Agenda item

The Committee considered the report from the Assistant Director – Strategic Planning and Development Management on Section 106 (S.106) and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) resources and processes.  The report highlighted a number of issues in relation to the Council’s work in administering planning obligations such as CIL and S.106 agreements.  Some of the issues had been highlighted in an audit in 2020 and while actions recommended by the audit were completed, due to various staffing issues there was a significant backlog again.  The report proposed measures to address this, including a new staffing structure within the planning team that would be funded by a revised S.106 monitoring fees charging schedule as well as changes to the process for the spend of S.106 monies to try and reduce the administrative burden on the Council.

The Chair advised that he had visited six Town and Parish Council Clerks and had also spoken to Cllr Johns in her capacity as Chair of Ottery St Mary Town Council.  The Chair had written a report with recommendations which had been seen by the Assistant Director – Strategic Planning and Development Management.  The Chair’s report would be circulated to Members following the meeting.

Discussion of the Assistant Director’s report included the following points:

·         As the Strategic Planning Committee had already considered the same report and had agreed the report’s recommendations to Cabinet, it was questioned why the report had come to the Scrutiny Committee.

·         At the previous meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, it had been noted that Town and Parish Councils across the district were having problems with accessing S.106 and CIL monies, and the Committee had considered this an important matter to scrutinise.

·         Concern was expressed that the equalities impact assessment should not be low impact, as shown in the report, but should be high impact as S.106 is time limited.

·         Members were aware of cases where S.106 money had been returned to developers as the time limit had expired.

·         There was concern that the proposals for staffing arrangements set out in the report would take a long time to implement and it was suggested that an interim arrangement should be put in place to ensure that S.106 monies due to town and parish councils are not lost in the meantime.

·         Members noted that there are around 150 cases where a notice of payment had been issued and where monies remained outstanding.  It was questioned who would make the decision as to whether it was expedient or not to pursue these outstanding funds in the case of the smaller amounts.

·         It remains unclear as to why it has taken so long to resolve the issue with S.106 and CIL resources and processes and there is a need to understand what has happened.  It was suggested that it would be beneficial to meet with the Clerks, Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the larger town and parish councils to understand what the problems are.

·         It was noted that the Town and Parish Councils need training on how to manage S.106 and CIL, and that this has been acknowledged by the Assistant Director – Strategic Planning and Development Management.

·         More staff have been taken on in the past and this did not resolve the issues.

·         Private contractors could be brought in to assist with staff resources in the short term.

·         Advice could be sought during the upcoming peer review and the processes used in neighbouring councils could be looked at.

·         The whole S.106 and CIL process has been opaque when it should be open and transparent. 

·         Concern was expressed that the on-going issues with S.106 and CIL have a negative impact on the leisure strategy.

·         The Council owes it to the local communities to bring in contractors to sort out the issues.

·         It was noted that progress was being made but that this was then impacted by staff leaving.

·         It was particularly urgent to have an initial push at resolving the issues.

·         There was concern that the proposed structure and number of staff would not be sufficient to deal with the issues.

·         The Parish and Town Councils could assist with providing information on developments.

·         A Task and Finish Forum could be set up to consider various issues including how to ensure payments are collected so that Town and Parish Councils can spend the money they are owed.  The TaFF could consist of Scrutiny Committee members with Overview Committee members invited.

·         It was noted that the Assistant Director’s report would continue through the Strategic Planning Committee process to Cabinet.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that advice would need to be given through the Chair on the political balance and number of members on the TaFF.  Notice of setting up the TaFF had not been given due to it arising from the discussion at the meeting, and members of the Overview Committee would not be aware of the discussion and subsequent decision.  The TaFF could be held virtually.

RESOLVED:

To set up a Scrutiny Committee Task and Finish Forum, with members of the Overview Committee invited to participate, in order to consider various issues regarding S.106 and CIL monies collection and spend.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee and the Overview Committee would confirm their interest in joining the TaFF to the supporting Democratic Services Officer.

The following recommendations to Cabinet were then agreed:

RECOMMENDATIONS TO CABINET:

1.    Recommend that Cabinet support the proposed revised S.106 Monitoring Fees charging schedule appended to the report [Report on Section 106 and CIL Resources and Processes] and recommend to Council that these charges be applied with effect to Section 106 agreements associated with planning applications received once the new charges have been published on the Council’s website.

2.    Recommend to Cabinet and to Council that the proposed Planning Obligations Team incorporating the existing CIL and Section 106 Officer posts and the proposed new Planning Obligations Manager and Planning Obligations Support Officer posts be created with the new posts to be funded from S.106 Monitoring Fees and CIL admin funds.

3.    Recommend to Cabinet that the current spend process for S.106 receipts for spend in the community on play areas, open space and other community spaces be amended as per option 2 as detailed in the report and delegated authority be given to the Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and Development Management to issue best practice guidance on the Council’s website on how Town and Parish Councils should engage their communities on spend decisions.

4.    Recommend to Cabinet that an interim solution be found to put resources in place as soon as possible in respect of dealing with the approximately 150 outstanding cases where a notice of payment has been issued and monies remain outstanding.

The following was then agreed:

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Scrutiny Committee receive an update report in late Summer 2024 to advise of progress in forming the new planning Obligations Team and their progress in addressing the issues highlighted in the report, and

2.    That the Scrutiny Committee receive an interim update on progress in February 2024 as a matter of urgency.