1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

2.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1        Pursuant to the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended) (the 2010 Regulations), the Council, as the contribution receiving authority, is required to produce and publish at least annually (and by no later than 31 December) an Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) for the previous financial year.  Although the content of the IFS is set out in the 2010 Regulations, in broad terms the IFS sets out:

2.1.1   a statement of the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure which the charging authority intends will be, or may be, wholly or partly funded by CIL,

2.1.2   reports on the CIL and s.106 (planning obligations) contributions (financial and non-financial) it has collected, and

2.1.3   the allocation and any expenditure (including distribution) of the receipts received.

2.2     The IFS replaces the CIL Regulation ‘123 lists’.

2.3     In compliance with this statutory requirement, the Council has produced at Appendix 1 to this report its IFS for the financial period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

2.4     This IFS sets out the 2019/20 income and expenditure relating to CIL and s106 legal agreements (also referred to as planning obligations). This annual report provides a summary of all financial and non-financial developer contributions received by the Council for the previous financial year.

2.5     The IFS is a key document which seeks to communicate how developer contributions are achieving the infrastructure required by the Council’s Strategic Plan, Local Plan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan with the latter containing a ‘long list’ of infrastructure projects with prioritisation of these. This Committee will allocate CIL monies following a bidding process and the IDP informs the prioritisation of these projects. Within the “critical” list in the IDP it is suggested that Linton Crossroads, the junction of Fountain Lane with the A26 and improvements to Junction 7 of the M20 motorway are perhaps the biggest priorities but a detailed report will be brought to this Committee in the future once greater levels of overall funding have been collected.

2.6     S106 monies have to be spent on the projects set out in the s106 agreement. They also cover non-financial matters such as obligating a developer to provide for affordable housing provision and the creation of in situ public open space.

2.7     The Council also collects funds on behalf of third parties.  As this Council is non-unitary much of the funds received through CIL and s.106 receipts are transferred to Kent County Council.  Some of the CIL receipts are also to be distributed to parish councils and neighbourhood forums.  This Council also collects funds for the Clinical Commissioning Group under s.106 agreements.  A summary of the funds held/collected on behalf of third parties, the allocation of those funds and what they have been (or are due to be) spent on by these third parties is also reported on in the IFS.

2.8     This report is for noting only and the Council’s IFS at Appendix 1 will be published on the Council’s website in accordance with the 2010 Regulations.

3.   AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     This report is for noting only and endorsement so that the IFS can be published.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     NA

5.       RISK

5.1     Whilst this report is presented for information only and has no risk  management implications it is a statutory requirement to produce an IFS at least annually by 31 December in each calendar year.  It is also a requirement that the IFS be published on the Council’s website.

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1     The IFS at Appendix 1 will be uploaded onto this Council’s web site.

7.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix 1: Infrastructure Funding Statement December 2020