Agenda item - Governance and Prioritisation of Community Infrastructure Levy Funding

To consider the report of the Assistant Director City Development.

Agreed

That:-

(1) the prioritisation of CIL income (total assumed at £25 million) as set out in the table below and in sections 11, 12 and 17 be agreed;

Purpose	Approximate Amount		Description
Administration	5%	£1.25m	Costs of administrating receipt and expenditure of CIL.
Neighbourhood Funding	15%	£3.75m	Developing and implementing a community- level strategy for addressing the demands of development.
European Site Mitigation	8%	£2m	Mitigating the recreational impacts arising from new development on European protected habitats.
City Centre Major Infrastructure	32%	£8m	Dedicated to city centre leisure, transport and public realm projects unless alternative contributions can be secured. Priority will be given in the early years to the city centre above other major infrastructure
Other major Infrastructure to include roads and schools	40%	£10m	Expected after 2019/20.

(2) the formation of an Exeter only Major Infrastructure Panel with the flexibility to determine the final allocation of funding from CIL to major schemes and leverage funding from other sources as outlined in sections 13 to 16 be agreed;

(3) the Council Leader meeting with counterparts at Teignbridge and East Devon District Councils and Devon County Council with a view to exploring the establishment of a joint cross boundary Major Infrastructure Panel, be supported;

(4) the Assistant Director City Development be given delegated authority to agree the terms of reference as set out in paragraph 13.1 to implement an agreed infrastructure Business Plan;

(5) the Assistant Director City Development be given delegated authority to confirm final neighbourhood funding arrangements in the St James neighbourhood area; and

(6) a joint Officer Working Group be established, consisting of relevant officers from Exeter City, Devon County, East Devon District and Teignbridge District Councils, the Group to:-

· Identify infrastructure needs, priorities and sources of funding (including opportunities to lever moneys)

· Bring schemes to a point where they are investment ready

· Formulate and keep an up-to-date, draft five-year investment programme

· Support and implement decisions by any joint Major Infrastructure Panel.

Reason for Decision:

To help facilitate sustainable development growth and Exeter’s continued vitality through CIL investment.

The report of the Assistant Director City Development was submitted providing an update on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and setting out proposals for the future use and governance of receipts.

The Principal Project Manager (Strategic Infrastructure) advised that the report concerned the management and governance of CIL receipts. During the period to 2026, CIL was expected to raise approximately £25million. He outlined the breakdown of funding and the recommendations as detailed in the report. Further to discussions with various community groups it was recommended that all of the neighbourhood funding should be pooled. For the first five years a bottom up strategy should be prepared to identify collective community priorities. A further report and decision would be needed on the finer administrative arrangements for any joint Major Infrastructure Panel.

Members had been circulated with a letter from Devon County Council’s Head of Planning, Transport and Environment which detailed issues of funding of additional school places, funding of transport schemes and governance.

The Principal Project Manager (Strategic Infrastructure) addressed the points raised by the Head of Planning, Transport and Environment.

Funding of additional school places:-

· the Council had secured more than the national average developer contribution towards new school places for the whole plan period to 2026

· Survey data from Cranbrook illustrates that most residents of new dwellings in the area already live (90%) and go to school in Devon.

Funding of transport schemes and governance:-

· recommended that a ‘combined authorities’ approach to effectively plan for and manage the delivery of growth priorities in Exeter, Teignbridge and East Devon should be explored further to enable the authorities to collectively profile investment priorities against the various sources of income according to where the greatest needs and opportunities prevail including the match funding of key transport schemes

· in response to the County Council’s comments and working towards a combined authorities approach an additional recommendation was proposed that a joint Officer Working Group be established, consisting of relevant officers from Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, East Devon District Council and Teignbridge District Council – to identify infrastructure needs, priorities and sources of funding; bring forward schemes; support and implement decisions by any joint Major Infrastructure Panel.

During discussion Members raised the following points:-

· welcomed the pooled approach to neighbourhood funding and the support and advice that St James Neighbourhood Forum had provided to date with this proposed way forward

· Exeter City Council had already secured and paid considerable funding to the County Council through Section 106 monies for education

· it was important that the City Council continued to invest in the growth of the City Centre

· recognised the challenges that the Council faced in securing funding for infrastructure and prioritising schemes and the need for all authorities concerned to have a combined approach.

The Chief Executive & Growth Director commented that the way forward presented challenges in prioritising the delivery of infrastructure in and around the City. It was important that a combined approach with the County Council and neighbouring authorities was taken to secure funding that could be available through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The majority of Members welcomed the way forward to work towards a combined authority approach which would hopefully help to secure additional funding for major infrastructure projects through the LEP and other external funding sources. A Member did raise concerns regarding the percentage of funding proposed for the City Centre major infrastructure and how was the city centre area defined.

RESOLVED that:-