Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 16 November 2022 the Executive Committee considered the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Rate Summary Statement Requirements and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.      That the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2022 by 31 December 2022 be APPROVED.

2.      That the annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2022.

50.1           At its meeting on 16 November 2022, the Executive Committee had considered the Infrastructure Funding Statement and Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement Requirements and recommended that the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2022 by 31 December 2022 be approved; and that the annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2022.

50.2           The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 8-37.

50.3           The Chair of the Executive Committee proposed the recommendation of the Executive Committee and it was seconded by the Vice-Chair.

50.4           A Member questioned how the money identified for administration was spent. In response, the Head of Development Services confirmed this covered staff costs related to the administration of the Community Infrastructure Levy along with software to administer payments. Another Councillor referred to the scheme name ‘A4019/B4634 Old Gloucester Road and A38/A40 highway link’ and noted it had been merged and the name updated to ‘Junction Improvement A38/Down Hatherley Lane junction upgrade’ and he questioned whether the link road was still going ahead. In response, the Head of Development Services advised that the Infrastructure List had been discussed with Gloucestershire County Council and some projects had been removed from the list - she was not sure if this was one of them but she would confirm after the meeting.

50.5           During the discussion which ensued, a Member questioned whether the Council would lose any of the CIL/Section 106 money if it was not spent. The CIL Manager for the JCS Authorities explained that CIL was a levy on planning permissions and was not lost – in fact, even the CIL which was passed to Parishes was returned to the Borough Council if it was not spent. In terms of Section 106 monies, the Head of Development Services explained that the Council had, in the past, returned one element but there was a system to oversee this to try and ensure it did not happen. In terms of the Section 106 collected for affordable housing, the Head of Development Services confirmed that the team was working with housing colleagues and affordable housing providers to draw down monies.

50.6           A Member appreciated the document was statutory but felt it would be helpful if it was more user friendly in future so that Members could understand it more easily. Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement,                             relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2022, by 31                                       December 2022 be APPROVED.

                                                2. That the annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate                                          Summary Statement be published alongside the                                                      Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2022.  

To make a recommendation to Council to approve the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2022 by 31 December 2022 and the annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement to be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2022.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.      That the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2022 by 31 December 2022 be APPROVED.

2.      That the annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2022.

62.1           The report of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Manager for the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) Authorities, circulated at Pages No. 54-83, provided an update on the preparation of the Infrastructure Funding Statement for 2022 and this year’s CIL Rates Summary Statement and sought approval for their publication on the Council’s website.

62.2           Members were advised that the Infrastructure Funding Statement was a legal agreement and must be published by charging authorities by 31 December each year. The reported year was 2021/22 so the figures in the report were 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. The Infrastructure Funding Statement was required to contain three chapters: the CIL report - which answered a number of statutory questions in the CIL Regulations; the Section 106 report - which was required to give answers to set questions; and the Infrastructure List which was part of the Infrastructure Funding Statement. The list, adopted in the first year, had been drawn from the Infrastructure Delivery Plan of the JCS and this year had been revised again and had shrunk as some schemes were amalgamated and reviewed as set out in the preamble. Some schemes had been funded by other means and others had been identified as not necessarily needing CIL contributions as sufficient funding had already been secured elsewhere. The list was located at the end of the third chapter of the document. The CIL Manager for the JCS Authorities explained that this was a very heavily regulated process. In the third year of operation the Council had received much larger payments. The Regulations required the receipts to be split into three pots with up to 5% on administration of the charging authority function; 15-25% to the Parish Council depending on whether or not it had a ‘made’ Neighbourhood Development Plan (15% if no Plan and up to 25% if it did); and the remainder to deliver the Infrastructure List. The Regulations set out what it could be spent on and Tewkesbury Borough Council had a duty to monitor the spending as well as to pass money onto Parishes as it had enforcement powers if it felt it had been spent wrongly. If it was not spent it would come back to the Borough Council and go into the infrastructure pot.

62.3           A Member questioned whether any progress had been made with CIL being used to help improve the waste collection service. In response, the CIL Manager for the JCS Authorities explained that the Council was currently in the early stages of review of the CIL Charging Schedules and Officers were reviewing that in relation to the JCS and the three District Council Plans but, at the same time, working on the Joint Strategic Partnership (JSP) and the CIL Charging Schedule was also needed for that. The Councils had to show what was needed and how it would be used as well as that it was reasonable.

62.4           Accordingly, it was