Agenda item - Update on Community Infrastructure Levy

Report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture

            RESOLVED – (1) That the Committee notes the progress made towards adopting a CIL Charging Schedule; that the CIL Examiner’s report is anticipated by the end of 2019 and that adoption by Full Council is required to commence CIL next year;

            (2) That the Committee notes and endorses the programme of work required for CIL implementation; noting that some work streams (IT, Recruitment and Governance) are required to commence ahead of formal Council adoption to ensure that the operational requirements for CIL implementation in Spring 2020 can be delivered; and

            (3) That the committee notes that Policy & Resources Committee approval of one-off resources of £0.158m, via the Targeted Budget Management reporting process, will be required to enable implementation of the scheme.

12.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment and Culture the purpose of which was to update Committee Members on the progress being made to bring forward a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule for Brighton & Hove. The report outlined the progress made since the formal submission of the Council’s Draft Charging Schedule in January 2019 and the key areas of work required to set up and implement CIL for commencement in 2020.

12.2      The Planning Manager, Planning Policy, explained that CIL governance described the way in which CIL income was to be managed and spent. CIL would not generate enough funds to completely cover the cost of new infrastructure needed to fully support planned development in the city. As such, there would be competing demands for this funding. It is therefore important to ensure that there are robust, accountable and democratic structures in place to ensure the spending of CIL funds are prioritised in the right way. It was suggested that a CIL Infrastructure/Management Board (or similar) would need to be set up to manage the process for making decisions on how CIL income is spent across the city both in terms of the ‘neighbourhood portion’ and the ‘strategic pot’.  In outline, this is likely to require an annual prioritisation and assessment process to be set up and agreed.

12.3    Ms Martindale  sought  clarification regarding the practicalities of how communities could access 15% of CIL receipts received (per planning application) where development took place where there is no made Neighbourhood Plan and 25% where there is a made Neighbourhood Plan). It was noted that it would be for the Council to liaise with local groups/forums to decide how this neighbourhood portion is to be spent. It was also noted that only where there was a Parish Council did council actually transfer CIL monies. As this was a new process it was important that relevant interest groups within local communities were aware of this and the means by which they could access these funds.

12.4    Councillor Nemeth stated that he had concerns regarding the practicalities of this approach, considering the existing 106 arrangements were preferable. He considered that monies might not end up being spent in the immediate vicinity could result in additional costs for the developer. He did not therefore feel able to support these recommendations.

12.5    Councillor Mears concurred, considering that the input of Local Ward Councillors who had detailed local knowledge both of the needs of their ward and the views and requirements of local residents needed to be integral to any process.

12.6    Councillor Simson stated that she had grave concerns that developers could be deterred by this process, she considered that more detail was required and considered that in the absence of that detail she could not support the recommebdations.

12.7    Councillor Childs stated that he considered it was important to research what happened in other cities, for boundaries to be put into place and to assess the impact that neighbouring CIL’s could have on the city. It was explained that it was envisaged that further reports would be brought back to Committee giving more fine detail as to how the CIL would operate.

12.8    A vote was taken and on a vote of 7 to 3 the recommendations set out in the report were agreed.

12.9    RESOLVED – (1) That the Committee notes the progress made towards adopting a CIL Charging Schedule; that the CIL Examiner’s report is anticipated by the end of 2019 and that adoption by Full Council is required to commence CIL next year;

            (2) That the Committee notes and endorses the programme of work required for CIL implementation; noting that some work streams (IT, Recruitment and Governance) are required to commence ahead of formal Council adoption to ensure that the operational requirements for CIL implementation in Spring 2020 can be delivered; and

            (3) That the committee notes that Policy & Resources Committee approval of one-off resources of £0.158m, via the Targeted Budget Management reporting process, will be required to enable implementation of the scheme.