County councils will be excluded from applying for the Government’s proposed new levy to raise funding towards local infrastructure.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is expected to initially raise ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ from new developments, according to details of the proposal sent out to consultation. Charging authorities will be free to apply CIL to infrastructure of their choice, with the exception of affordable housing provision.
But Miles Butler, chair of the CSS (County Surveyors’ Society) planning & regeneration committee, said the decision to specifically exclude English county councils as charging authorities was one of a ‘number of worrying features’.
‘The vital role of county councils as the main providers of infrastructure in two-tier areas is not explicitly recognised,’ he added. ‘And there is insufficient clarity about the duty of district councils to charge for highways, transport, schools and other strategic infrastructure.’ Butler also warned that the proposed two-year transition from Section 106 to CIL threatened to destabilise ‘these locally-successful approaches’.
London Councils has recommended that the two-year transitional period be extended to enable boroughs to use existing Section 106 arrangements until CIL is used widely enough for them to decide to apply it.
The umbrella group representing London’s boroughs also wants the Government to review proposed powers for the mayor to collect CIL to fund strategic infrastructure. It is calling for the amount of CIL the mayor can charge to be limited so boroughs do not miss out on funds for local improvements.
Elsewhere, the Government is proposing a number of flexibilities to ensure charging schedules take into account local circumstances, including a facility to set differential rates according to geography. This would, for example, facilitate development in regeneration areas. It has proposed a 28-day payment window for developers, and is exploring the possibility of payment by installments. But charging authorities will have powers to add interest and surcharges to CIL.
CIL was originally announced under the Planning Act 2008, and the Government claims it will increase fairness over Section 106 by broadening the range of developments asked to contribute.
‘Section 106 provides little or no specific statutory protection for those contributing, inadequate transparency and consultation, and is unfair because planning obligations are always negotiable,’ the documents states.
• Detailed proposals and draft regulations for the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy: Consultation
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