Agenda item

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council adopted its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule on 29 April 2014 to take effect from the 1 July 2014.   This introduced a CIL charge for each square metre of floor area in new developments of eligible residential, convenience retail, student accommodation and care homes granted planning permission.  

The Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Instalment Policy came into effect on 1 July 2014. The policy is now over nine years old and has therefore been reviewed following a benchmarking process with neighbouring local planning authorities.

It is recommended that the CIL instalment policy is updated to increase the thresholds for when CIL liable developments pay in instalments.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council adopted its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule on 29 April 2014 to take effect from the 1 July 2014.   This introduced a CIL charge for each square metre of floor area in new developments of eligible residential, convenience retail, student accommodation and care homes granted planning permission.   

The Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Instalment Policy came into effect on 1 July 2014. The policy is now over nine years old and has therefore been reviewed following a benchmarking process with neighbouring local planning authorities.

It is recommended that the CIL instalment policy is updated to increase the thresholds for when CIL liable developments pay in instalments.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Adopt the Epsom and Ewell CIL Instalment Policy (November 2023) attached as Appendix 1 to come into effect on the 1 April 2024 and supersede the current CIL Instalment Policy on this date. 

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council adopted its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule on 29 April 2014 to take effect from the 1 July 2014.   This introduced a CIL charge for each square metre of floor area in new developments of eligible residential, convenience retail, student accommodation and care homes granted planning permission.   

The Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Instalment Policy came into effect on 1 July 2014. The policy is now over nine years old and has therefore been reviewed following a benchmarking process with neighbouring local planning authorities.

It is recommended that the CIL instalment policy is updated to increase the thresholds for when CIL liable developments pay in instalments.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Developer CIL release. A Member of the Committee asked when CIL is supposed to be released by the developer. The Developer Contributions Lead Officer replied to inform the Committee that the CIL Chargeable Development is triggered on commencement of development, following planning permission being granted.

b)            Defaulting Developers. A Member of the Committee asked if a record is kept of defaulting developers and outstanding CIL payments. The Developer Contributions Lead Officer replied to explain that a record is kept, and the Council is currently using Exacom to monitor the collection and enforcement of monies that are due to the Local Authority. The Member asked if a ballpark figure could be provided of the funds that should be coming in compared to what has actually been collected. The Developer Contributions Lead Officer informed the Committee that it is difficult to forecast the amount of money coming in. The Chair informed the Committee that a follow-up information report on CIL could come back to the Committee at a future meeting if there is the appetite for it. The Chief Accountant explained that outstanding receipts for CIL are set out in the Audit & Scrutiny Committee’s quarterly Capital Budget Monitoring Report, and the outstanding amount as of the 31^st of December 2023 is £260,000, against the £14million which has been charged since the commencement of CIL, which is a good rate of collection. The Chief Account went on to explain that some of the £260,000 is made up of instalments that are not due yet but are expected to be paid on time.  The Chair informed the Committee that the next Audit and Scrutiny Committee will take place on the 1^st of February and the papers will be published shortly.

c)            Payment Instalments. The Vice Chair asked if an application must be submitted in order to pay CIL in instalments. The Developer Contributions Lead Officer informed the Committee that regulation 69b of the CIL regulations, it is set already in our instalments policy, it does not need to be requested or applied for by developers, the system automated trigger on the total chargeable amount will automatically put in the instalments.

d)            Projects. A Member of the Committee asked what projects the £14 million CIL charges have been used on in the last financial year.The Planning Policy Manager informed the Committee that for approximately the last 18 months, no CIL funds have been spent, the money has been coming in, but there was not the process in place for spending those funds.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Adopt the Epsom and Ewell CIL Instalment Policy (November 2023) attached as Appendix 1 to come into effect on the 1 April 2024 and supersede the current CIL Instalment Policy on this date.