Agenda item

To consider the Community Infrastructure Levy Governance Arrangements and make a recommendation to Cabinet.

In advance of the report being presented to the committee, the Chairman  raised a number of points for consideration by councillors, which included whether there should be councillor involvement in the approval of the prioritisation of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) spend on behalf of the Council, the use of mitigated areas and whether unspent monies should be redistributed?  The impact of neighbourhood plans was also highlighted.

The report set out that the Council needed to establish a clear CIL Governance Structure to oversee the convergence of legacy councils CIL receipts and collection, auditing and spending of this and future CIL monies. The report proposed the key governance arrangements for the delivery of infrastructure through CIL to ensure CIL served its purpose of contributing to the delivery of the infrastructure necessary to support development in Dorset.

The committee considered the issues arising from the report and during discussion the following points were raised:

·                There was a need for a clear definition of the term ‘local’ when looking at the allocation of CIL monies.  This point was raised by a number of committee members

·                The Infrastructure and Delivery Planning Manager highlighted the map within the report which showed the Dorset Council CIL charging areas.  It was noted that monies collected in each of the identified areas would be retained within the area in order to maintain the local link

·                The report proposed a process for the identification of projects and how decisions would be taken.  It was noted that some larger projects would be considered by Cabinet, with others being considered by officers and agreed under delegation

·                In response to a question raised, it was confirmed that the arrangements for Chickerell were unchanged

·                A comment was made that the proposals provided the right balance of councillor involvement and officer delegation

·                With reference to appendix A (CIL prioritisation scoring matrix) and the category ‘Wider community benefits and implications’, a question was raised as to the scoring set out in respect of foreseeable risks or negative impacts.  In response it was confirmed that the scoring was the wrong way round and that this would be updated in time for consideration at Cabinet on 28 July 2020

·                There would be a need to look at costs when a new charging schedule was developed

·                In respect of recognising the importance of local democracy, it was highlighted that a specific proportion of CIL monies were retained by the local parish or town council

·                The Portfolio Holder for Planning noted the importance of stakeholders, including town and parish councils being aware of the availability of CIL funding and to be encouraged to bring forward proposals.  The Portfolio Holder thanked officers for their work in this area

The recommendations contained within the report were proposed by S Gibson seconded by V Pothecary with the inclusion of a note with regard to the need to update appendix A and the scoring for the category ‘Wider community benefits and implications’, in respect of foreseeable risks or negative impacts.

Recommendation to Cabinet

1.     To agree these specific arrangements:

a)     To spend CIL monies within the same geographical charging area from which they were levied, pre and post 31/8/19.

b)     The CIL infrastructure spending priorities pre 1/9/19, as laid out in appendix C.

c)      The mechanism for prioritisation and spend of CIL funded infrastructure pre and post 31/8/19, as set out in this report and appendix A.

2.     To amend the Terms of Reference for Property Management Group (PMG) to enable it to scrutinise & prioritise infrastructure projects seeking funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy and provide recommendations to Capital Strategy and Asset Management Group (CSAMG) / the Executive Director of Place regarding which projects should receive such funding.

3.     To delegate to the Executive Director of Place in consultation with the Portfolio Holder Planning, the approval of the prioritisation, of CIL spend on behalf of the Council as reported to CSAMG.

Decision

That appendix A (CIL prioritisation scoring matrix) be updated prior to consideration by Cabinet on 28 July 2020, in respect of the scoring for the category ‘Wider community benefits and implications’ – ‘Are there any foreseeable risks or negative impacts which may arise from the project?’.