Issue - meetings

As per the approved CIL governance arrangements, the Executive is delegated to approve bids for the allocation of Strategic CIL Funding, on the recommendation of the CIL Advisory Board, subject to an upper limit of £2.5m per individual award, above which approval reverts to Full Council.

This report seeks approval from the Executive for the allocation of Strategic CIL funding to the projects recommended for funding by the CIL Advisory Board in relation to the Strategic CIL Bidding Cycle 2022/23.

Recommendation

1)               It is recommended that the Executive agree the recommendations of the CIL Advisory Board and approve the allocation of Strategic CIL funding to the projects as set out in this report. This is subject to the completion of the final relevant checks and the signing of funding agreements, the details of which are delegated to the Strategic Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing (Delivery).

2)               It is recommended that the Executive agree the recommendation of the CIL Advisory Board to remove the ‘Community CIL’ from future Strategic CIL Bidding Cycles, for the reasons as set out within this report.

The Executive RESOLVED that,

1.         the allocation of Strategic CIL funding to the projects as set out in the agenda report (paragraph 4.24) be approved, subject to the completion of the final relevant checks and signing of funding agreements, the details of which are delegated to the Strategic Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing (Delivery).

2.         the ‘Community CIL’ element be removed from future Strategic CIL Bidding Cycles.

Reason: In order to ensure robust and effective expenditure, in line with CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) and in accordance with the Council’s approved CIL governance arrangements which include detailed eligibility and assessment criteria.

[Overview & Scrutiny Committee – Services]

Cllr Liz Townsend, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Economic Development, introduced the report which outlined the CIL bidding process and recommendations to the Executive for allocation of Strategic CIL funds to infrastructure projects within Waverley. The report also recommended that the Community Fund, which had been created within the Strategic CIL Fund, be removed from future CIL bidding cycles, as experience showed that there was not the need for it that had been anticipated when the CIL governance arrangements were being developed.

Twenty-four bid submissions had been received, seeking just over £9m of CIL funding towards total project costs of over £24m. The quality of bids varied greatly, and three bids were considered as invalid against the bid scoring criteria. The twenty-one valid bids were scored independently by three officers, and then presented to the CIL Advisory Board for consideration. To help inform the final recommendations, the CIL Advisory Board sought additional information from a number of bidders, and invited others to attend a meeting with the Board and answer outstanding questions. As a result of the discussions across three meetings, the CIL Advisory Board agreed to recommend the six projects detailed in the report (section 4.24) totalling £3.31m.

Cllr Merryweather noted that bids were becoming increasingly competitive, and it was challenging to distinguish between good infrastructure projects and good causes. It had been pleasing to see the improvement in the quality of the Surrey County Council bids in particular.

Cllr Townsend emphasised the level of due diligence carried out by officers in evaluating the bids and scoring them against the council’s agreed criteria. She also drew attention to projects having some level of match-funding, and to be deliverable. Where projects needed planning permission to be delivered, it was important that work be in train on this, as this could take a significant amount of time out of the delivery window.

The Executive RESOLVED that,

1.         the allocation of Strategic CIL funding to the projects as set out in the agenda report (paragraph 4.24) be approved, subject to the completion of the final relevant checks and signing of funding agreements, the details of which are delegated to the Strategic Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing (Delivery).

2.         the ‘Community CIL’ element be removed from future Strategic CIL Bidding Cycles.

Reason: In order to ensure robust and effective expenditure, in line with CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) and in accordance with the Council’s approved CIL governance arrangements which include detailed eligibility and assessment criteria.