updated to ensure accuracy and matching. Councils are the only body with
the authority to create and amend addresses. (other than providing post
codes the Royal Mail has no role in relation to addressing properties).
Information from the Gazetteer is used for services such as the Electoral Role,
Council Tax and Business Rates, Waste Collection, emergency services,
Ordnance Survey and the Royal Mail.
1.2
The service is subject to national performance standards agreed as part of the
Public Sector Mapping Services Agreement.
At North Norfolk this service is provided by the Street Naming and Numbering
Team with the exception of addresses in Fakenham, North Walsham, Holt,
Northrepps and Mundesley where part of the service is provided under local
agreement by the respective Town/Parish Council’s. Discussions are on-going
with these Councils with a view to North Norfolk District Council completing
the administrative parts of the process (application registration, consultation
and notification of decision) whilst leaving the substantive decision in relation
to new street names with Parish and Town Councils. Agreement has been
reached with all but Mundesley and North Walsham.
Services provided include:
•
•
•
•
Property name changes and the addition of names to numbered properties.
Individuals are able to make application to either name, or change the name
of a property. If a property is numbered it is possible to add a property name
in addition to the number, but not to remove the number.
Naming of streets within new developments. Developers request that new
streets within developments are given a name. Names are usually nominated
by the developer, preferably following discussion with the local Town or
Parish Council, and are subject to local consultation before approval. An
address is usually required in order to secure connection to utilities and for
properties to be allocated a post code.
Allocation of street numbers to new developments.
Changes to existing road names. This rarely happens but if there is local
agreement road names can be changed.
All requests are made via the submission of standardised application forms
and information is held within a specialist module of the Acolaid computer
software used by planning and property information services. Compliance
with BS7666 ensures that all authorities create and maintain data to a
national standard which in turn allows for data to be shared across a range of
systems.
1.3
As part of the annual budget setting process the principle of introducing
charges for these services has been agreed but it is necessary to agree the
level of charge that will be made.
2.
Suggested Fees and relationship to service costs.
2.1
There are no nationally agreed charges for these services with those
Authorities that do making charges starting at around £25 for a simple name
change to several hundreds of pounds for the naming and numbering of large
scale developments. Local Authorities are not able to make charges for those
parts of the service which they have a duty to undertake. Where a Local
Authority wishes to charge for discretionary services, Section 93 of the Local
Government Act 2003 allows charging on a “not for profit” basis, that is, the
Council can only aim to recover cost incurred. The majority of authorities
therefore make a charge based on the administrative costs of discretionary
elements of service provision, for example, the notification of third parties that
an address has been created or changed.
2.2
Annual direct staff costs in this service are in the region of £28,000. Total
costs increase to approximately £60,000-£70,000 when central costs such as
management, IT, telephony, building and HR are included. The suggested
fees below are based on a ‘not for profit’ fee which relates the level of fee to
the work required to provide the service.
2.2
Table A - suggested fees
•
Activity
Fee
Single street - £125
Naming of new streets,
2-5 streets - £250,
consultation process and
5+ streets - £500
notification of decision
Change of house name on
£25
unnumbered properties.
Change of building
£25
names/address for commercial
units
Street Numbering Schemes with £80 per plot
1 – 5 plots
Schemes with 6 – 10 plots
£70 per plot
Schemes with 11 – 50 plots
£60 per plot
New Development of 50+ plots
£50 per plot
Numbering of new block of
Fees as above based on number of
flats/building
units.
Maximum fee – In all cases where fees charged in accordance with the above
schedule exceed £1,500 a maximum of £1,500 will be payable.
Worked example: A development of three streets with 30 new properties would pay
£250 for the street names and a further 30 x £60 = £1,800 for the house numbering
scheme making a total of £2,050. The maximum fee of £1,500 would be payable.
3.
Income
Set at the above levels it is anticipated that fees would generate between £10,000 £15,000 each year.
4.
Conclusion
The provision and maintenance of accurate address data is central to many Council
and external services. The Council has invested in IT and has established efficient
practices to ensure that it meets it’s statutory obligations and conditions under the
Mapping Services Agreement. The fees outlined in this report will contribute towards
recovering part of the costs of providing the service.
5.
Implications and Risks
None as a direct consequence of this report
6.
Financial Implications and Risks
Minimal financial risk but failure to introduce fees will make it increasingly difficult to
provide cost effective services.
7.
Sustainability
This report raises no sustainability issues
8.
Equality and Diversity
This report raises no Equality or diversity issues
9.
Section 17 Crime and Disorder considerations
This report raises no Crime and Disorder issues