The Challenge
In 2025, we were asked by Suffolk County Council to undertake a review of their fees and charges. Ahead of the next budget-setting cycle, the Council wanted to understand how their various fees and charges compared with those of other neighbouring authorities and use any highlighted differences to review whether those fees and charges were suitable and appropriate for Suffolk, with the default position being to increase the fee or charge where possible to maximise income for the council.
Our Approach & Solution
We proposed an agile, iterative approach to the work to maximise the value of the investment. Our team undertook the review by portfolio area to focus resource effectively, beginning with Growth, Highways and Infrastructure, which accounted for approximately 70% of all charge items.
By comparing more than 380 individual charge lines against the Council’s physical and statistical neighbours we identified a significant number of areas for review.
Outcomes and Impact
We identified opportunities to, review charging models and consider new or revised charging approaches which would increase income.
We identified over 100 charge lines where at least one of the comparator councils charged more than Suffolk for the equivalent item, or where one or more comparators used a different pricing model that Suffolk could review against its own data to determine whether an alternative approach might be advantageous.
We identified over 110 additional charge items where at least one of the comparator councils was charging for something that Suffolk did not currently charge for.
This one-off exercise also identified wider opportunities to strengthen the council's on-going approach to fees and charges management.
During the review, the Council team identified the need for a formal policy for fees and charges and discussed plans that would see all fees and charges increase annual in line with inflation by default as part of the annual business planning process, with services then required to present a case for why an increase should be lower or not applied during business planning.
Client’s Testimonial
Matthew West, Assistant Director Assets and Investment – Corporate Services commented:
“Newtrality's work on fees and charges provided invaluable insight, giving us a clear evidence base to challenge and support individual services in assessing their charges. It identified opportunities to increase income and established a baseline for a more consistent annual review process.”