Waverley Borough Council

Executive

7 january 2020

Title:
Request for supplementary estimate for Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review

Portfolio Holder:	Cllr Mark Merryweather, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Assets and Commercial

Head of Service:	Zac Ellwood, Head of Planning and Economic Development

Key decision:	No

Access:	Public

1. Purpose and summary
1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek approval for a supplementary estimate to cover the costs of the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review. The report sets out that the Council can only claim for £20,000 in funding from the Government for the Neighbourhood Plan Review and the costs are estimated to be £71,000. There is therefore a shortfall of £51,000.

2. Recommendation
2.1 It is recommended that the Executive approves a supplementary estimate for £51,000 to cover the costs of the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review.

3. Reason for the recommendation
3.1 The costs of a neighbourhood plan for designating the neighbourhood plan area and the stages from the submission of the neighbourhood plan by the town/parish council to Waverley Borough Council through to the ‘making’ (adoption) of the plan, must be paid for by Waverley Borough Council. The Council can claim £5,000 from the Government on the designation of a neighbourhood plan area (although the Council can now only claim for the first five areas designated) and £20,000 from the Government once the date for a referendum on the neighbourhood plan has been set. The cost of a neighbourhood plan examination varies depending on the complexity of the plan and the cost of the referendum varies depending on the size of the Parish, however the funding available from the Government is the same for all neighbourhood plans. In the case of the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review, the plan covers some complex issues requiring a hearing and covers a large parish and therefore the examination and referendum costs are high. 3.2 Whilst we estimate that the £20,000/£25,000 of available funding will be sufficient to cover the costs of the majority of neighbourhood plans, this is not sufficient to cover the cost of the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review. The Farnham Neighbourhood Plan area was designated as part of the process for the ‘made’ Farnham Neighbourhood Plan and so only £20,000 funding can be claimed for the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review. The expected costs for the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan Review are set out in the table below. Costs Public notices £1,000 Examination £20,000 Referendum £45,000 Legal and other costs £5,000 Total £71,000 Grant available from Government When referendum has been agreed £20,000 Shortfall £51,000 3.3 There is a shortfall of £51,000 and therefore a supplementary estimate is requested for this amount.

4. Relationship to the Corporate Strategy and Service Plan
4.1 The Coroprate Strategy supports place shaping and local engagement in planning policy and the Service Plan for Planning includes support for Neighbourhood Planning.

5. Implications of decision
5.1 Resource (Finance, procurement, staffing, IT) The financial implications are set out in the report. The supplementary estimate will need to be met from the Revenue Reserve Fund which current stands at £73,000.
5.2 Risk management No issues identified.
5.3 Legal There are no relevant issues arising from this report.
5.4 Equality, diversity and inclusion There are no direct equality, diversity or inclusion implications in this report. Equality impact assessments are carried out when necessary across the council to ensure service delivery meets the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010.
5.5 Climate emergency declaration There are no relevant issues arising from this report.

6. Consultation and engagement
6.1 There are no comments from committees or other consultees.

7. Other options considered
7.1 The officers have not identified any other options for dealing with this matter.

8. Governance journey
8.1 This decision will be made by the Executive.

Background Papers

There are no background papers, as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972).

CONTACT OFFICER:

Name:	Alice Knowles

Position:	Planning Officer (Policy)

Telephone:	0148 3523527

Email:	alice.knowles@waverley.gov.uk

Agreed and signed off by:

Legal Services: 20 December 2019

Head of Finance: 20 December 2019

Strategic Director: 20 December 2019

Portfolio Holder: Informed 17 December 2019