Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Parish, (Councillor Squire was subbing)

The Notes of the Meeting held on 17 August 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Panel received and noted the statutory Annual Infrastructure Funding Statement for the year 2021/2022.  The report provided information on the monetary and non monetary contributions sought and received from developers for the provision of infrastructure to support development in the Borough.  It then went on to show the use of those contributions by the Borough council through the Community Infrastructure Levy and S106 Planning Obligations.  The report had to be published prior to 31 December 2022. 

The summary of the CIL income to date was £4,278,100.35, of which £729,446.16 had been paid to parishes to support development in their areas.  The summary of the funding allocations and expenditure was £2,170,385.22  of original allocation for the year, £1,889,636.33 had been allocated, £388,510.47 spent, £1,501,125.86 allocated but unspent and £280.178 unallocated and awaiting TORs.

The Panel was given a breakdown of the types and categories of funding allocations made, and also the areas of the Borough from which they had been made.

It was noted that the information on the Funding Statement was to be added to the Members Bulletin  and on the Regeneration and Development Panel should they wish to see it.

The Chair proposed that a full members briefing should be held on the subject before the next round of bidding in order that Members understood the changes to the scheme.  This was supported and it was agreed that this should be held on Teams and could be recorded to ensure members could access the information if unable to attend.

In discussing the timeframes which parishes had to spend their allocations it was noted that they had 5 years, however specific funding applications applied for  had to be started within a year.  The money was paid on completion, or via stage payments when proof of payments could be made.   In response to questions it was confirmed that reminders were sent to applicants of timeframes.  Parish clerks were given training on the requirements of CIL, and it was a subject covered in the parish planning training sessions.

Members congratulated officers on the work and monitoring carried out for the process.

Agreed:          1)         That the Funding Statement for 2021/22 be noted.

2)         That a member briefing be held on Teams to update members on the CIL process and the work to date.

The standard legal agreement was reviewed.  The requirement to commence within the year was discussed, however there was not currently discretion to extend the commencement process.  It was noted that part of the scoring criteria was to be able to start the work quickly.  The Panel was of the view that if it were possible to extend the commencement time in exceptional circumstances, to be approved by the Panel, following the provision of written a statement giving the reasons for requesting an extension of time  and variation of the application, they would wish to be able to do so.  Officers would seek legal advice to see if this was possible. 

It was agreed that the information on the web site with all the new forms and updated advice for the next round of bidding be made live on Monday 3 October.

Agreed:          1)         That legal advice be sought as to whether an extension of time could be given in exceptional circumstances.

2)         That the information for the next round of bidding go live on Monday 3 October.

To be confirmed.