Issue - meetings

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is collected from development and used to fund infrastructure necessary to support planned growth set out by the local plan. CIL receipts are around £5 million per year and split up as follows in accordance with legislation:

·       Strategic CIL – 80%

·       Neighbourhood Portion – 15% (rising to 25% if a neighbourhood plan is in place)

·       Admin – 5%

We need to put in place a formal process to agree the spending priorities for Strategic CIL. Currently decisions are made in accordance with the Financial Regulations depending upon spending amount, requiring either Cabinet and Council agreement or delegated to the Chief Operations Officer or Head of Planning.

To enable all service providers across the Council to have better access to Strategic CIL and to provide transparent governance, we propose that CIL project spend is governed by a new Future Infrastructure Programme Board, replacing the current Futures Fund Programme Board. This Board would benefit from the addition of the Chief Operations Officer and the Head of Planning that cover Planning. The Board would engage with service providers and review all requests for project funding and decide whether Futures Fund and/or Strategic CIL is suitable. This would better align the Council’s capital infrastructure planning.

The System Leadership Team set up a task and finish group to explore the potential for new housing development to contribute towards NHS health care infrastructure. The recommendations of the task and finish group were fed back and approved by the System Leadership Team in August 2020. If agreed, the Future Infrastructure Programme Board can review the NHS request and report back to Cabinet with a recommendation.

The Council has a duty to publish the Infrastructure Funding Statement on an annual basis. The 2020/21 version sets out all CIL and planning obligations requested, received, spent, allocated to projects and monies held by the Council on 1 April 2021.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(a)         approve the change in name of the Futures Fund Programme Board to Future Infrastructure Programme Board and increase its scope to also consider Strategic CIL spending proposals;

(b)         approve the governance arrangements of the newly named Future Infrastructure Programme Board to include the Council’s Chief Operations Officer and Head of Planning as Board members;

(c)         agree that the newly named Future Infrastructure Programme Board recommend the Strategic CIL spending priorities, and report this back to Cabinet within the calendar year alongside the final Infrastructure Funding Statement for 2020/21; and

(d)         agree to engage with service providers through the Future Infrastructure Programme Board to ensure Strategic CIL helps deliver the necessary infrastructure to support planned growth.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning

Reasons

The Futures Fund Programme Board reviews capital infrastructure spending and by reforming as the Future Infrastructure Programme Board and linking in Strategic CIL, it will ensure that infrastructure planning is aligned and well planned. Cabinet setting the spending priorities will provide a clear direction for the Board to awards funds to projects.

The Systems Leadership Team recommended that the NHS as an infrastructure service provider can bid for CIL monies for 2020/21. The new Future Infrastructure Programme Board will engage with all service providers and provide a further level of scrutiny of the NHS request to ensure that the request is aligned with our spending priorities before making a recommendation to Cabinet.

The Council has a duty to publish the Infrastructure Funding Statement each calendar year and to set out its spending priorities for CIL.

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was reminded that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is collected from development and used to fund infrastructure necessary to support planned growth set out by the local plan.

In relation to this Cabinet was advised that CIL receipts are around £5 million per year and split up as follows in accordance with legislation:

·       Strategic CIL – 80%

·       Neighbourhood Portion – 15% (rising to 25% if a neighbourhood plan is in place)

·       Admin – 5%

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that the council need to put in place a formal process to agree the spending priorities for Strategic CIL, and that currently decisions are made in accordance with the Financial Regulations depending upon spending amount, requiring either Cabinet and Council agreement or delegated to the Chief Operations Officer or Head of Planning.

Cabinet was advised that to enable all service providers across the Council to have better access to Strategic CIL and to provide transparent governance, it was proposed that CIL project spend is governed by a new Future Infrastructure Programme Board, replacing the current Futures Fund Programme Board and that this Board would benefit from the addition of the Chief Operations Officer and the Head of Planning that cover Planning. Cabinet was informed that the Board would engage with service providers and review all requests for project funding and decide whether Futures Fund and/or Strategic CIL is suitable, and that this would better align the Council’s capital infrastructure planning.

Cabinet was further advised that the System Leadership Team had set up a task and finish group to explore the potential for new housing development to contribute towards NHS health care infrastructure, and that the recommendations of the task and finish group were fed back and approved by the System Leadership Team in August 2020. If agreed, the Future Infrastructure Programme Board can review the NHS request and report back to Cabinet with a recommendation.

Cabinet was informed that the Council has a duty to publish the Infrastructure Funding Statement on an annual basis, and that the 2020/21 version sets out all CIL and planning obligations requested, received, spent, allocated to projects and monies held by the Council on 1 April 2021.

The Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board addressed the Cabinet advising that at their recent meeting the Board had welcomed the new additions to the board and stressed the importance of their being opposition members on the board for the purposes of transparency.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(a)          approve the change in name of the Futures Fund Programme Board to Future Infrastructure Programme Board and increase its scope to also consider Strategic CIL spending proposals;

(b)          approve the governance arrangements of the newly named Future Infrastructure Programme Board to include the Council’s Chief Operations Officer and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57