Guidance on Allocation and Spending

The allocation of these funds will be made through a twice annual application process, which will ultimately be agreed either by the Corporate Director (Place), Service Manager – Growth in consultation with the Leader and Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning or will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet, depending on the amount of funding sought. A diagrammatic summary of the governance framework for CIL is set out in Appendix 1, which shows the spending and reporting arrangements that are in place.

Annually, Huntingdonshire District Council will publicise the amount of CIL funding collected in accordance with statutory requirements. On a twice-annual basis, the council will encourage and consider the submission of application forms, requesting CIL funding for the delivery of infrastructure projects. Proposals may be considered out of these time slots if there are exceptional circumstances to do so and if in agreement with the Leader and the Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning.

Key internal and external stakeholders responsible for delivering the infrastructure identified in the Infrastructure Delivery Statement will receive direct notification of the opportunity to request CIL funding. Information about the opportunity will also be available on the council's website.

Applications will be made on a standard online template issued by Huntingdonshire District Council as set out in Appendix 2 and will request key information about the infrastructure project, including:

• what is the infrastructure project

• how the project relates to the council's Infrastructure Delivery Statement

• why the project is required (justification)

• cost of the project

• timing for project delivery

• funding from other sources.

Application forms will then be reviewed by Council officers, who will ensure that all submitted forms include the key information required, meet the basic criteria and are therefore eligible for consideration for CIL funding. Further detail to consider in making an application for CIL funding can be found at Appendix 3.

The council's Infrastructure Delivery Plan and, after 30 December 2020, the Infrastructure Funding Statement set out the infrastructure projects that are eligible for Strategic CIL funding. Only infrastructure that supports the growth outlined in the council's adopted Development Plans are included or other infrastructure projects that have come forward that support growth.

In order for a project to be considered for CIL funding, the following eligibility criteria need to be met:

• the application form has been completed satisfactorily

• all supporting documentation, identified in the application form, has been provided

• the organisation has the legal right to carry out the proposed project

• the project is clearly defined as 'Infrastructure' as per the CIL Regulations

• the project is listed in the Council's Infrastructure Delivery Plan / Infrastructure Funding Statement or is for infrastructure that supports growth of the area

• support of the relevant Town/ Parish council has been obtained and, if it is a transport related project, from Cambridgeshire County Council.

Once the application forms requesting CIL funding have been validated by a council officer, initial assessment of the projects will then take place. The projects will be assessed based on the following headings:

• the need for the project

• the public benefit of the project

• the deliverability of the project

• the value for money that a scheme provides.

Projects will be viewed favourably if they lever in other funds that would not otherwise be available, particularly where those funds may not be available in future years, or where it makes use of match funding.

The outcome of this review of applications for funding of less than £50,000 will then be reported to the Corporate Director (Place), the Service Manager – Growth, the Leader, and the Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning. Decisions on applications seeking funding of £50,000.00 or less will be made at this point and reported for information at the next Strategic bid report to Cabinet. All other applications (more than £50,000.00) will be reported to Cabinet for consideration and approval. Cabinet will also be informed of the decisions already made on smaller applications in order to ensure it has the full picture.

The Corporate Director (Place), Service Manager – Growth in consultation with the Leader and the Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning, and Cabinet are required to reach a balanced judgement over which projects to fund. They are requested to provide an explanation as to how that decision was reached. Cabinet will be informed of any decisions made since the last reporting period as part of the next Strategic bid allocation report. Stakeholders will be informed of decisions reached, and funds will be allocated accordingly.

There may be occasions where the release of additional CIL funds is required for urgent or unforeseen infrastructure requirements. In these cases, a decision on an application will be made by either the Corporate Director (Place), the Service Manager – Growth in consultation with the Leader and the Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning (if for £50,000 or less) or Cabinet (if it is for over £50,000.00) for approval for the release of further funds at the earliest opportunity.

Successful applicants of CIL funding will be expected to maintain communication with Huntingdonshire District Council on the progress of their project after a decision has been made to provide funding. Where funding has been agreed, the scheme applicant will be expected to first provide information to justify funding being transferred, this includes for any milestone payments.

Applicants should continue to provide information until the scheme has been completed and all CIL funding has been spent. As a minimum, an annual report, providing information on the progress of each scheme that funding has been allocated to, will be needed. A requirement to submit this information forms part of the agreement (Contract) that successful external applicants are required to sign between themselves and Huntingdonshire District Council.

5. Governance Arrangements - Neighbourhood Allocations

The CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) require the 'meaningful proportion' to be used to support the development of the local area by funding:

• the provision, improvement, replacement, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure; or

• anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area.

This provides Town/ Parish councils with a much more flexible approach for spending their CIL receipts in comparison to the powers of the District Council.

Such wider spending powers for the Town/Parish Council allow the local community to decide what they need to help mitigate the impacts of development in their area.

This may be for a local project, or the Parish may decide to contribute their proportion of the funding to the more strategic projects which are being supported by the District Council, such as an education expansion project required that will support their locality – Town and Parish councils will need to decide what their infrastructure priorities are. They will need to consider that if they do not put forward potential support to strategic projects, that could result in not enough funding being available. Therefore, there will be difficult decisions for them to make.

Any spend of CIL funding must fit within the usual powers of the Town/Parish council and their Powers of Competence.

Where the infrastructure to be supported cannot be implemented by the Town/Parish council due to their powers of responsibility then this may still happen by agreeing for the money to remain / be passed back to the District Council to be spent in accordance with the wishes of the local community.

Decisions on the expenditure of the 'meaningful proportion' funds are at the Town/Parish council’s discretion, if it is in accordance with the CIL regulations.

If a Town/Parish council has failed to spend CIL funds transferred to them within a period of 5 years from the date of initial receipt or has not applied the funds in accordance with the Regulations, then the District Council can serve a notice on the Town/ Parish council requiring it to repay some or all of the receipts that had been transferred to them.

The District Council is required to make payment in respect of CIL it receives from 1 April to 30 September to the Town/ Parish council by 28 October of that financial year and pay the CIL received from 1 October to 31 March by 28 April of the following financial year.

To ensure transparency Town/Parish councils must publish each year by 31 December, in line with regulatory requirements, the previous financial year’s information on:

• total CIL receipts

• total expenditure

• a summary of what the CIL was spent on

• the total amount of receipts retained at the end of the reported year from that year and previous years.

Reports should be placed on Town/Parish council’s website and a copy of the report is required to be sent to the District Council. Where a Town/Parish does not have a website the District Council can, upon request, publish this information on its website on the Town/Parish council’s behalf – for transparency, the District Council will publish all annual reports on its website.

The CIL report must be published and sent to the District Council no later than 31 December following the reported year (the financial year). Town and Parish Councils are encouraged to use the reporting template provided by Huntingdonshire District Council.

Non-parished areas

There are eight non-parished areas within Huntingdonshire District covered by Parish Meetings. The 15% Neighbourhood Allocation, or "Meaningful Proportion", in these areas will be held separately by Huntingdonshire District Council but still must be spent in agreement with the locality in which the development generating the funds is based.

CIL Meaningful Proportion collected for non-parished areas must be spent in accordance with Regulation 59F as below:

'(3) The Charging Authority may use the CIL to which this regulation applies, or cause it to be used, to support the development of the relevant area by funding

a) the provision, improvement, replacement, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure; or

b) anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area'

The process for spend of non-parished meaningful proportions will require officers in the Implementation Team to identify projects through the HDC Infrastructure Delivery Plan or Infrastructure Funding Statement, relevant Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), Parish Website, or with HDC’s Community Development Team to establish if there is a Parish Plan.

Once the project is decided, the Parish Meeting will be asked to submit a plan for delivery of the agreed project including key milestones with a timetable, detailing any other funding to be provided, when this is to be available and also advising when the funding will be drawn down for each milestone.

For example: each instalment payment, when applicable. If no other funding is identified at this time the parish must provide a timetable for when this will become available.

The process for dealing with these is as per that set out in section 4 of this guidance.

In accordance with Regulation 59E, funds must be spent within a 5-year period from receipt. The council must report separately within the published Annual Report details of the amount of funds received and how they are spent.

6. Monitoring and Review Arrangements

Huntingdonshire District Council is committed to ensuring the use of CIL is open and transparent. To this end, Huntingdonshire District Council will, as required by the CIL Regulations, publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS), replacing the CIL Annual Monitoring Report. These will set out, as a minimum:

• a report relating to the previous financial year on the Community Infrastructure Levy

• a report relating to the previous financial year on section 106 planning obligations

• a report on the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure that the authority intends will be, or may be, funded wholly or partly by the levy (excluding the neighbourhood portion).

The IFS will be published by Huntingdonshire District Council no later than 31 December each year. Huntingdonshire District Council will monitor the operation and implementation of CIL throughout the year.

The council may periodically review the Charging Schedule, which includes the CIL rates applicable at the time. As noted, above, Town/Parish councils are also required to report on their CIL spending. The report must include:

• the total CIL receipts for the reported year

• the total CIL expenditure for the reported year

• summary details of CIL expenditure during the reported year including -

  (i) the items to which CIL has been applied

  (ii) the amount of CIL expenditure on each item

• details of any notices received in accordance with regulation 59E, including -

  (i) the total value of CIL receipts subject to notices served in accordance with regulation 59E during the reported year

  (ii) the total value of CIL receipts subject to a notice served in accordance with regulation 59E in any year that has not been paid to the relevant charging authority by the end of the reported year

• the total amount of -

  (i) CIL receipts for the reported year retained at the end of the reported year

  (ii) CIL receipts from previous years retained at the end of the reported year.

The Town/ Parish Council should ensure the report accords with the requirements of the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) each year and publish their CIL annual report online, unless they request that the report is published on the District Council’s website. A copy of the report must be sent to the Huntingdonshire District Council, no later than 31 December following the reported year.

If you have any questions about this guidance, or CIL generally, please contact Huntingdonshire District Council's Implementation Team by email at implementation@huntingdonshire.gov.uk, by calling 01480 388388, or in writing to:

Implementation Team
Planning Services
Pathfinder House
St Mary's Street
Huntingdon
PE29 3TN

APPENDIX ONE – GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK FOR CIL HDC ALLOCATION