Report to:			Salcombe Harbour Board
Date:			13 November 2023
Title:			Fees and Charges 2024/2025
Portfolio Area:			Salcombe Harbour
Wards Affected:			All
Urgent Decision:		N		Approval and clearance obtained:			Y
Date next steps can be taken: (e.g. referral on of recommendation or implementation of substantive decision)							The recommendation will be considered by Executive on 30 November 2023.
Author:	C Sims-Stirling P Goodhead M McCheyne				Role:	Harbour Master Assistant Harbour Master Assistant Harbour Master
Contact:	01548 843791

RECOMMENDATIONS:

That the Harbour Board RECOMMENDS to the Executive to RECOMMEND to Council approval of the proposed fees and charges (as set out at Appendix 1) for implementation from 1 April 2024 to meet the 2024/25 budget gap of £77,000.

1. Executive summary

1.1 This report proposes the fees and charges that ensure the Harbour achieves a balanced revenue budget for 2024/25.

2. Background

2.1 The 2024/25 Budget was considered at the last Harbour Board meeting on 18 September 2023. After reviewing all the expenditure and income budget lines in detail for 2024/25 a budget gap of £77,000 was identified. The Harbour must legally set a balanced budget every year where the level of expenditure agrees to the level of income.  It was noted at the September Board meeting that the detailed means of closing this deficit would be considered by the Board in November through a review of fees and charges.

2.2 The Harbour’s enabling legislation empowers the Harbour Authority to levy fees and charges to meet running costs, repay any capital debts and establish reserves to renew, extend or improve the Harbour.

2.3 The 2023/24 budget gap, albeit smaller than 2024/25 was met by adjustments to Harbour Dues and the Whitestrand July/August charges, there was no increase on any other mooring charges.The proposed changes to the current fees and charges to address the 2024/25 budget gap of £77,000 are set out below.

3.Proposed Way Forward

3.1 Proposed changes to fees and charges - to meet the budget gap, justification included below the table.

Item	Proposed amendment	Comment
Harbour Dues: Annual dues (residents) Casual dues (visitors)	£11.10p/m £1.20p/hp Inc VAT 17-20% 0%	Increase only due to the inclusion of the patrol charge, not now charged to mooring holders Removal of weekly rate
Item	Proposed amendment	Comment
Mooring Hire: Annual Deep Water (residents) Casual Deep Water (visitors) Annual Foreshore (residents) Casual Foreshore (visitors) Store Boxes at Ditch End Overnight - Town Landings	10% 0% 10% £90 per week, 12.5% 10% 0%	Removal of weekly rate Increase from £80 to £90 per week inc VAT Removal of weekly rate
Annual Pontoons: Shadycombe Creek V Quay, Batson & Kingsbridge Whitestrand Licence Fees Whitestrand Pontoon July/August Fish Quay Pontoon	10% 10% 0% 10%
Foreshore/Deepwater Mooring Licences: All Areas	10%

3.2Visitor charges (from sea): Despite being historically overpriced our visitor charges for yachts arriving from sea have not changed in 5 years. Salcombe Harbour Authority is now very competitive, with many comparative harbours being more expensive or do not employ seasonal pricing. One of our bigger pressures is accommodating longer stay visitors, particularly when they do not stay aboard overnight, which for their own safety restricts the number of mooring options available to them. To partly compensate this pressure it is proposed that daily prices and seasonal variations to Moorings and Harbour Dues remain fixed but the 7 nights for the price of 5 is removed. This includes town landings.

3.3Visitor charges (from land): For those visitors of a smaller size arriving by land and therefore not staying aboard moorings can be booked in advance by the week to guarantee an option. For 4 years this has been set at £80 and it is felt appropriate for this to increase similar to other facility costs, £90 per week or £18 per night, Resident Harbour Dues required in addition.

3.4Resident Harbour Dues: It is proposed the existing security charge placed on resident moorings is removed entirely and the £69,000 budget now used to facilitate an extra member of staff, patrols, stakeholder engagement, education initiatives and CCTV improvements is encompassed within Harbour Dues so it is paid by all boats using the harbour. For those who do not hold moorings, costs will increase depending on their boats specification but in general those who have moorings will make a saving in comparison to not having to pay approximately £35 per foreshore mooring or £70 per deep water mooring, again dependant on their boats specification. This will also mean that all the boats mooring on landing pontoons or booking visitor foreshore moorings will contribute to this charge. Salcombe Harbour Authority believes this is a much fairer way of apportioning the charge which reflects the time and effort afforded in managing the harbour waters, events and in dealing with problems, that is now paid for by all craft paying Harbour Dues on length and horsepower not just those on individually allocated resident moorings.

3.5Resident mooring charges: To fulfil the remaining budget gap an increase to all mooring facility charges of 10% is proposed. For reference mooring charges in 2023/24 did not increase on the previous year.

4. Associated tariffs

4.1 Appendix 1 includes our full list of fees and charges including those for associated assets managed by Salcombe Harbour Authority on behalf of South Hams District Council, such as the boat parks and dinghy storage areas. Minor operational changes to charges are also listed in this document. Some of the above changes to charges will affect associated sub-tariffs which will also be changed to reflect the proposed adjustment, for a particular timescale/facility for example.

5. Communication

5.1 Salcombe Harbour Authority recognises the need for increases in/or the redistribution of charges to be published and justified to inform stakeholders of the anticipated costs in an open manner. This will therefore be communicated within our retention run paperwork later in November (for those wishing to renew facilities) and within the Harbour Guide, Online and by associated correspondence with visitor groups.

6. Implications

Implications	Relevant to proposals Y/N	Details and proposed measures to address
Legal/Governance	Y	The Pier and Harbour (Salcombe) Confirmation Order 1954.
Financial	Y	The proposed changes to fees and charges will raise additional net income of £77,000 thereby meeting the revenue budget gap for 2024/25.
Risk	Y	Fees and charges may be insufficient if fewer than expected vessels use the Harbour or if costs rise more than anticipated
Supporting Corporate Strategy		Salcombe Harbour supports the priority of protecting our Built and Natural Environment within the Council’s strategic vision ‘Better Lives for All’
Climate Change – Carbon / Biodiversity Impact		None directly arising from this report.
Comprehensive Impact Assessment Implications
Equality and Diversity	N	None
Safeguarding	N	None
Community Safety, Crime and Disorder	Y	The budget includes an adjustment in how the previous Night Security Patrol was funded, to provide a more diverse in-house ability to patrol the harbour more frequently.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing	N	No adverse impacts
Other implications	N

Supporting Information

Appendix:

1. Proposed Fees and Charges 2024/2025.

Background Papers:

2024/25 Budget – Harbour Board 18 September 2023.