Issue - meetings

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) relating to the financial year ending 31 March 2024 by 31 December 2024 is approved;

2.    the Annual CIL Rate Summary Statement will be published alongside it by the 31 December 2024 is noted.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control said that the council has a statutory legal obligation to publish both the annual Infrastructure Funding Statement and CIL Rate Summary Statement, and that this must be presented in an agreed way, in collaboration with strategic and local partners.  He said the first meeting to make allocations from the pooled strategic monies will take place on 30 January, and work will be undertaken with other infrastructure providers to identify priorities that could be supported by the CIL Joint Committee. 

He directed Members to a useful summary about receipts and allocations (i.e. funding agreed and given but not necessarily spent yet), noting that up to 5% is allocated to administration, up to 15% to parished areas (five in Cheltenham), and 15% to neighbourhood projects, leaving a strategic pot of 70% (currently showing at 80% because no bids have been submitted yet from some parts of the community).

Turning to the CIL Rate Summary statement, this is also a regulatory requirement based on the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors CIL Index, and details money passed to parish councils, non-parished areas of the borough, and S106 money allocated mainly for affordable housing, plus two other items.  There is also a list of projects requesting CIL funding, across all three areas of the partnership. 

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets thanked the Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control for an interesting report and wondered if it would be possible to have a summary sheet of CIL funding so far, making it clear where money came in and went out.  The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control felt that this had been provided in the past, and said he would ask the team to provide one.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Wellbeing and Culture confirmed that this has been produced in the past, as the government-prescribed format is opaque and can be difficult to follow.  He said the Infrastructure Funding Statements contains a lot of important information; he welcomed the detail of CIL funding of projects in unparished areas – including the Bath Road Utility Boxes, defibrillators, and Honeybourne Honey – but noted that there was no detail about projects at parish level.  He said this had been included in the past and was not sure why it was not included here.  He also said it would be good to have a report on the actual expenditure, rather than just the money allocated, and added, in the interest of transparency, that he is a member of Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control said that the requirement is to show money allocated rather than spent, but agreed that that information would improve communication – a breakdown of where the money had been spent in the parished areas as well as the neighbourhoods.  He undertook to bring this back to Members.  

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the publication of the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) relating to the financial year  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10