Agenda item

The Council undertook its annual funding rounds for strategic and neighbourhood CIL between the 7 May and 18 June 2024. During this funding window 5 strategic CIL bids and 23 neighbourhood CIL bids were received.

In accordance with the Epsom and Ewell CIL Spending Protocol the bids have all been subject to an initial stage 1 assessment. Only the bids that passed the Stage 1 assessment were then subject to a stage 2 assessment by members of the CIL Member Working Group.

Following this process, three Strategic CIL bids (totalling £1,755,000 of strategic CIL funding) and six neighbourhood CIL bids (£331,966.72 of neighbourhood CIL funding) are presented to this committee for approval.

Six of the nine funding bids exceed £50,000 in value and therefore in accordance with the Councils financial regulations, the funding decision will be referred to Strategy and Resources Committee (S&R) for ratification.

·                     Councillor Julie Morris proposed that the Nam Yang Martial Arts application bid is included in the successful bids sent to Strategy and Resources Committee to consider and approve funding for.

The proposal was seconded by Councillor Phil Neale.

The Committee agreed the proposed amendment (5 for, 2 against, and the Chair not voting).

Following consideration, the Committee resolved to;

(6 for, 1 abstaining, and the Chair not voting)

(1)      Approve the recommendations of the CIL Member Working Group by provisionally allocating CIL funding to the projects detailed in Appendix 1, including the addition of the Nam Yang Martial Arts Project;

(2)      Support a request to Strategy and Resources Committee to approve the funding totalling £2,086,966 from CIL as set-out in this report, with the addition of £161,250 of funding for the Nam Yang Martial Arts Project.   

The Council undertook its annual funding rounds for strategic and neighbourhood CIL between the 7 May and 18 June 2024. During this funding window 5 strategic CIL bids and 23 neighbourhood CIL bids were received.

In accordance with the Epsom and Ewell CIL Spending Protocol (January 2024), all bids received have been subject to an initial stage 1 assessment. Only the bids that passed the Stage 1 assessment were then subject to a stage 2 assessment by the CIL Member Working Group.

Following this process, three Strategic CIL bids (totalling £1,755,000 of strategic CIL funding) and six neighbourhood CIL bids (£331,966 of neighbourhood CIL funding) were presented to this committee for approval.

As the cumulative value of the CIL bids recommended for approval exceeds £50,000, in accordance with the Council’s financial regulations, the recommendations of this committee will be subject to approval of the funding by the Strategy and Resources Committee (S&R).

The following matters were considered:

a)            Report Correction. The Developer Contributions Lead Officer informed the Committee that the Bid requester for the Hogsmill Local Nature Reserve Footpath improvements project, found on page 19 of the agenda, should state Ewell Court Residents’ Association and Local Councillors, instead of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council.

b)            CIL Working Group. A Member of the Committee expressed their support for the contents of the report. The Member thanked the CIL Member Working Group and appreciated being a part of the Working Group and being consulted on the application bids.

c)            CWG Recommendations. A Member of the Committee raised that it had been a learning curve submitting bids under the new CIL spending protocol. The Member continued to explain that they did not agree with all recommendations of the CIL Member Working Group. The Member expressed disappointment that a year of potential bids and spending had been missed whilst the CIL spending protocol was rewritten and adopted by the Committee. The Member queried why more is not being spent of the Strategic and Neighbourhood CIL pots. The Member raised that all of the successful Strategic and Neighbourhood bids were for projects in Ewell, bar one small Neighbourhood bid in Epsom.

d)            CIL Spending. A Member of the Committee raised that they had Chaired the CIL Member Working Group and thanked the Members and supporting Officers involved, for their time and effort that went into the recommendations set out in the report. The Member informed the Committee that throughout the new process, areas of improvement have been identified and changes could be made to refine the process going forwards. The Member raised that it would be beneficial for a Member Briefing to be held so all Members could be informed on the successful Strategic CIL bids. The Member highlighted that if more of the CIL money had been recommended to be spent now, when there is not currently an immediate pipeline of projects to keep the CIL pots topped up, it would mean that less could be achieved and recommended in future years.

e)            Homelessness Pods. A Member of the Committee asked if CIL money could be used for projects like the modular pods, that are being considered by the Council at the moment, since nightly paid emergency accommodation is a huge expense for the Council.  The Planning Policy Manager informed the Committee that Strategic CIL cannot be used to provide any form of affordable housing.

f)             Nam Yang Martial Arts Centre. A Member of the Committee expressed their disappointment that the Nam Yang Martial Arts Centre was not successful in their bid.

·                     Councillor Julie Morris proposed that the Nam Yang Martial Arts application bid is included in the successful bids sent to Strategy and Resources Committee to consider and approve funding for.

The proposal was seconded by Councillor Phil Neale.

The Committee agreed the proposed amendment (5 for, 2 against, and the Chair not voting).

g)            Strategy and Resources Committee. A Member of the Committee raised that the decision to agree the spending will be made by the Strategy and Resources Committee, therefore, there is an opportunity for more information to be provided to the Members of the Strategy and Resources Committee regarding the proposed successful bids.

h)            Point of Clarification. A Member of the Committee asked for clarification as to whether the agreed amendment, was something that the Committee is able to do. The Chair informed the Committee that the decision would be looked at and considered and if it turns out that it is something that cannot happen, this will be communicated, and further options explored. The Member suggested that all three unsuccessful Neighbourhood CIL bids were taken to S&R for consideration, in the interest of fairness. The Chair noted the comments.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved to;

(6 for, 1 abstaining, and the Chair not voting)

(1)      Approve the recommendations of the CIL Member Working Group by provisionally allocating CIL funding to the projects detailed in Appendix 1, including the addition of the Nam Yang Martial Arts Project;

(2)      Support a request to Strategy and Resources Committee to approve the funding totalling £2,086,966 from CIL as set-out in this report, with the addition of £161,250 of funding for the Nam Yang Martial Arts Project.