The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To approve the proposed allocations/schemes valued at £11.612m for delivery in LIF Programme 3 as set out in Table 2, Section 3.14 /Appendix 1 of the report.

2.    To delegate the decision on the allocation of the £0.500m Small Works pot shown in Table 2, Section 3.14 of the report to the Director of Planning and Building Control through the LIF Working Group.

3.    To delegate the decision on the approval of contingency funds shown in Table 2, section 3.14 of the report to the Director of Planning and Building Control through the LIF Working Group.

4.    To note the ring-fenced budget of £5.207m in the Capital Programme LIF pot for projects in the Capital Programme that will deliver LIF priorities, noting that project level approvals will come to Cabinet separately in future meetings.

5.    To approve the budget virement from LIF Programme 1 of £6.013m to LIF Programme 3.

6.    To note that the approved budget for LII is unchanged.

7.    To approve the changes to the LIF consultation cycle from a 2 year cycle to a 3 year cycle as detailed in Section 3.17 – 3.22 of the report.

8.    To note the Equalities Impact Assessment / specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraphs 4.1 – 4.4 of the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Director of Integrated Growth and Development (V. Clark)

Reasons for Decision

The Council is obliged by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations to consult with the local communities on their priorities for the expenditure of the Local Infrastructure Fund (the borough term for Neighbourhood CIL). Therefore, the decision made by the Mayor in Cabinet on the 6th December 2016 committed the Council to an annual public consultation process in order to gather local people’s priorities for infrastructure and nominate projects for local improvements for the Council to deliver using its existing delivery mechanisms.

As a result of the annual consultation process, new projects come forward every year which are added to the existing LIF programme. This year’s new additions (LIF Programme 3) spend funding collected in 2020/21 and are listed in Table 2, Section 3.14 / Appendix 1, noting that this also includes the reallocation of funds from LIF Programme 1. The next round of the LIF public consultation is expected to commence in November 2021, for funds received in the year 2021/22, therefore approval for LIF Programme 3 project allocations is required before going out to consult again for new nominations.

Alternative Options

The Council is required to approve the annual LIF project allocations as per commitment through the 6th December 2016 Cabinet Report in order to enable the timely delivery of projects and priorities nominated by local people.

The alternative option would be to not approve funding for the delivery of infrastructure projects and programmes. This would undermine the Council’s ability to provide the necessary level and quality of infrastructure to support both existing residents and to accommodate residential /commercial and associated population growth.