Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised that the meeting was being recorded and streamed via You Tube.

The Democratic Services Officer then carried out a roll call to determine attendees.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bone.

The notes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Members should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100b(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

There was no urgent business to consider.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.

There were no Members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

There was no Chair’s correspondence.

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The CIL Monitoring Officer presented the CIL Close of Accounts FY21/22 – Infrastructure Funding Summary to the Task Group.

It was noted that the sum of £1.5 million was available and unallocated for the next round of applications.

The CIL Monitoring Officer provided an update on the process of paperwork and how it followed through from year to year.

AGREED:       That the report be noted.

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The Task Group received the Funding Summary for Application FY21.

AGREED:       That the report be noted.

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The CIL Monitoring Officer presented the report to the Spending Panel.

AGREED:       That the report be noted.

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The CIL Monitoring Officer explained that the Spending Panel agreed that it would be useful to have a summary of allocations by Parish.

It was suggested that the plan within the Charging Schedule be attached to agendas for the future for clarity purposes.

The CIL Monitoring Officer advised the Spending Panels of the areas of exemption outside of King’s Lynn being one site at Downham Market, the West Winch Strategic Growth Area and the Wisbech fringe area.

The Planning Control Manager advised that with regards to the West Winch site, that had an Infrastructure Delivery Plan, with costs set out, which developers would have to pay.

It was noted that the documentation provided with the agenda needed to transpose North and South. 

AGREED:       That the report be noted.

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The Chair explained that any changes to the Governance document would have to go through to the relevant scrutiny Committee and Cabinet for adoption.  He therefore thought that it would be useful to have an early discussion on any potential changes.

Application Form

The CIL Monitoring Officer went through the proposed amendments to the application form, which was not part of the Governance document.  The amendments had been made for clarity purposes only.

Councillor de Whalley asked if he could drill down further into an application when it came to assessing it.  He made reference to the planning portal where all the information could be accessed regarding a particular planning application.

The CIL Monitoring Officer explained the scoring process.  She also advised that the Spending Panel would receive a weekly list of applications, as before, so they would have advance sight of the applications, prior to having to make a decision on them.  In terms of the comments raised by Councillor de Whalley, she outlined options available for the Spending Panel to enable them to access additional information.

The Chair suggested that the weekly list of applications contained key information for the Spending Panel.

The CIL Monitoring Officer asked the Panel to think about what information they required, that was in the public domain, for a future meeting

AGREED:       That the amendments proposed be agreed.

Suggested amendments to the Governance Document

The Chair explained that this was a discussion document only and he wanted the Spending Panel to have time to consider any changes.

The CIL Monitoring Officer took the Spending Panel through the proposed amendments to the Governance document for consideration, which included:

·        Project type

·        Transfer of CIL funds

·        Project scoring

·        Proposal to have one application form for the projects

·        Borough Council applications

·        60 / 40 split

The Spending Panel then discussed the proposed amendments and officers undertook to take on board the points raised.

In response to comments made the CIL Monitoring Officer explained that in order to enable to Spending Panel to make a decision on the amendments of the governance document, she could produce information for the next meeting on the applications that had been received in any format required, for example applications under £10,000.

The Chair reminded the Spending Panel that there was still a scoring system in place. 

Councillor Parish added that he felt that there should be a 60/40 split with the 40% ring-fenced for local community groups and if the community did not bid sufficiently to spend the 40% it was transferred to the 60%.

The CIL Monitoring Officer advised that the governance document allowed the Spending Panel to transfer a maximum of 10% between the two groups, however this would be a decision of the Spending Panel.

The Chair asked for Members of the Spending Panel to give further consideration to the proposal amendments and put any thoughts in writing to everyone.