Clause 4 - Procedure for dealing with complaints
High Hedges Bill
10:45 am
Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet, Conservative)
I, too, believe that there should be a standard fee, if that is possible and practicable.
Clause 4(8) states that local authorities have the power to decide whether to return the fee. I hope that they will do that as a matter of course when the complaint has been upheld and the complainant does not have adequate means. That is a matter not for the law but for the local authority's interpretation and sympathetic consideration.
The fee should cover the cost of processing a complaint or application, but local authorities will not find that cost a heavy burden and they should return the fee in the circumstances that I have outlined.