Agenda item

At its meeting on 29 November 2023, the Executive Committee considered the Infrastructure Funding Statement and Annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement, relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2023, by 31 December 2023, be APPROVED, subject to appropriate amendments to the IFS if necessary to clarify what had been brought forward, received, spent and allocated for future maintenance thereby arriving at the closing balance, and that the Annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2023. 

74.12        At its meeting on 29 November 2023, the Executive Committee considered the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2023 and the Annual Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Rate Summary Statement and recommended to Council that their publication, by 31 December 2023, be approved.

74.13         The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 55-105.

74.14         As Chair of the Executive Committee, the Leader of the Council proposed the recommendation of the Executive Committee and it was seconded by the Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment.  The Leader of the Council advised that the Executive Committee had recommended that the Council approve the publication of this year’s IFS for the financial year ending 31 March 2023; and the annual CIL Rate Summary Statement, stating the impact that inflation has had on the rates for the calendar year ahead.  The CIL Regulations required both to be published by 31 December each year.  The IFS contained three chapters: the CIL Report – answering set questions on income and expenditure during the reported year; the Section 106 Report – answering questions set in the regulations on agreements entered into and undertakings made, contributions received and spent; and non-financial obligations secured and delivered; and an infrastructure list – a statement of the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure which the charging authority intended would be, or may be, wholly or partly funded by CIL.  A summary of CIL and Section 106 income and expenditure was provided at Page No. 57, Paragraph 2 of the report, with greater detail at Appendix 1.   The Leader stressed that the purpose of this report was not to forensically examine specific Section 106 income or projects, nor Section 106 processes or approach. Any queries about specific Section 106 Agreements could be taken away from the meeting. An internal audit had recently been carried out in relation to Section 106 processes and Officers were considering the draft findings with a view to reporting back to the Audit and Governance Committee early in 2024.  It should be borne in mind that the infrastructure list included was not exhaustive or definitive; the projects had been compiled by Officers at Cheltenham Borough, Gloucester City and Tewkesbury Borough Councils and decisions around CIL spend would be made by the Joint CIL Governance Committee which was in the process of being set up with a separate report due for consideration by the Executive Committee and Council in January 2024.  Finally, it was important to point out the new Strategic and Local Plan would be underpinned by a lot of detailed work on infrastructure planning and would identify the long term infrastructure requirements to support planned development.  This would include working with communities to understand aspirations. CIL charges would also be reviewed to ensure that the Councils were maximising the planning gain that could be secured through new developments. 

74.15         A Member asked how much CIL money was available for offsite affordable housing and what plans were in place for spending that.  The Executive Director: Place indicated that a written response would be provided outside of the meeting.  Another Member noted that the training session on CIL and Section 106 included in the Member Induction Programme had been postponed and she asked when this would now take place.  The Executive Director: Place provided assurance that a programme was underway and a new date for the session would be arranged early in the New Year.

74.16         Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED          1. That publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement, relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2023, by 31 December 2023, be APPROVED, subject to appropriate amendments to the IFS if necessary to clarify what had been brought forward, received, spent and allocated for future maintenance thereby arriving at the closing balance.

2. That the Annual Community Infrastructure Levy Rate Summary Statement be published alongside the Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2023.